[jhigga]

Hello,

I am looking to make about 6-10 tshirts for a family cruise I am going on in a few months. Looking to have a design similar to the attached image printed on to the back of the shirts.

I know there are a few methods offered by Transfer Express that would allow me to print unlimited colors but the cost may be too high.

Does anyone have a recommended method of printing shirts like this? Trying to only buy 6-10 sheets, and to spend about $10/sheet. If this price point is impossible to reach, what is my best option? I will do the heat pressing myself just am not sure about what to do for the transfer.

 

[DrivingZiggy]

Hey a6JNe4H+Dv+YA6vVepGvfk3Gj! Sorry if I mispronounced that.

I was just talking to the Transfer Express folks today at the SGIA Expo. They pressed a small transfer onto a cap to show me how it works. First, it looks like a decal on a white background. But that's now what it is at all! It's actually printed onto the clear carrier and the place a white sheet behind it so that the sheets/ink don't stick to each other. You peel the white backing off and the clear is sticky enough to stay where you put it on the substrate. You can even remove and reposition it if you like.

Then it is only a 5 second press! And it feels really good.

I don't know what they told you about the pricing, but they told me that they charge by the square inch--not by the sheet like they do with plastisol. So, yeah, your print looks kinda big and might cost a bunch.

Or you could go plastisol.

If you're gonna be using polyester shirts, you could try to find somebody to sublimation print them onto a sheet of transfer paper for you. Or get them to do the entire job for you if you don't have a heat press. I don't imagine the pricing to be all that different in the big scheme of things.

 

[selanac]

We sublimate multicolor transfers using 100% polyester white t-shirts, hats, etc.. I believe there's a new Carrier sheet method that lets you print to color t-shirts, but not sure if they're 100 polyester or cotton.

To me that's the same as printing them on regular transfers with pigment ink.

You could buy transfers yourself, and print them on transfer with a border around the edges to match the t-shirt. If you use plastisol ink, you can have fmexpression's print them using CMYK color process. They'd charge around 3 bucks each, and you'd have to buy the minimum, but there's no setup cost for CMYK color process. If you buy spot colors then they charge you per color (per screen).

Oh, you'd have to pay for shipping.

 

[splathead]

Sublimation is your least expensive way to go. You will need to press to a white/very light polyester tee. They make them now where they feel just like cotton (Vapor, Jerzees, Gildan, etc.)

You can order printed transfers from places like S&K Printshop - Dye Sublimation and Direct to Garment Printing for a buck or two.