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Using DTG vs Screen Printing & Target Markets

4K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Justin86 
#1 ·
Direct-to-Garment Printing of T-Shirts Has Many Advantages
- When printing less than 200 shirts per day
- When printing any number of shirts that vary
- When printing a four-color process design (photographic) shirt
- When the design requires more than 5 color layers or “screens”
- When printing short-runs or single-shirt orders
- When an extremely photographic or complex hi-resolution shirt design is required

Traditional Screen Printing of T-Shirts is Still Important
- When printing over 200 shirts of the same design
- When a brand or spot color needs to be exact
- When using custom or specialty inks such as glow-in-the-dark or metallics, etc.
- When the absolute lowest cost-per-shirt is required

Target Markets

High Volume – Over 1,000 Shirts per Month – 70%
- Traditional screen printers requiring a high performance on-demand solution
- Print-on-demand eCommerce business models that are 100% DTG
- Key thoughts are reliability, productivity, and cost-per-garment

Mid Volume – Up to 1,000 Shirts per Month – 20%
- Traditional screen printer requiring DTG to add new value products for their customers
- Key thoughts are financial payback from acquiring DTG technology and ease-of-use

Low Volume – Up to 500 Shirts per Month – 10%
- Small home-based or side-based eCommerce business
- DTG is 100% of their printing business
- Key thoughts are return-on-investment, ease-of-use, small footprint, and standard power
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Jerid,
Nothing is 100% :)
Screen printer will raise hand, lol. However, good points.
Brian Walker said "future screen print is screen less". I believe him.
Your high volume measure is way off unless you address One machine(Epson level), One person. 1000/month.
Some one dtg machine can print and printing thousands per day now.:) window is too wide. 1000 to what number?
Your low volume is 80% of market share not 10% as you said.
Let's show real world not dream world. While you said 70% of high volume who does 50 shirts every day is very rare. 10%.
Sales is important also a investment from newbies too. Those are blood, sweats, tears, years of time of saving. Deliver Big hope is good but realism will be more benefit to them. IMHO.
Cheers!
 
#3 ·
The important point is that few, if any, of us in the industry believe that direct to garment printing will replace textile screen printing. Each has its place. The best way to define your business is as a garment decorator. Then pick the best process to use for the type order you're processing.
For many orders, direct to garment printing makes the most sense. For other orders screen printing is the more efficient way to go.

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#4 ·
Maybe someday, but before that we will se hybrids - screen printed underbase with DTG CMYK on top. Well this Is avaible already but with waterbased screen printing inks process is not efficient.

We need inks that will bond to plastisol inks. And they soon will be here..
 
#7 ·
Why is this of big importance?
DTG and screenprinting in vicinity to each other are no good match. You need 50-60% humidity for DTG and over 100deg C for flash curing plastisol. You want ti bring hot palette to DTG? Good Luck! We keep our Kornit in separate room from it's dryer and industrial Humidifier with triple calculated capacity. Yet in summer we still get days where we don't reach humidity. We don't print on days like that.
I beleive DTG develops fast enough with no need for hybrids.
For now we use what is best for certain job. Screen or DTG. For sure sooner or later my flashy MHMs will become junk replaced by digital printing
 
#8 ·
Flash is not the problem if you keep the hybrid in a carousel configuration.

Waterbase inks dries fast in screen so it's not effiecient. Plastisol can be used with one station for print flash print configuration (like workhorse autos with flashback). DTG printing engine would be couple of stations further so no problem with ink drying.

Current DTG can run in rooms with multiple heatrpesses or conveyor dryer and it's not a problem for most people.
 
#9 ·
While it is an interesting idea to print on top of plastisol ink there is no water based ink, as you have mentioned, that will adhere properly to what is basically a vinyl film. I do not believe that any of the textile ink companies are currently working on a white ink that would allow that. There was an Italian company that exhibited a prototype carousel printer with screen printing and d-t-g printing stations several years ago at the Fespa show in Berlin. Never heard anything further about them after.
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