Direct to garment printing is a high quality digital print method that is essentially a giant computer printer, but instead printing on paper, it prints on garments. This process is best for complex designs with lots of different color tones or fine details, such as a photograph.
The process for DTG starts with treating the garment with a solution that helps the ink to adhere. This will sometimes leave a residue that will wash out after the first washing of the item.
DTG uses a water based ink that absorbs into the cotton of an item. This gives the feel of the print being in the garment rather than on the garment. For this reason DTG is best suited for items with a high cotton content. 100% cotton will yield the best results. We can produce high quality prints on anything that is a minimum of 50% cotton.
There are 4 pallet sizes that we use. All pallets have a ¼ inch no print zone around the perimeter making our maximum print sizes for each pallet ½ inch smaller than the pallet size. The pallets:
- 7x8- this most often used for infant/toddler sized garments
- 10x12- this yields the highest quality hoodie front prints, and is used for youth sized shirts
- 14x16- This is our standard pallet for garments
- 16x18- This is our largest pallet and it is used for oversized prints
This method is not meant for sleeves, hoods, pants or hats but for areas that can fit seamlessly on the pallets. Printing across areas, such as front-to-sleeve can not be achieved with this method.
If a client is not using our graphic design team for art assistance, we ask that all designs be sent to us as print ready files.
What do we mean by print ready? This means that we should have no editing or adjustments to do on our end; every detail in the provided design is to be printed. For DTG printing, the best format for a print ready file is a high resolution (at least 300 DPI) png on a transparent background, that is cropped to the edges of the design.
There are no minimums for DTG Printing.
For more examples please check out our Instagram!
