26 Essential UV Printing Tips for Your eufyMake E1
It’s an exciting time as more makers start receiving their eufyMake E1.
We want to help you get the best possible experience from your very first print.
The best way to grow is together. Many of the tips below come directly from our community (you guys are the real experts).
By sharing these insights, we can help everyone save time, reduce waste, and avoid those frustrating mistakes.
This list will continue to be updated as our hardware and software evolve, so you’ll always have the latest best practices at hand.
1. Always Keep the Surface Flat
In UV printing, the distance between the printhead and your item is the most important factor for a crisp image. The E1 uses a laser to detect the highest point on your object to set a safe printing height.
If your item is tilted or not perfectly flat, the laser will pick that one high spot as the guide. This means for the lower parts of your item, the printhead is now too far away.
When the gap is too large, the ink droplets can drift or scatter before they hit the surface (this is why images sometimes look blurry).
2. Check Under the Standard Bed
When you are first setting up your printer, take a close look at the standard print bed. Make sure to remove all of the black foam pieces from underneath it.
Since the foam is black and the machine base is dark, it is very easy to miss a piece.
3. Always Clean Before You Print
A little dust can ruin a big project. We recommend wiping down every item with a lint-free cloth or a bit of isopropyl alcohol before placing it on the bed.
Removing oils and fingerprints ensures the ink bonds perfectly to the surface.
4. Use Painter's Tape Wisely
Tape is one of the simplest ways to keep your setup clean. Use it to cover the area around your item and catch any overspray.
If your design goes slightly beyond the edge, the ink lands on the tape instead of the adhesive mat. Since UV ink can reduce the mat’s stickiness over time, this helps extend its life.
But here’s where things go wrong:
If the tape lifts or isn’t pressed down fully, the laser may detect it as the highest point. That small raised edge can throw off the print height and lead to blurry results.
So, make sure every edge is firmly pressed down and completely flat.
Image: Melissa Yamello
5. Unlock 100mm with Zero-Point Alignment
If you want to jump into your projects faster, Zero-Point Alignment is a great shortcut. It lets you skip the usual alignment steps so you can get moving without extra setup slowing you down.
It also gives you more room to work. While the standard mode has a 60mm height limit, Zero-Point Alignment lets you print objects up to 100mm tall.
This is perfect for those bigger, more ambitious pieces (like thicker wooden blocks or deep boxes).
6. Stay in the Center for Best Alignment
Alignment can drift as you move toward the edges because of natural lens distortion.
To ensure precision, the best place to put your objects is the center of the bed. The E1 camera is most accurate there.
If you have to print near the edges, using a jig is the best way to keep things 100% accurate.
7. Add Bleed to Your Design
Small alignment shifts can leave thin unprinted edges. To avoid this, slightly extend your design beyond the actual object size.
This extra margin (bleed) ensures full coverage, even if there’s a minor shift during printing.
8. Use Jigs for Batch Printing
Jigs are a lifesaver for batch printing. If you are printing multiple copies of the same item, a jig ensures every single piece is placed in the exact same spot.
It also removes the need to realign each piece manually.
Image: Michael Mikkelson
9. Print Horizontally to Save Time
If you are printing rectangular objects, try to orient them horizontally (landscape) on the bed. This is much faster than printing vertically (portrait), especially when you are doing multiple items at once.
Every time the printhead reaches the end of its path, it has to decelerate, stop, and then accelerate back in the opposite direction.
By laying your items out horizontally, you reduce the total number of direction changes the machine has to make.
10. Use Assisted Shot for Tricky Materials
We added Assisted Shot to help with those difficult items. It lets you manually confirm or adjust the highest plane of your substrate before taking the alignment photo.
This is a lifesaver for materials that are small, transparent, or highly reflective where the automatic sensor might get confused by reflections.
11. Shake Your Ink Gently
Before you install your ink cartridges, give them a gentle shake. This prevents the pigments from settling at the bottom, which keeps your colors consistent.
Just do not shake them too violently! Shaking too hard can introduce air bubbles into the ink, which can lead to gaps in your print.
12. Level Your Bottles with a 3D Printed Shim
When printing on tapered items like certain water bottles, the surface is not naturally level.
You can fix this by using a small 3D printed cap shim to prop up the narrow end of the bottle. This ensures the entire printing area stays at a consistent height so the printhead does not get too far away from the surface.
Image: Michael Mikkelson
13. Watch Out for Thin Materials Curling
Be careful when printing on thin materials like canvas or acrylic sheets less than 1 mm thick.
As UV ink cures, it shrinks slightly and creates tension, which can cause edges to curl upward during printing.
If the material curls too much, it can lead to a head strike, where the surface touches the printhead. For flexible or very thin items, try using fewer ink layers to reduce stress, or make sure the material is secured tightly to keep it flat.
Image: Dan Grossman
14. Use High-Quality Files (300+ DPI)
To get that professional high definition look, the quality of your digital file is everything.
We recommend using vector files whenever possible for perfect scaling. If you are using images, avoid stretching them to fit because this causes pixelation.
For clear results, use at least 300 DPI. For stickers or items with tiny details, 400 to 600 DPI is the sweet spot.
Also, if you are using our built in text tool, try to keep the font size at 2 pt or larger for maximum legibility.
15. Use White Base Materials to Save Ink
The E1 prints beautifully on dark surfaces, but the darker the item, the more white ink you’ll use.
To save on ink costs, consider buying white blanks (like white phone cases or tiles) or pre-treating your surface with a white primer.
16. Choose the Right White Layer
You don't always need a heavy white base.
For clear items, a solid white layer is vital, but for lighter materials, you can reduce it. Choosing the right layer helps you manage your ink costs effectively.
Image: Christiaan Lowe
17. Don’t Use White on Leatherette
On flexible materials like white leatherette, we suggest skipping the white ink layer and using only CMYK.
Because white ink is thicker, it can crack when the leatherette is bent or flexed.
CMYK ink is much thinner and more flexible, so your design will last longer without cracking.
18. Sharpen Edges with White Choke
Sometimes a tiny bit of white ink might peek out from behind your colored design. This is often called white bleed.
You can fix this easily with the White Underbase Choke setting. It slightly shrinks the white layer so it stays hidden under your CMYK colors.
Setting this correctly will give your prints much sharper and cleaner edges.
19. Monitor Your Working Temperature
UV ink is very sensitive to the environment. The E1 operates best between 15°C and 35°C (59°F to 95°F) with a humidity of 20% to 85%.
While the E1 has built-in detection, it is always smart to check your workspace temperature before starting a long job.
20. Check Your Transparency Settings
In our software, you can use the arrow keys to nudge your artwork for perfect placement. You can also adjust the transparency to see the item underneath.
However, please remember to check your transparency levels before hitting print.
Some makers forget they lowered the opacity for alignment, which results in a faded print that does not match the original design.
21. Always Make a Test Print
Before you print on your final, expensive item, always run a test.
Use a scrap piece or a similar material to check alignment and color. It’s a simple step that can save costly mistakes.
22. Save Your Mat Covers
When you install the sticky mat, save that clear plastic cover from the bottom.
It is the perfect size to re-cover the top of the mat when you are swapping beds. This keeps your adhesive clean and sticky for much longer.
Image: Greg Buxton
23. Give the Ink Extra Time to Cure
While UV light cures ink instantly, some materials need a little extra time to achieve the best adhesion.
If a print feels tacky, you can leave it under a UV lamp or even in the natural sun for a few minutes to fully harden the finish.
24. Reuse Waste Items for Practice
UV printing is amazing because it prints on almost anything. If a print fails, don't throw the item away!
As long as the surface is still flat, you can flip it over or print right on top of the mistake to test new settings. It’s a great way to save money while you learn.
25. Save the Box for Easy Transport
We designed the E1 packaging with a "lift-off" style that makes it incredibly easy to put the printer in and take it out.
If you plan on taking your printer to a craft fair, a local market, or moving it between studios, you’ll be so glad you kept the original box and foam. The green straps and custom fit make moving your setup quick and painless.
26. Pretreat Surfaces for a Stronger Bond
For slick materials like glass, metal, or acrylic, the ink might need a little extra help to stay put.
An adhesion promoter acts like a primer that creates a stronger bond between the ink and the surface. Just wipe a thin, even layer onto your cleaned item and let it dry before printing.
You can also lightly scuff the surface with fine sandpaper (400–600 grit) to add texture for better grip.
For more demanding applications, some makers use a quick flame treatment to further improve surface adhesion
