Jan. 21, 2022
The pandemic has led small studios to focus on print-on-demand production, and with it, DTG ink and DTF ink printing have entered the market, increasing the interest of manufacturers who want to start using personalized garments.
From now on, Direct-to-garment (DTG) has been the main method used for T-shirt printing and small productions, but in the last few months, Direct-to-film or Film-to-Garment (DTF) has piqued the interest of the T-shirt printing industry, winning more supporters each time. To understand this paradigm shift, we need to know the difference between one method and the other.
Both types of printing are suitable for small items or personalization, such as T-shirts or masks. However, the results and printing process are different in both cases, making it difficult to decide which one to choose for your business.
✱ It requires pre-treatment: For DTG, the process starts with the pre-treatment of the garment. This step is necessary before printing because we will be working directly on the fabric, which will allow the ink to hold well and avoid transferring it to the fabric. In addition, we need to heat the garment before printing to activate this treatment.
✱ Print directly onto the garment: With DTG, you can print directly onto the garment, so the process can be shorter than DTF and you don't need to transfer.
✱ Use of white ink: We can choose to use a white mask as a substrate to ensure that the ink does not mix with the color of the media, although this is not always necessary (for example on a white substrate) and it is also possible to place white only in certain areas in order to reduce the use of this mask.
✱ Printing on cotton: With this type of printing, we can only print on cotton garments.
✱ Final press: To fix the ink, we must perform the final press at the end of the process, where we will prepare the garment.
❈ No pre-treatment: In DTF printing, there is no need to pre-treat the fabric because it is pre-printed on the film and must be transferred.
❈ Printing on film: In DTF, we print on film and then the design must be transferred to the fabric. This can make the process a little longer compared to DTG.
❈Adhesive powder: This type of printing requires the use of Adhesive powder, which is applied immediately after the ink is printed on the film. On printers created for DTF, this step is included in the printer itself, so you can avoid any manual steps.
❈ Using white ink: In this case, a layer of white ink is required, placed on top of the color layer. This is the one that is transferred to the fabric and used as the basis for the main color of the design.
❈ Any type of fabric: One of the advantages of DTF is that it allows you to use any type of fabric, not just cotton.
❈ Transfer from film to fabric: The final step of the process is to remove the printed film and transfer it to the fabric using a press.
So, what factors should we consider when deciding which print to choose?
❈ Our printing material: As mentioned above, DTG can only be printed on cotton, while DTF ink can be printed on many other materials.
❈ Production volume: Currently, DTG machines are more versatile than DTF and allow for larger and faster production. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the production needs of each company.
❈ Results: The end result of one printout is very different from another. In DTG, the drawing and ink blend into the fabric and feel rougher, like the base itself, while in DTF ink, the solid color powder makes it feel plastic, brighter, and less integrated with the fabric. However, this also gives the impression of higher color quality because they are pure and the base color does not interfere.
The use of
❈ white: a priori, both technologies require a considerable amount of white ink to print, but using good software, it is possible to control the white layer applied in DTG, depending on the base color and thus greatly reducing costs.
In short, DTF ink printing seems to be more popular than DTG, but in reality, they have very different applications and uses. For small-scale printing, where you are looking for good color results and don't want to make such a large investment, DTF ink may be more suitable. But DTG now has more versatile and diverse presses with different plates and processes, allowing for faster, more flexible printing.
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