- Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 |
- Uncategorized
Many customers wonder exactly what method we use to print their custom t-shirt, and whether we use a specific printer for each individual order or have a ‘one printer fits all’ approach. There are several printing options available to custom clothing businesses such as ours and so we have listed a brief outline of each option and what they are best for so that you can gain a better insight into how your custom t-shirt is created.
Heat Transfer Printing:
Heat transfer printing takes a high resolution image and prints it onto a special transfer paper, which is then applied with a heat press. Transfer printing is great for coloured designs on white t-shirts but struggles with colours on a darker tone. Transfer printing can also fade over a longer period, which is why they are best used for garments with a short intended shelf life.
Pros:
-
Ideal for small quantities.
Cons:
- Not as lasting as other methods and has a tendency to crack more often.
- Can struggle to deal with certain colours on darker garments.
Best for: Non-reusable white t-shirts that stand out at exhibitions.
Cad Cut (Vinyl Transfers):
Vinyl transfers embellish a garment by cutting shapes from a vinyl sheet and applying it with a heat press. This method is best used for small quantities of simple t-shirts, as while it provides a very high quality finish it is not as good as the DTG with logos but excels with lettering and bright contrasting colours.
Pros:
- Provides a very high quality product.
- Perfect for lettering and distinct contrasting colours.
Cons:
- Not suitable for mass production of a design.
Best for: Bright, vibrant t-shirts with a personalised message like those you might order for a stag or hen trip or a colour alternative to transfer printed exhibition clothing.
Sublimation:
Sublimation dissipates ink through heating, as opposed to transfers which use paper. This means a finer control is possible but the final feel is very different of a traditional tee, in part because it demands the use of synthetic clothing. These factors mean sublimation is superb for an accurate reproduction of photographs on any garment.
Pros:
- Great for printing a good quality picture, even with relatively low printer resolution.
Cons:
- Feels very different as it is printed on synthetic clothing.
Best for: T-shirts with photographs reproduced on them, such as those for a family or friends.
DTG Printing:
Rather than transferring a design via paper a DTG (Direct To Garment) machine will print directly onto the garment, resulting in a fantastically high quality print and maximum detail. Top of the range machines allow full colour printing onto dark materials as well as the traditional plain whites.
Pros:
- Ideal for small quantities.
- Great for single- and multi-coloured prints.
- Superior quality to all other printing methods.
- Can print onto any colour of garment.
Cons:
- Might not be economical for large bulk orders when compared with screen printing
Best for: Small to medium runs of work t-shirts and promotional t-shirts with either a complex or simple logo on any colour tee.
Screen Printing:
Screen printing applies colour with ink directly through a screen onto the garment. Screen printing is ideal for large quantities of printed garments but can be expensive for smaller orders requiring more than one colour.
Pros:
- Ideal for massive quantity orders.
- Provides superb quality t-shirts of any colour.
- Can deal with complex multicoloured designs.
Cons:
- Expensive for smaller orders.
- Expensive for simple designs.
- Poorer quality than DTG printing.
Best for: Huge orders with a complex logo on any colour t-shirt where cost is no concern.
Plastisol Transfer Printing:
Similar to screen printing in that the ink is used to create an image but this is printed onto a piece of transfer paper rather than directly onto the garment. The transfer paper can be stored and when ready is applied to the substrate with a heat press.
Pros:
- Can be used with light or dark coloured garments.
- Is ideal for medium to large print runs.
- Can deal with complex multi-coloured designs easily.
- Higher quality than other methods that use transfer paper.
- Cheaper for medium to large runs than a screen printer.
Cons:
- Cost is calculated per colour in the design, so it can be more expensive than DTG.
- Lower quality than DTG.
Best for: Large orders of custom work uniforms, printed hi-vis workwear or promotional wear with a complex logo.
So which do we prefer? Here at Clothes2Order we actually use a combination of printing methods, choosing a printer depending on the design submitted and the size of the order. Our machine of choice is the top-of-the-range DTG model, which is used for all of our small to medium print runs with both simple and complex logos on any colour shirt. We tend to use a cad cut technique for single-colour orders as it can do this proficiently for any size of order at a better cost than the DTG. For medium to large orders of single- or multi-colour logos on any tee we use a plastisol transfer printer, or a screen printer for massive orders of the same nature.
