How Does Direct to Garment Printing Works?

Direct to Garment (DTG) printing prints a design from a computer onto a garment placed in a printer. Of course, DTG printing requires a specialized printer, specifically a modified ink-jet type printer. Direct to Garment printers use water-based textile DTG ink. 

These inks are best suited for printing on cotton, linen, hemp, or bamboo. However, the most common use of DTG is to high-quality print designs on cotton products like T-shirts.

DTG printers first came out in the late 1990s, but the first commercial DTG printers appeared in 2005. So, how does DTG printing work?

You would first start by designing what you want to print on a computer using any designing software. The software should be able to send output to the printer. For a good DTG print, the image needs a high-resolution design (300 dots per inch or dpi is best). 

Once you finish your design, you can go to the next step, a pre-print treatment of the garment. Usually cotton, hemp, or bamboo fibers stick out from the cloth/garment. These need to be pressed flat. Also, the garment is pre-treated with a special liquid. In the pre-printing process, the garment is sprayed with the liquid and used in a heat press for a few seconds.

After which, the garment is mounted on the print plate that goes into the printer. The computer then sends the design for printing. Once the printing is over the garment needs curing in a heat press for a few seconds, after which it is ready.

Though it is possible to print on light and dark cotton fabrics, DTG printing is best on white cotton. For printing or darker fabrics, the printing process would need two steps. First, a white base gets printed, then the design gets printed on top of it.

DTG printing is good for short-run orders, like one or two prints. For larger print runs, it may be cheaper to use screen printing or other printing processes. 

A DTG printing setup requires a computer, a heat press, and the DTG printer and can be set up in a small place. However, specialized printers and inks do cost a lot. So small entrepreneurs may need to think twice before investing in such a system. 

To summarize, DTG printing is good for short-run orders. It does not need a big set-up to get high-quality prints. However, the prohibitive cost of Direct to Garment printers and DTG Ink could deter small businesses.