Clothes printing is often favoured for advertising and promotional purposes as it handles bright colours much better than embroidery can. It’s also a more cost-effective option when you want to print on larger pieces of clothing, especially T-shirts. There are several different ways that garment prints can be produced, and each one delivers a different result.
Before getting started, it’s important to understand how each printing method works, and what kind of results you can expect. First off, there’s heat transfer printing. This involves printing a design on high-quality paper and then transferring it to the fabric of the garment using a heat press. It can only be used on a few different types of fabrics, and it’s not ideal for large scale production.
Next is screen printing, or silkscreen printing. This is the most common type of printing, and it’s perfect for high-volume prints. It’s a fast and efficient way to make shirts, and it allows you to use a full range of Pantone colors. This is the best choice if you need a lot of identically printed shirts, and it’s great for any prints that require branding or logos.
Finally, there’s direct-to-garment printing, or DTG. This process uses modified inkjet technology to apply digital designs directly to the fabric of the shirt, and it’s great for a wide variety of prints. This printing method only applies to natural fibers, such as cotton or bamboo, so it’s not suitable for very heavy materials.