You can pick any product from our catalog, add your design, and see how it will look in real life. Next Post: Whether youre just playing with the idea of starting a clothing line or thinking about scaling your existing business, you need to choose a printing method that will meet your business goals in the most cost-effective way. DTG printing is perfect for that kind of small order. But not for the manufacturer, mind you. For small orders, DTG printing is a great fit. You are responsible for creating a custom experience that reflects the customer's needs. Luckily, these are all known quantities which means pricing your DTG prints can be a lot easier than pricing your screen prints. A screen printing technician then washes out the negative image, leaving openings in the mesh for ink to pass through. Theres no minimum order quantity and no up-front investment is required. Learn more about pod DTG printing in our guide to DTG printing with Luke Ryerkerk. Pre-treating adds another minute of time to each garment you print. The best choice for longevity of the garment. DTG printing is profitable and easy for 1 to 12 garments. Its not a concern for a regular print-on-demand user. There's almost no question that a DTG printer will be faster for printing just one shirt. The production of durable, aesthetically pleasing clothing has evolved over the years, and while screen printing is a process that requires more labor, the saturated colors and authentic appearance of the t-shirts that you have as a result are always worth it in the end. Thats why screen printing works best for bulk orders once the stencils are created, the production moves ahead quickly. Screen printing has a lot of setup and breakdown involved. If you want to create multicolored designs, the ink has to go on in several layers, with a different stencil for each ink. How does DTG feel compared to screen printing? We help you streamline your business, keep jobs moving forward and your team on the same page. By using direct-to-garment printing, you can remain confident that your extremely detailed and intricate designs will come out of the printer just as you intended. Now is the best time to switch to Printavo. For instance, flock is going to provide a velvet finish that stands out and is textured. Their online store makes ordering supplies simple. Basically, you can start printing and selling your own one-of-a-kind items in no time at all. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. DTG printers range from small desktop sized models to units that require large climate-controlled garages. Brother has made a name for itself in the DTG space with their versatile and powerful GTX line of printers. Cost-effective for smaller batches as larger ones will use more ink. A pre-treatment machine typically costs between $3,000 and $4,000. Without pre-treating garments, DTG prints appear dull and faded or worse, don't adhere to the garment at all. AnaJet invested heavily in consumer education and ongoing support for their DTG users, making it a good fit for Ricoh's solutions-oriented business model. One of the most significant decisions that you have to make after deciding the cut and style, of course is the printing method that you want to go with. The ink is water based, with a single layer absorbed into the fibers of the t-shirt. For large orders, screen printing blows DTG printing away. After all, screen prints can survivehundreds of wash cycles if they're cured and applied correctly. So why is it easier to price DTG prints, and how do you do it? It is a great t-shirt printing method, too. This white ink provides the 'canvas' for the colours to print onto; otherwise, the colours would not be seen on dark coloured shirts (since thewaterbased inks are translucent, not fully opaque). Most models range between $15,000 and $30,000. The graph below shows screen printing prices in red, while DTG prices are in blue. Lets look at both: Produces vibrant designs with colors that are saturated into the fabric. The design is precise, with neat edges and a high-quality level of detail. Is there a difference? DTG printing is inefficient at high volumes. By comparing it to its older counterpart, screen printing, you can pick the one that suits your business best. But they require carefully controlled temperatures and humidity levels to operate. Imagine the home printer that you have in the office; well, DTG printing works the same way. However, screen printing requires a setup time that offsets its speed. It generally works well with printing items in bulk quantities, which, unless sold, may end up in landfills or be burned. It is usually recommended for full-color designs with lots of details like illustrations, photographs, gradients, etc. The actual equipment is expensive. Maintenance and R&D are expensive. Heres why: Screen printing, on the other hand, is perfect for those who are ready to order in bulk, have a bit of capital, and storage space. 1300 115 755, Great for photographic prints or designs with gradients, Cost-effective for small runs (1 to 50 units), Colours are not as opaque/solid as screenprinting, Can fade over time (10-20% for white t-shirts, 5-10% for coloured garments), Requires more care when washing (cold, gentle wash only, no dryer), Not as cost-effective for larger runs compared to screenprinting (designs with 1-5 colours). And what is that ultimate goal? Consider using a contract printer the job to a print shop that specializes in complex simulated process screen printing (or trying to separate and print it yourself). Unless you specialize in printing complex art, lean toward DTG for things like photographs (unless the customer is requesting a large quantity). Pre-treatment adds considerable time and cost to DTG printing. Did you know that. Pre-treat can be expensive (Ryonet sells a 20 liter supply of Epson's pre-treat for just under $700) but it's necessary for professional-quality prints. Printavo is simple shop management software. By 72 prints, screen printing absolutely blows away DTG printing for efficiency. The ink is expensive. Leon is a professional copywriter, translator, and interpreter. A tried-and-true method for printing ink on textiles, garments, and a variety of substrates, screen printing is a labor intensive process designed to quickly produce hundreds (if not thousands) of prints very quickly. Every print shop has had someone walk in and get frustrated that they can't simply order one t-shirt. The screen printing process starts with a nylon mesh screen with light-sensitive emulsion applied to it. Sign up now and get 25% off on your first order. If you have an online store connected to a print provider that offers DTG printing, the process is smooth and simple. They can cost $1,000 to $2,000 for a high-end model. If care instructions are followed correctly, DTG prints can withstand over 50 washes and still remain acceptable to your customers. A single layer of ink can mean that the design is more faded. Theres no minimum order quantity and no up-front investment is required. DTG printingis recommended for full-colour designs with lots of details(like illustrations, gradients, photographs, etc.) But if they need to print multiple designs, or do just a few prints, screen printing can be prohibitively expensive compared to DTG printing. The printer creates a stencil on a fine mesh screen, then pushes the ink through it to achieve the desired outcome imprinting the design on a chosen garment. Dont underestimate the importance of your pre-treatment machine! They have a litany of offerings and services that span beyond DTG printing and a formidable support staff armed with lots of educational resources. They also have invested heavily into hybrid screen printing, which mixes DTG applications with a screen printed underbase. DTG printing is another tool for a print shop to meet the needs of their customers. This kind of DTG printing is a premium service so charge appropriately for rush orders, replacements, and reprints. Live Screen Printing: Whats Next? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. They are focused on developing industrial DTG technology that can scale to meet the needs of print-on-demand companies. Direct-to-garment printing, or DTG, is a printing process that involves spraying ink onto a garment using specialized or modified inkjet technology, then waiting for it to soak into the fabric. High production speed. Its one of the most important parts of your DTG setup. Most shops apply pre-treat with a roller or pre-treat machine. With decades of experience in embroidery technology, Ricoh has begun its acquisition and expansion phase. Typical Brother or Epson DTG printers start around $10,000. Should you buy a DTG printer? As eCommerce continues to surge and print on demand becomes increasingly profitable, its a worthwhile endeavor to find a printing method thats right for you. Omniprintis a leader in the DTG space. It costs a minimum of$20,000 to $30,000 for a complete and professional DTG printing setup. This "break-even point" varies, but a common industry minimum is 24 t-shirts. Answer: It may sound like DTG is a futuristic answer for printing everything under the sun. Put another way: DTG printers and any custom printing equipment do not generate demand. So, you have to break the entire design down into individual colors layer by layer, which is usually done with computer software like Photoshop. Because using DTG printing, the product is made only after it has been bought. They print line-by-line just like a printer at your house. Because of the high price, we advise print shops to consider purchasing their first DTG printer after they've contracted thousands of dollars of DTG prints out of their business. Whether you intend to print on custom t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, or any other type of apparel, the quality of the print is of paramount importance to satisfy your customers expectations. You can fire up the printer, pre-treat shirts, and send them off after printing & curing very quickly in a pinch. Well, I'm glad you asked! Before making the final decision, be sure to think about your needs. In our modern throw-away society, people find durable goods refreshing. All of these brands put out high-quality DTG printers if they're purchased new. DTG printing lets screen print shops take smaller, more complex orders that they would normally turn away. But that isn't always the case and DTG printing isn't always the best way to achieve softer prints. You can actually calculate the exact cost of the ink over the area. Your DTG printer applies a given amount of ink over a pre-determined area on a garment. M&R made the M-LINK line of DTG printers and currently manufactures the EZPREP Pretreatment system. Lets look at the pros and cons: Now youve read some more about each method of t-shirt printing; you can see how different they are. The most expensive DTG printing setups can easily exceed $250,000 though higher-end models often include a comprehensive warranty and maintenance package as well. and/or when ordering in small quantities, such as a once-off design or just a few pieces. No minimum order quantity. There are a variety of requirements for the different printing methods that you should keep in mind. Lawson, Equipment Zone and M&R all make pre-treatment machines for DTG printing (along with numerous other manufacturers). Basically, you can start printing and selling your own one-of-a-kind items in no time at all. Its why its gained so much in the way of popularity in recent years. Vibrant, saturated, high-quality prints. Israel-based Kornit competes in this space, backed by a sizable investment from Amazon's print-on-demand division. Whether youre a tireless entrepreneur driven by success, an artist longing to showcase your creative flair to the world, or simply someone whos finally ready to dip their toes into a more adventurous fare than a 9-to-5 job, choosing the right printing method can make or break your apparel business. | Featuring Family Industries. Epson is famous for their large-format printers, and is a common household name with decades of experience in inkjet printing. There isalways a print shop that has more experience than you do. Its a process, but the ink is pulled across the stencil with a blade which gives a fully saturated color. With this method, you can print a single product and still make a profit. It is one of the oldest printing methods that dates back thousands of years. To overcome the cost of creating screens and then setting up those screens on press (as well as breaking down and reclaiming the screens), screen printers need to print a lot of shirts to make the job profitable. The market is essentially low-end DTG printers and extremely high-end DTG printers. Additionally, DTG printing is labor intensive. As a kicker, DTG ink has a shelf life. If they do not have an infrastructure to handle the order intake, printing, and shipping then DTG can be a bank-breaking headache. On the contrary, screen printing is still the tried and true method for bulk orders and retail quality custom apparel. So which is better? DTG printing is the affordable way to print a few shirts. Yes, you'll hear screen printers trash DTG as "direct to garbage" and hear DTG lovers call screen printers old-fashioned. The CYMK ink is then printed directly onto this pretreated fabric. Even though DTG printing is slower than other printing methods, its perfect for print on demand. Screen printing is the more traditional method and involves pushing ink (plastisol or waterbased) on to the apparel through a stencil (the screen), while DTG printing is a newer method that uses a digital printer to apply ink directly onto a garment (much like a home inkjet printer, but on steroids). . You can achieve extremely soft screen printed t-shirts with the right tips. The bottom line about quality: DTG prints are typically made for customers that have different demands than customers that place high-volume screen print orders. However, you can use the heat press for innumerable things in most print shops. These are the "desktop" DTG printers that the overwhelming majority of print shops use. With Printifys print-on-demand services and global DTG print provider network, its really simple to get started. Printing a one-off product saves money, avoids overproduction and waste, and helps the environment. A DTG print will typically be softer than a screen print. These DTG machines are high quality, and many DTG manufacturers source many of their parts from China (then assemble the machines in the US). Steven Farag from Campus Ink in Champaign, IL showed us the difference between DTG and screen printing: Screen printing is the affordable way to print hundreds of shirts. But no company owns the DTG market yet. Screen printing is a tried-and-true printing technique where a mesh stencil is used to transfer ink onto fabric. However, Spreadshop makes it easy, automatically providing options for special foil, flock and flex printing where available. A post shared by NAV Design (@nav_customvinyl) on May 21, 2020 at 9:14pm PDT. Pre-treating can take a minute or more. When it comes to details, DTG printing is an undisputed champion. Their large DTG printers are priced at a premium but are known for excellent service, warranties, and generally high build quality. Additionally, the prices are always reasonable, and the process is hassle-free. DTG printing is often ideal for art that isn't great for screen printing. Once setup is done, production moves quickly. This method allows you to print highly detailed designs and photorealistic images which look as good or even better than when other printing processes such as screen printing are used. Another problem? This curing process makes the ink extremely durable. It takes much more time to create those 5 screens and set them up on the screen printing press than it does to actually print the 20 shirts! The screens are then set up on our screen printing press, and individual coloured ink is then pushed through the stencil using a squeegee. Ink is sprayed onto the surface by carefully controlled print heads. Theres no doubt about it, but unfortunately its limited to specific colors, requires a lot of time, and is wickedly labor-intensive. Different businesses have different models some do online store sales, while others make their money on 30,000 piece runs that DTG printers could never keep up with. Embroidery vs Screen Print Which Should You Choose? Ultimately, there's no clear winner between DTG and screen printing. Print shops use DTG printers for specific applications but the most common is simply printing 1 to 12 shirts for customers that only need a handful of shirts. This is what Amazon attempted to do with Kornit (mentioned above), though on amuch larger scale. So how do you decide between DTG printing and Screen Printing? Your custom projects will dictate which printing method you use, and the primary consideration has to be the impact on the design of the t-shirt, with cost a close second. Its an exact method of printing, and it offers you the following pros and cons: Its the classic method of printing that is favored among most fashion gurus out there. There are specific t-shirt designs that are more suited to this method than others, and screen printing provides the user with a high-quality result that has always been popular among clothing creators. With screen printing, however, overproduction is common. You can simply fire off a shirt and send it out without remaking screens. This ancient art technique is also known as silk screening, because it was first intended to stencil silk. While there are a lot of ways to save money on screen printing ink, DTG inks are typically crafted for one specific manufacturer's printers. The Tee Junction team will always provide the best advice and guidance for your needs. So how do you choose between screen printing and DTG printing? This is often a "blind spot" that screen printers encounter when they make the leap to DTG printing. If they have built a consistent flow of low-volume orders, DTG printing can be a valuable investment. 3 best strategies, PickleCon is a Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs. Although its only been around for about 20 years, it has revolutionized the fashion industry in ways that nobody expected. However, as the quantity increases, the time and cost to DTG printing increaseswhile screen printing gets more affordable. This coat acts like an underbase so that the ink is vibrant and longer-lasting. One way to get around this is to do a "pod printing" setup. DTG vs. screen printing, the battle between these two printing methods has been raging for some time now. In this article, well help you to fine-tune your knowledge of both direct-to-garment (also known as DTG) and screen printing. How exactly does DTG printing work? However, the most trusted brands for DTG printing areBrotherandEpson for desktop-style DTG printers. DTG printer, pre-treat machine, and a heat press. Screen-printed garments, however, have dots that are visible to the naked eye, whereas with DTG printing, the resolution is phenomenal you cant see them at all. Screen printing will produce the most vibrant, durable prints thanks to the thicker and more solid plastisol/waterbased inks available. There simply isn't a mid-range price-point for DTG printers yet. They include, but are not limited to: In one word? This video goes into more details about how the Screen Printing and DTG processes work. and print on demand becomes increasingly profitable, its a worthwhile endeavor to find a printing method thats right for you. In the printing industry, details are the smallest parts of the design, such as textures, fine lines, or tiny elements. The printer transfers your digital image onto a blank t-shirt, and they are able to handle designs in a range of different colors. We recommend screenprinting for situations where the t-shirts & apparel will be worn and washed regularly. Screen printers can printone design at high volume quickly. Rush orders such as someone needing a few shirts within 24 hours are a great use for DTG printing. Also commonly referred to as 'Digital Printing', DTG is relatively new to the world of apparel printing (around 15 years). Exclusive Sales & Rewards. Custom All-Over-Print Hoodies, Sweatshirts & More, Unrivaled, photorealistic high-quality prints, Excellent for extremely detailed and intricate designs, Difficult to print finer details; perfect for less detailed designs, Typically uses environmentally-friendly, water-based inks, Screen printing can be dirty and messy, requires a lot of water, You can order as few or as many as you like, Has minimum order requirements, usually from 5 to 100, Slow, but cost-effective and profitable for small orders, Perfect for bulk orders. Maybe a customer ordered 100 shirts last year, but now they just want 5 of the same design. Omniprint also offers turnkey business kits for DTG printing a unique offering in the industry. The most frequent orders in many print shops are fewer than 72 pieces! DTG and screen printing are two of the most common and popular methods for custom apparel printing. This is why screen printing is still a strong option for custom garments: it's simply much faster than DTG printingonce you overcome setup time. At Spreadshop, there are a variety of printing methods that can be used. You'll need to pre-treat your shirts. "The same number of t-shirts will be sold, but how they're sold and printed will change," said M&R's CEO Danny Sweem. The next video is from Printavo and Campus Ink in the USA. This time, a stronger pretreatment is applied to the fabric of the shirt. DTG (direct-to-garment) printing and Screen Printing are two of the most common methods to print custom t-shirts & apparel. This allows print shops to print two designs on one printer simultaneously. First, consider what it will take to screen print the artwork that the customer has. This method requires the use of thick inks, causing them to lay on top of the material rather than soaking into the fabric. Todays technology allows for the use of eco-friendly inks. This is the standard option. The process is, however, more labor intensive, and the process of making your t-shirts limits the number of colors that you can choose. | Featuring Family Industries. Well-made products that are built to last and can stand the test of time are becoming increasingly valuable and, sad to say, rare. This goes beyond the dtg vs screen printing conundrum. Unfortunately, it's not recommended to pre-treat large numbers of garments ahead of time. However, there are still multiple contexts where DTG printing makes a lot of sense. Theres always going to be a better option, and its going to depend on your individual needs as to which is the best for you. The cost for DTG ink is much higher than the cost for screen printing ink. There are a few things you need to remember. Note: if you're a customer looking to purchase custom t-shirts and are looking for more information, you should trust your local print shop's judgment about how to print your t-shirts. For large orders (more than 24 pieces) screen printing typically costs less than DTG printing. Remember: DTG prints may not be as durable as screen prints, and may not be appropriate for every type of garment or print. DTG printers are functionally similar to the typical inkjet printer you'd find in a home or office. Their costs are astronomical. Used DTG machines are widely considered a bad idea you won't know if the maintenance and upkeep has been performed properly. On white garments, Tee Junction applies a pretreatment onto the fabric, much like a primer before you paint a house. Other rush orders could be replacements or reprints. Did you know that 92 million tons of textile go to waste every year? DTG printers cannot keep pace with screen printers. Now that you understand the differences between the two, the choice is yours! Ricoh is multinational corporation focused on providing digital solutions to businesses. What type of ink is used for DTG printing? In other words, the DTG market has a robust niche from $10k-$30k then jumps all the way up to $100k and more. Cost-effective. Scheduling, quoting, approvals, payments, customer communication, automation and more. If you see that artwork can easily be separated, lean toward screen printing. When it comes down to it, you need to decide your printing method based on the t-shirts that you require in the first place. With most DTG printers, you can print roughly one shirt every two minutes. Fewer print locations available (no sleeve printing, or printing near hems), Best durability of print - last the life of the garment when properly cared for, Special inks available (metallic, gold, glow-in-the-dark), Suitable for a wider range of garments types (cotton, polyester, sports material, etc.).
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