T-Shirt Forums - View Single Post - Pros and Cons of Each T-Shirt Printing Method

treadhead · January 23rd, 2008

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Originally Posted by Oolong


	Screening Printing - ........ need to print many shirts at once with the same design to be feasible.

This depends alot on the number of colors in the design. A simple 1 or 2 color design may not require a high volume of shirts to make it worth while.

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	Heat Press/Heat Transfers - ........Cons: heavy feel of transfer, the cloth is the brightest part of the design: works well on white shirts, but doesn't work on dark shirts, cracks, fades away easily.

There are new papers out now (IronAll & SoftStretch) that do not have a heavy feel and stretches thus avoiding the cracking problem. The Softstretch appears to be much better when it comes to fading.

Also classified in this catagory are plastisol transfers (indirect screenprinting) which can have a very soft feel to them and are just as durable as direct screenprinted designs.

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	Vinyl Cutters - ........Cons: have to separate and cut out each color independently, doesn't work well for designs with complex patterns or designs that show a lot of background of the shirt inside the design.

I don't know if this is a typo but the vinyl actually works better when you utilize the shirt color as one of the design colors. The more "open" the design (i.e shirt colors showing through) the better vinyl works since it won't feel as heavy and stiff.

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	Direct to Garment - .........Cons: the cloth is the brightest part of the design: works well on white shirts, but doesn't work on dark shirts, fades away easily.

Although, printing on dark shirts is more difficult to master and more expensive, it works very well when it is done correctly. Many folks have had issues in getting this right (including myself) but it is probably the best way (along with screenprinting) to print a design on dark shirts (IMHO) and certainly the best way to print a full color design on a dark shirt (again...IMHO).

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	Dye Sublimation - ???

Dye sub is great for full color designs on white or light colored garments. It has no feel to the design but is a little trickier to master than inkjet heat transfers. Also, it tends to be a bit more expensive. You can also use this process on non textile products such as mugs, mousepads, tile, puzzles, coasters, key chains, etc.