Bobbie Lee,
What brand do you use for DTG. I am considering purchasing a DTG Kiosk. TIA for your input.
Mona
I have been using my HMI Kiosk for about 4 months.
I came from a silkscreening backgrround, but when it came to setting up my own shop, I went DTG. I wanted to be able to offer my clients fast turn around and the ability to do smaller (12-24) runs economically. Not having to charge a screen fee or a set up fee really helps.
The Pro - the machine works great. Prints on white are awesome. Prints on lights are great. Most prints on darks are very good.
The Con - Printing on darks is much more expensive than they let on. The white ink on a "full" print can easily cost $2 per shirt. Pretreatment is about $.50 per print. You can (by yourself) pretreat about 30 shirts an hour, if you are fast, so you have to add that time into your calculations. Curing the darks takes about twice as long. I find that when printing on darks I max out at about 15 shirts an hour, compared with printing on lights at about 40 shirts an hour.
I think that arguements regarding the superiority of one method over another are almost silly. Each method has its nitch. If I were regularly doing hundreds of shirts, I would have gone silkscreen. Because most of my orders are under 100 pieces, the scales were tipped to DTG. I also find it easier to be a one man shop with DTG.
Thank you for your input. I guess all the talk about the difficulty with dark printing scared me into waiting some time before investing. I hope the next generation of printers does a better job of addressing printing on dark shirts. I know I will be asked to do lots of these.
Thank you for your input. I guess all the talk about the difficulty with dark printing scared me into waiting some time before investing. I hope the next generation of printers does a better job of addressing printing on dark shirts. I know I will be asked to do lots of these.
Let's be clear. Unless you are doing vinyl lettering, printing on darks is more difficult.
With silkscreening you have to make sure the film you are using to make your whilte screen is a little cut in. When screen printing you have to put down just the right amount of white, flash it, sometime put down a second layer (and flash again) and then put down the color, while hoping the flashing didn't cause your shirt to shrink or move on the pallet...
Like silkscreening, a white underlayer is usuallly needed when printing on dark with a DTG printer. A pretreatment is applied before printing. You need to be careful about how much white you print. Too little and it looks gray. Too much and it puddles.
Both methods have their difficulties. For me, the ability to go from art to print in less than 5 minutes pushed me to DTG. Silkscreening has far too many steps, and potential pitfalls, in the process for me to be able to offer the quick service that sets Turbo Threads apart. I oversaw a screen print facility for over 19 years. Blown screens, pinholes, automatic press break downs, bad ink batches, bad screen emulsion, zimming stray smears and splots, uneven curing, heat guns burning out...it seemed we were constantly having to pad our production time to compensate for the inevitable problem.
Yes, a DTG can break down, but it is a much rarer occurance and most maintenance and repairs can be done in house.
As to my understanding, dye sub is for polyester t-shirts only. But at the same time, heat transfer can also make it realized full cotton t-shirt. The differences between dye sub and heat transfer on T-shirt are:
1) dye sub uses sublimation ink; heat transfer uses normal inkjet ink.
2) dye sub uses ink jet paper; heat transfer uses special transfer paper.
3) dye sub do not have color difference; but heat transfer will have dark color t-shirt and light color t-shirt differences. Dark t-shirt uses thick paper, while light one uses thin paper.
4) the printing process is a little difference. For example the heat transfer need to have the differences on printing dark color and light color.
Dye sub actually is kind of economical when printing largely. If you want to print them fast, nice and in large quantity, dye sub is the best. however, if you want to print no more than 4 colors on the mug and just as promotion gifts, you can just try the screen printing.
Many customers find us for screen printing, but they mistake the dye sub cost. Dye sub is suitable for high quality require and it can be dishwasher proof. You won't scratch anything from the surface.
You can (by yourself) pretreat about 30 shirts an hour, if you are fast,
Hi Turbo:
it is great to hear from someone who has experience in both screen and DTG printing. I did have a question re: the above. It takes me 30 seconds to pretreat a dark shirt--I spray while one is curing--thats 120 shirts an hour. But given the vagaries of moving from the spray station to the heat press I will make that time 40 seconds. That is basically 1-1/2 shirts a minute x 60 = 90 shirts a hour. Not that i would want to stand there a spray and cure 90 shirts an hour but that is waht it comes out to. Your calculation would mean it takes 2 minutes per shirt to pretreat.
it is great to hear from someone who has experience in both screen and DTG printing. I did have a question re: the above. It takes me 30 seconds to pretreat a dark shirt--I spray while one is curing--thats 120 shirts an hour. But given the vagaries of moving from the spray station to the heat press I will make that time 40 seconds. That is basically 1-1/2 shirts a minute x 60 = 90 shirts a hour. Not that i would want to stand there a spray and cure 90 shirts an hour but that is waht it comes out to. Your calculation would mean it takes 2 minutes per shirt to pretreat.
As per my manufacturer, I keep my pretreat station 20+ feet from my printer. My heat press is next to my printer. By the time I spray the shirt, walk to the heat press, lay the shirt flat and cover with parchment paper, lower the press, walk back to the spraying station and put the next shirt on the hanger and start to spray...
30 shirts an hour is my real life experience. Your milage may differ...
been reading through this thread for hours. you guys are so generous with information. my partner and i are in the process of starting our company, and should be up and running in a few weeks. it's exciting to be joining this entrepreneurial, creative, smart group. you guys rock.
I do DTG on lights and darks and get great coverage, with bright prints. My garments wash really well and with the new inks and pretreatments fading is alot less.
Lisa I have heard that the detail is not as great with the print heads on the brother as we get with the epson printheads, maybe that is the dot patterns you are talking about, I dont see any dots at all with my printer.
I'm about to by the idot does the print look cheap or fade after washing a few times?
Add to the list, Dye Sub using inks that print on 100% cotton. The paper is more expensive, but overall the look is better. Not to mention customers seem to prefer cotton. The con of using only light colors still apply to this method. However you can also use this con as an advantage. For example, I have a design in which the main lettering is basically white in the design. Each of the colored shirts I print changes the hue of the lettering to its own. Making it appear that the design was custom made for that color shirt.
I would like to know more about the dye sub that prints on coton? What kind of printer and where to get the material? Thanks
Hi there BobbieLee,
My name is Rene and I am from Holland (Europe).
What kind of Epson do you use. I am reading your stuff and it seems you are happy with it.
I am looking for a AnaJet. Mostly to print on pink and blue t-shirts. Is blue the same as Black in this matter?Do you reply in this thread or by e-mail(As you can see I am new to this)
Greetings from Holland
BobbyLee,
I am very sorry that I didn't read this thread entirely.
I just read the name of your printer.
It looks the same as the Anajet if you see the specs doesn't it.
The only cons for me is that a dtg printer prints only cmyk and doesn't print metallics.
Does anyone have something to say on that?
The only cons for me is that a dtg printer prints only cmyk and doesn't print metallics.
Does anyone have something to say on that?
It's one of the drawbacks. How much of one depends on how much you actually use metallic ink though
Personally I don't, so I wouldn't really mind.
On the other hand, it also means no foil and no discharge, which is more of a concern for me. No puff... use that occasionally too. No glow in the dark... haven't used that yet, but I'm sure I will.
But plenty of people who have access to those options (i.e. screenprinters) never use them anyway.
Anyone know what kind of method was used in order to make this shirt:
I bought a t-shirt like this, and the quality was very good, and the colors entwined with each other which made a nice blend.
This is a discussion about Pros and Cons of Each T-Shirt Printing Method that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Re: Pros and Cons of Each Shirt Imaging Method 
Re: Pros and Cons of Each Shirt Imaging Method 
