How To Do Direct To Garment Printing – Everything You Need To Know

Imagine getting a nice quality t-shirt with a vibrant and beautiful design produced in slightly less than one hour and using only a computer. Also, there is not a lot of production setup necessary to be able to print using the same shirt. This fact is a reality using Direct to Garment or DTG printing.

How to do DTG printing? Apply first a pretreat solution to your t-shirt. Load this pretreated t-shirt onto a direct to garment printer that will use specialized inks to print directly on the t-shirts. This printer will use the artwork which you have created on your computer.

This article will discuss the basics and other important information about this relatively new printing process.

I will begin by talking about the application of pretreatment.

Application Of Pretreatment Solution Before DTG Printing

Using a pretreat solution on this t-shirt that you will be printing on will make the ink stick to it better. The prints that will come out will be brighter and become more vivid. I will definitely suggest that you use this process to create a better end product for your customer.

You especially need to perform this pretreatment process when printing on dark-colored or black fabrics.

You can still proceed to print with DTG printers even without pretreating. There will just be a big difference in the quality of prints that you will be getting.

Once the pretreatment has been applied, you can air dry or use a heat press to make sure the solution is not wet anymore before proceeding with printing.

Please click on this link to find out the best DTG pretreatment solution for t-shirt printing.

Let me talk about the two ways that you can apply pretreatment to your t-shirts.

Pretreatment Application Through Hand Spraying

You can use a simple hand sprayer, similar to a regular gardening hose.

There are also fancier options here such as the Wagner hand power sprayer. The advantage of using this power sprayer is that it will be easier to apply the pretreatment on this t-shirt.

You will use the sprayer to apply the pretreat solution as evenly as possible. Ideally, you will do this on a back and forth motion using smooth strokes. You may not get this step right away but with constant practice, you will be able to perfect this.

Do be careful here with the amount of solution applied will have an effect when you print and the washability of the t-shirt.

I also suggest that you do this application in a well-ventilated area that is away from your DTG printer. You should also wear a face mask and gloves for added protection.

Pretreatment Application Through A Machine

This is a piece of enclosed equipment where you can load the t-shirt and the machine will apply the solution for you automatically. All you have to do here is simply to press a button and the work will be done.

Another advantage of using a machine like this is that you can definitely control the amount of pretreat solution that will be applied. There is consistency in this work and you will get constant results every time. It also helps here that you will be saving time in this application task.

And since this equipment is enclosed, you can safely use it in tight spaces and even near your DTG printer. There is no more need to have safety precautions when you are operating this piece of equipment.

The obvious downside here is the fact that you will be spending to buy this machine. You have to budget for this cost and it should be part of your pricing formula for DTG printing jobs. Please click on this link to find out as to how to price DTG printing jobs for the largest profit.

Creating Your Artwork For Direct To Garment

You will use your computer to create the artwork done cleanly to ensure that you will obtain the best print possible later. This is very critical because you will get a substandard printed t-shirt when you do not have an excellent design to start with.

Your design should have the following:

Strong primary and secondary colors
Extra sharp lines and texts
High contrast feature
Minimum ink coverage
Small blocks filled with colors and larger ones with gradients

I recommend that you get an excellent design application like Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator. The features of these applications can really assist you in this task.

There are many online tutorials where you can learn how to become more familiar with this software. You may also purchase training materials from industry experts where you can get the tricks and tips of the trade.

If you still find yourself challenged in design creation, consider getting somebody else to do the job for you. You can click on this link to find and hire a freelancer who will create the design for you.

You can also purchase designs outright. Get ones that are vector-based so that you can scale these designs with ease later. In case it is not available, you can request it from the creator.

You just have to make sure that when you do so, creative licenses come along with the purchase so that you are covered when you sell the t-shirts with these designs commercially. It would also help that these designs are free from trademark infringement issues although this is covered when you purchase them from reputable sites.

These sites such as Thefancydeal, Threadless, Design By Humans, 99Designs, and others have readily available designs for your consideration.

Other sources of quality designs are T-shirt graphic marketplaces such as the T-Shirt Factory and Designious. Do consider general graphic design marketplaces such as Creative Market and Graphic River. They all have an extensive collection of great designs.

Printing Using The Direct To Garment Printer

A good Raster Image Processor or RIP software which is a specialized one is needed to be able to print this design with your DTG printer. This is simply a print utility that will convert the image that you have previously created into a print job that you can later control during the printing process.

There are other uses for this RIP software. This application comes standard with your DTG printer and it is already set with the most common settings needed.

It can facilitate the creation of the white underbase which is needed when you are printing on black and dark-colored t-shirts. It can also control the amount of white and colored inks that will be placed on the same t-shirt later.

This software also helps you with image placement across multiple t-shirts as well as the computation of ink costs in the printing job.

It is important for you to learn the functionalities of this printer. You can go over this with your vendor or attend specific classes on this subject.

Please click on this link for tips on DTG printing. This will share with you suggestions on how you can avoid common mistakes with printing.

In case you encounter problems printing with your DTG printer, especially with the white ink issue, you can click on this link. This article will also provide you with printer maintenance tips.

Curing The DTG Printed T-Shirt

This is needed to ensure that your t-shirt will get the maximum washability. It will also increase your garment’s direct to garment printing durability.

You will have to set aside about 2 to 3 minutes of curing time set at 340 degrees F. There may be fabrics that will need more curing time or higher temperature so you will have to test this individually and make a proper note.

There are also different types of curing sheets that can be properly used here like parchment, release sheets, Teflon, and embroidery backing material. You will get distinct types of finishes with your prints based on these same curing sheets.

One piece of equipment that you will be needing is the heat press for proper curing. You will need to set the temperature and pressure when using this heat press. I recommend that you set pressure between 1 to 3 PSI.

These curing sheets will also prevent transferring the ink or the pretreat solution to the heat press. You will need to touch the printed design to really see if the inks have cured completely.

Another option here is to use a conveyor dryer although the results here are not as preferable as that coming from a heat press. This is because you will get a lesser feel of a heat transfer and it allows a soft hand to the print. Be aware of the conveyor dryer temperature and its running speed to ensure that the t-shirt is curing properly and not getting burned.

Tips With DTG Printing

I would like to share several tips on DTG printing.

What Fabric You Should Use

This should address immediately the question of how long does direct to garment printing last. If you will avoid these types of fabrics or clothing, then it should last for a while:

Hoodies and sweatshirts
Sweatpants
Performance wear made with polyester fabric
Fabrics that have less than 50% cotton content

100% ringspun and combed cotton is the best fabric that you can consider using. It will provide you with great washability and print results along with comfort and affordability. Good examples of this fabric are the Bella+Canvas Jersey Tees 3001, Hanes Nano Tees 4980.

Try to shy away from t-shirts with the words “heather”, “ash”, and “antique” in their brand description for they will have polyester content.

Running A Nozzle Check On The T-Shirt Printer And Test Prints

This is vital especially if you are printing with a dark-colored or black t-shirt. It is an easy thing to do this since all you need is to press the Maintenance button if you are using an Epson F2000 direct to garment printer.

Please use a test t-shirt that is similar to the final product so that you can anticipate what the print result will be. It has to be of the same color and pretreated as well.

The printer will send a test line of the inks to be used on the sample garment. You need to look at this very closely especially with the white inks because they have a strong tendency to clog faster than other inks.

I suggest that you do a test print while performing this task. This will definitely save you time checking out your design and it will give you an opportunity to play with the settings so that you will obtain the best results possible. It will also likewise increase your familiarity with your t-shirt printing equipment.

Once your test prints have come out, please inspect it and note the following:

Check for proper artwork registration and ghosting. Ghosting means that there is a presence of a pale and faint silhouette of your design.
See if all the designs elements have printed properly.
Check the ink density that the t-shirt printer has laid down.
Check for the print smoothness and clarity. See if there are banding lines here which are usually caused by nozzle clogs. Banding means the appearance of lines within a design.

If there are things that do not seem right, then this is the right time to tinker with your design or with the direct to garment printer settings and nozzles. Direct to garment printing services are expensive and you can not go back and correct it once you have printed using the production t-shirts.

I also suggest that you inspect the pretreatment coverage on this sample fabrics to verify if there is a proper amount of treatment applied. If not, then you have to make another application.

Strong Discipline Is Needed For Success

If you are a master of artwork design, direct to garment printing services, and sales skills then you have a reasonable chance of success. You can bring in an expert if you do not have the expertise in any of these three skills, especially with design creation.

You will also have a big advantage here if you will manage to purchase the best direct to garment printer. Bear in mind though that this t-shirt printing equipment is expensive. You have to do plenty of research here for there is a strong possible chance that salespeople will tell you that their product is the best one around.

Here are some things that you can do in evaluating the direct to garment printer you are considering:

Give these salespeople a sample of your design and ask them to do a test print on it. They can video this procedure and send it back to you.
See a live demo of using this t-shirt printer. You should be able to see more videos online. It is only through this way that you can view the equipment’s weaknesses and strengths from file preparation all the way to the curing process.
Get the names and contact numbers of people who did purchase the same or identical equipment model. Reach out to these people and inquire regarding their views on the learning curve time, technical assistance, maintenance, and operating supplies costs.
Insist on these salespeople to furnish you with the prices related to equipment parts and supplies. Also, be firm in making them include training as part of your acquisition costs.

You would also need to have a plan on how you will structure your direct to garment printing services. You need to define your own target market and estimate your marketing and promotional expenses. You will also have to estimate the time necessary before you will be ready to service the demands of your clientele since you are still adapting to this technology.

I believe that you can also reach out to the people who have bought the equipment you are considering for any advice regarding establishing your business.