pari

hi,
i m totally new to the t-shirt design industry. I want to start with a minimum quantity only order based (only in my local market), as if i get 2-3 orders per day i wanna get my t-shirts print after the order is placed and then deliver to the clinet next day.
Question: which type of prining is beeter for me? if i want to print at home with something liek digital printer. Is there any small printing machine or printer which can help me out and i can operate it myself.

lot of question but i know...... it's my start

Thanks in advance!

 

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Pwear

A DTG (direct to garment) machine would be the best thing out there for one-off shirts or low quantities. They're VERY expensive if you're not doing alot of work on them (in the tens of thousands). You might also consider inkjet transfers for light garments (dark garment transfers are still "rubbery" and not yet perfected, in my opinion).

Are you selling shirts of your own designs? If so, you might want to get plastisol transfers made. They're basically a screen print applied to a transfer paper, that you then transfer with a heat press as you need them.

Other than that, screen printing is the way to go. It's the most durable and more time-effective way to print any type of quantity.

 

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pari

thanks for writnig!

yes, i am workign with my own designs on t-shirts.
will it be economical also if i hire a screen printer person for me?

 

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Pwear

That all depends on how many shirts you're selling, how much you have invested in the equipment and how much you're paying the employee. If you're moving 2-3 shirts a day it makes no sense to hire someone - either do it yourself if you have the equipment, or have them pre-printed by a screen printer, or get transfers that you can apply on a per-order basis. If you're moving dozens of shirts a day, that's a different story.

 

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azit

digital printer is very expensive. unless you print t-shirts on a large scale, it is useless.
you can easily start with a desktop printer, transfer papers and a heat press.
i think you can start from as low as rs.30~40k.

 

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speck

I am just starting out as well...I'm trying to find as much information as I can right now before I commit to something...But I definitely want to do this...I am wondering what the best way to print my t shirts at first as well...I'm thinking about screen printing but would rather be able to make them as I sell them on my website store...would heat transfer make more sense and is there a way to do it and make quality prints without buying a huge/expensive machine?

 

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azit

Quote: Originally Posted by speck I am just starting out as well...I'm trying to find as much information as I can right now before I commit to something...But I definitely want to do this...I am wondering what the best way to print my t shirts at first as well...I'm thinking about screen printing but would rather be able to make them as I sell them on my website store...would heat transfer make more sense and is there a way to do it and make quality prints without buying a huge/expensive machine?

if you want to print the same design on a number of tees then screen printing is quick and economical. however it is not suitable for one-off or very low volume because of the cost of screen preparation and the time involved. also, you cannot do photo-like designs with a lot of colors and gradations.
DTG printer is good and solves the above problems but expensive. you need volumes to justify any investment on it. however screen printing has its advantages over dtg in some cases.
personally, i believe heat transfer papers are the way to start small initially.
every printing process has its own strong and weak points.
selecting a process depends on many things like.. number of tees to be printed, type of design, cost target etc.

 

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speck

Quote: Originally Posted by azit i believe heat transfer papers are the way to start small initially. every printing process has its own strong and weak points. selecting a process depends on many things like.. number of tees to be printed, type of design, cost target etc.

I am currently on the Pro World website looking at heat transfer devices and am thinking that's going to make the most sense for me starting out. I don't want to order a bunch of shirts and end up having to give them away. I would rather print as they are ordered. Do you or anyone else have any suggestions on what type of machine and what the best printer and inks are to use? I would like to get the best quality for my money and give customers a product they're going to keep wanting more of.

 

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azit

Quote: Originally Posted by speck Do you or anyone else have any suggestions on what type of machine and what the best printer and inks are to use?

I live in a different part of the world.
So it is difficult to suggest.
Brands and models of the equipment and supplies are different here.

 

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