UV-DTF
UV-DTF prepress is coming. The export pipeline is already here.
NestSheet v1 runs one mode: DTF. A dedicated UV-DTF workflow is on our roadmap, and we won’t sell it before it exists. But the part of UV-DTF prepress that lives in the export file — varnish spot channels — shipped with the product. Here is exactly where the line sits.
Shipped today
Varnish spot channels ride your export files.
The Varnish / lacquer row in the export dialog is live product, not a mock-up.
- TIFF and PSD/PSB exports carry up to four named varnish spot channels next to CMYK and white — the largest recipe packs CMYK + 4 white + 4 varnish into a single 12-channel DTF TIFF.
- Channels are named V1–V4 (MainTOP-style) by default and renameable per export, so the file lands with the labels your RIP expects — no relabelling pass in another tool.
- The varnish lane uses the intensity convention UV pipelines expect: 0 = no varnish, 255 = full varnish — deliberately the opposite of the white lane.
- Honest boundary: PNG and PDF exports carry no spot channels. Varnish travels in TIFF and PSD only.
Shipped today
How the varnish is generated today.
The shipped export path uses artwork alpha or an AI-assisted derivative.
- Derive it. Varnish follows the selected, applied or canonical artwork alpha — binary, gradient or dithered conversion, with gradient (intensity as relief height) as the default.
- Dedicated upload data. Upload normalization can detect and extract varnish data from supported files, but that data is not currently wired into the shipped export path.
- AI-assist it. Selective varnish and Highlight varnish presets propose a mask from the artwork, with an optional prompt (up to 280 characters) and a preview before you commit. The same tools are available on every plan.
- The exported varnish mask expands outward by a spread of 0–20 px (default 1 px) — the mirror image of white choke, which erodes inward.
Shipped today
The prepress around it already works.
Everything a UV-DTF job needs before the varnish question is the same prepress a DTF job uses today: ten input formats up to 500 MB a file, auto-nesting on rolls from 30 to 180 cm, alpha-derived white underbase with choke, and export recipes with the channel names your RIP expects. Eight-channel DTF TIFFs are read on the way in, too.
On the roadmap
A dedicated UV-DTF mode — when it ships, not before.
The app shows exactly one mode today: DTF. A UV-DTF workflow is on our roadmap, and we are not going to sell it early — no launch date, no mock-ups, no feature tour of things that don’t exist, no sign-up form.
When it ships, it will land in the changelog — the same place every real release lands today, with an RSS feed if you want the ping.
Until then, the honest version: if your UV-DTF work starts and ends with white + varnish spot channels in the export file, the product already does that — free tier included.
Spec sheet
Varnish, as shipped.
Every value below is read from the shipped product, not from a wishlist — the sources are in this page’s code.
| Parameter | As shipped |
|---|---|
| Varnish spot channels | up to 4 per export (TIFF, PSD/PSB) |
| Default channel names | V1–V4 (MainTOP-style), renameable per export |
| Intensity convention | 0 = no varnish · 255 = full varnish |
| Alpha → varnish modes | binary · gradient · dithered (default gradient) |
| Spread (outward dilation) | 0–20 px, default 1 px |
| Binary threshold | 0–255, default 10 |
| Varnish source | artwork alpha or AI-assisted derivative |
| Dedicated upload data | may be detected and extracted · not currently wired into export |
| AI mask presets | Selective varnish · Highlight varnish, prompt up to 280 chars |
| PNG / PDF exports | no spot channels — use TIFF or PSD for varnish |
Keep going