Here is How to do DTG t-shirt printing
Introduction :
What is DTG ?
Direct to garment printing, also known as DTG printing, digital direct to garment
printing, digital apparel printing, D2, and inkjet to garment printing, is a process
of printing on textiles and garments using specialized or modified ink jet
technology.
DTG or direct -to-garment is a relatively new technology. It is essentially an
adaption of the desktop inkjet printer, but with special inks and a completely
different material handling system
The Benefits!
Affordable
No setup costs
No minimum order – low quantities
Print on light or dark garments
Print a one colour logo to a full colour detailed design or
graphics
Direct to garment – ink is printed directly in the
garment’s fibre so it has a smooth finish
Print up to 1200dpi high resolution
Eco-friendly inks
What jobs are suited for DTG printing?
If you want to show detailed artwork or graphics ie. full
colour, shading and with gradients
Small to medium quantities
Fast turnaround printing time – print on demand
Ever changing artworks or graphics
Great value for money
Ability to print over seams, pockets, zippers and other
items commonly found on garments
How does DTG work?
DTG is less complicated that you would expect given that
it can capture complicated images so accurately on
something as soft as a shirt or sweater. The best way to
think of DTG is like at home printing from your
computer, except that the paper is replaced with a shirt.
DTG printers do not need to be set up for individual jobs
and can render millions of colours. Our DTG printers are
not only modified from standard EPSON inkjet printers,
but are simply modified to accommodate the additional
bulk of garments and use inkjet textile inks, instead of
what you buy for your printer at the store.
The cost of ink is a little bit more, which is why printing
on coloured garments (black and vivid colours) is so
costly; an underbase of white ink has to be laid below
the actual colours of your design to ensure that the
colours look like you intended.
The process used for translating the colours from the
digital image into ink to print onto the garment relies on
the CMYK colour model. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta,
yellow and K for black. This model is also referred to as
four colour processing because it uses combinations of
these four ink colours, usually applied in the order in
which they appear in the acronym, to create all the
colours in the digital design.
The inks bind directly to the fibers of the garment’s
material, which is why cotton a fibrous material is better
for DTG printing than polyester – a much smoother
material. Once all the colours have been added and the
design is complete, heat will often be used to dry the ink.
This entire process can take as little as a minute to
complete.
How DTG compares to other printing techniques.
Screen printing
Screen printing has an expensive and labour intensive
setup, while DTG has almost no setup at all. This makes
DTG more cost effective for “small” orders (less than
around ten of a garment) where this cost is not divided
between many garments. However, once setup is
complete, the per unit cost of screen printing is much
cheaper than that of DTG, which makes it more cost
effective for larger orders. Screen printing cannot
capture as much detail nor as many colours as DTG, but
the colours that are screen printed are more vibrant.
Screen printing also allows for the use of more different
types of ink, like metallic, and can be used on polyester
materials that DTG inks cannot bind to. However, DTG
can print polyester when combined with cotton ie. 30%
polyester and 70% cotton.
Heat Transfer
Heat transfers use heat and pressure to embed ink into
the surface of the garment’s material, whereas DTG
binds directly to a material’s fibers and does not feature
a heat component. DTG is a much higher quality printing
method than heat transfers.
Dye Sublimation
Both DTG and Dye Sublimation are forms of digital
printing, meaning that both translate digital images from
a computer onto a garment. The main difference is that
dye sublimation uses heat to push ink straight from the
solid form to a gas, thus skipping the liquid form that
DTG is completed in. The gas that results from the use of
heat infuses the material’s fibers and allows for printing
on polyester. To Find out more directtshirt.com
