Hello! I am currently doing DTG printing and thinking about switching to dye sub. Any opinions one way or the other? Thinking sub is easier to take to events, costs a little more to print, can do more items?????
Hi Sue are you thinking of giving up the brother? I do both and would never get rid of my brother.
we have done shows but like you said the shirts are a lot more and the ink is not cheap. Softlinks is going to be no longer so I am not sure what you would be paying for the poly shirts, but why couldn't you set up at a show if nearby and take orders and bring them the next day or if you had to ship them. We have done shows and took orders for the shirts and did the other stuff on site, because we did not want to spend a fortune in dye sub shirts not knowing what sizes would sell.
Hello! I am currently doing DTG printing and thinking about switching to dye sub. Any opinions one way or the other? Thinking sub is easier to take to events, costs a little more to print, can do more items?????
For apparel, since dye sub can only go on lighter garments, it sort of limits the possibilities.
I don't know that I'd pick dye sub over DTG if I already had a DTG printer. Many DTG printers can print on more than just t-shirts. I've read about them doing golf balls, tiles, even ladies nails I think.
We have both in our shop... we use our dtg for apparel, and dye sub for non textiles. I have seen tile printed on the dtg and have to say that dye sub is way better and less time consuming.
I use sublimation extensively, but its biggest downside is its limitation in only printing onto polyester garments, rather than the light fabrics only issue.
Out of curiosity, does a DTG printer literally just spray the ink onto a garment in the same way an inkjet lays down ink onto paper? The promotional videos I've seen only show the tees coming out, without any real explanation of the process.
Have you thought over what your customers would like for a garment substrate? Right now you can print on soft cotton garments. If it is Tees you want to print at events, you can't beat cotton for sellability in my opinion.
One of my printing methods is DTG, and am also getting a dye sub system. But I will be using dye sub for a very specific market.
If you want to print on more than textiles, I think dye sub is the way to go. I can print on tiles, golf balls and some other stuff with my T-Jet, but it is not as durable as dye sub, and I can not print on as many different things as you can with dye sub (like mugs per se).
If you setup at events and print things like shirts, mugs, tote bags and more, then you also have to bring along the appropriate heat presses.
My dtg is a Brother, which is very large and heavy. We took it to an event this weekend for the first time. It was so difficult to load it into my trailer and back to the house. It was nice to return home with the work already done. We usually make the shirts at home and mail them. Setting up at the event was cumbersome with so much equipment to set up and put away, but overall I think it went well. We are going to try it again next weekend. The people like getting their shirts on the spot. Still undecided about sublimation. I think we will still get it soon even if only to print on tiles, wicking shirts, etc. We are doing photography also, printing photos and photo shirts.
i currently silk screen, embroider, and dye sub. but when i go to events i take my epson 1400 heat transfer paper an a heat press. i only offer prints on white and light grey. most customers love the feel of the shirts with the transfer because the newer transfer paper would only have a slight hand. the cost compared to dye sub is also less expensive if you are only doing shirts. but if you are making anything else such as mugs etc. dye sub is the way to go.
I use sublimation for all event and shows that I do I found that if they like the design the 100% polyester vapor shirts are no problem to sell. On Friday night we went to a meet and greet the driver for sprint car outlaws and did 65 photo shirts at $25 each. I also have orders to fill for clocks, more shirts, mousepads and more. I think if I tried to take orders only I could only get around $15 for the shirt. And I bet sales would be half or less.
dye sub or DTG?????? 
Re: dye sub or DTG?????? 
