inkjet to garment printers

Have you ever had customers who wanted to get t shirts printed for a special occasion, only to be shut down by the costs that a t shirt screen printer has to charge for setup?

Have you ever had to have your customers radically adjust their t shirt artwork in order to make it a limited number of colors in order to keep the shirts affordable? 

Have you ever lost a customer because you couldn't fulfill their custom printing needs?

If you answered "yes" to any or all of these questions, then you may be the perfect candidate to add direct to garment printing to your apparel decorating business.

Here's the scoop!

Everyone in this industry finds themselves taking on more and more things than ever before.  Little league baseball, soccer, cheerleading, Relay for Life, Cancer walks, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the list goes on and on.  Every one of these demands some sort of customized garments - no matter how large or small.  With traditional screen printing, the customer has always had to make a decision between number of colors and pricing.  Screen printers generally charge so much per color for setup and again for printing as well as a sliding scale based on the number of shirts ordered.  The long and short of it is, the more colors and the less shirts needed, the more dearly one can expect to pay.  Enter digital t shirt printing with a direct to garment printer. 

With a direct to garment printer, number of colors is no longer an issue.  The artist is free to design without constraints and not have to worry about limited colors.  It will also open up the range of shirt sizes that can be printed without additional charges for setup.  This means you can offer your customers shirts that have art proportioned to the size of the shirt for no extra fee. 

Another benefit of a direct to garment printer is that there is no need for an experienced employee who knows how to color separate, burn and reclaim screens as well as register colors.  Anyone who can consistently operate a graphics program and regular desktop printer can be trained to operate a digital t shirt printer.

In today's digital age, customers are asking for more from their vendors, and looking for one stop solutions to their needs. This fact is becoming more and more evident in the Awards & Engraving industry, with customers looking for ink printed promotional products from their Award/Engraving vendors. Enter the Direct to Garment printer (DTG), which while engineered to decorate apparel,  has become a proven tool for printing non-textiles.  

Having grown through the challenges of infancy, DTGs have proven to be a valuable addition to an Award/Engraving shop. With the ability to print on not only garments, but a wide variety of non-textiles, this process has become an invaluable tool for many businesses to expand there product base amongst their existing customers. 

The process for printing on non-textile goods requires a pre-treatment to be applied to the product prior to printing, allowing the ink to properly adhere to the substrate. The second step is the actual printing, which from an ink cost is significantly less than the sublimation process. The final step is to cure the ink, which can be accommodated through application of an aerosol post-treatment (which also provides a protective finish), heat, or open air drying, depending on the product being printed. 

The process has proven to be effective on canvas, plastic, wood, glass, ceramic tile,  brick, cement, fiberglass and metal. With this versatility, the products that can be customized are too numerous to count.  "I have customers send me a different product every week to sample out" says Heath Schumacher, a Product Specialist/Trainer, "and there have been only a couple items that I have been sent for which this process may not be the best solution".  Given the nature of a print head, the best results are seen on flat objects that can be printed as close to the print head as possible.  Round items are tougher, but Heath has found success in printing on golf balls (print area of a nickel) and base balls (print area of a half dollar).  Most recently, Heath has found ease in printing on the metal product used by Award Shops in the production of plaques, drastically reducing the print cost, and adding the ability for full color photo quality artwork to be introduced to the product.

Overall, the DTG process originally engineered to embellish garments has proven to be a useful tool in the production on custom non-textile goods.  The versatility, reduction in ink costs and relative ease of the process allows Awards and Engraving shops to provide a value added service and new product lines to their existing customer base.

Printing Dark Shirts - The Scoop

have forever changed the way that we view t-shirt decoration.  Once you have decided to buy a

you are faced with not only a brand decision of whether you want and/or need the ability to

.  Do you buy a dtg printer that uses

or not?

 There are several pros and cons to printing with white ink.  They range from the cost of the actual output, to the added maintenance to the learning curve.  When you boil it all down, the decision to use

is really based on the market you will be addressing, your willingness to learn and your expectations of return on your investment.  Buying a direct to garment printer with

can be a great boost to your business - if the pros outweigh the cons.

So, you've decided to add a direct to garment printer to your existing apparel decoration business or even to start a business based on direct to garment printing.  One of the first things to consider is the marketplace you will be selling to - simple example - are you selling to motorcycle clubs that require Harley Davidson style shirts?  If so, no doubt you will be printing a lot of black shirts - white ink is a necessity.  Unfortunately, not all situations are that cut and dried.

When you are considering whether your garment printer should have the ability to print on dark garments you should know and weigh the pros and cons.  Why is this so important?  Some printers, like the Brother GT 541 Digital Garment Printer, the Mimaki garment printer and the Sawgrass Direct Advantage printer do not offer a white ink solution at this time.  Other printers, like the DTG line of t-shirt printing machines, the Fast T-Jet machines by US Screen Printing and the Flexi-Jet garment ink jet printer offer white ink either as standard or an option.  By determining whether white ink is necessary for your business up front, you can quickly narrow your choices and save time researching printers that do not fit your needs.  Surveys of t-shirt blank distributors confirm that a full 70% of the t-shirts they sell for decoration are NOT white. 

What exactly are the pros and cons of using digital t-shirt printers with white ink?  Let's look at the cons first:

o       true - you will generally spend as little as 20-25 cents to print a white shirt and $2 or more to print the same image on a dark shirt

o       just as in any other type t-shirt printing or decoration - the more it costs to produce, the more you need to charge

o       false - for short run jobs, the added ink costs far outweigh the costs of  separations, films, screens, and setup associated with traditional screen printing

printing with white ink is not as fast as printing a light shirt

o       true - when compared to printing the same image on a light colored garment with no white ink, when you have to print 2 layers as opposed to one it stands to reason that it will take longer

o       false - when compared with the time associated with traditional screen printing setup - short run orders done with a digital t-shirt printer can seem amazingly fast

o       true - as above, when compared to printing on light garments without white ink, dark garments are more difficult, that being said, the perception of difficulty is more based on the ease of not using white in than on the difficulty of using white ink

o       false - as in all methods of garment decoration, once you have learned how to properly do something, it becomes a matter of consistent repetition

o       true - as the white ink used in all digital garment printers has different properties than the color inks, you will need to do a bit more maintenance than you will on a machine without white ink.

o       the difference in required/recommended maintenance between a machine with white ink and one without is literally only a few minutes a day - a small price to pay for potentially increasing your customer base by a factor of 3 to 4

o       true - literally 70% of the imprinted t-shirts sold every year are not white and may require at least some white ink

o       you can always try to "sell" your customer on using a lighter color garment that does not require white ink - the problem with this is that you risk upsetting your client

o       this is really THE reason for buying a machine with white ink - if you are not willing to give up potentially 70% of the business that is out there and don't want to send your customers "somewhere else" to get their dark garments printed, you need white ink.

When it comes down to it, if you feel that you can keep your digital garment printer busy full time just printing light colored garments - then the decision should be easy.  If, on the other hand, you are like the majority of direct to garment printer owners, you will find that there are times when the light shirt business is not booming - then printing with white ink can be a saving grace.  Even if you do not want to print with white ink immediately, it is a good idea to buy a direct to garment printer that will allow you to print with white when you are ready.  The DTG line of digital t-shirt printers can be configured to print with or without white ink and changed at any point to fit your needs.

Word spreads fast once you get your foot in the

door. Once you've done sweat shirts for the

basketball booster club, you'll find that a

basketball player also is in the band, theater or

chess club, and they need shirts too.

(Photo courtesy of Dalco Athletic, Garland, Texas)



 

While selling to the school market is a competitive niche, there are ways to get your foot in the door if you can figure out what advantages your business offers over existing suppliers. For example, you may make it easier for schools to take orders and collect money with a custom Web page. You may have a direct-to-garment printer that allows you to do four-color process with no minimums. You may be able to offer higher quality and more creative artwork. Or you may own a digital cutter that allows you to put designs on a wider range of apparel and accessories. Once you get established with schools, there are additional techniques and strategies to hold onto your newly earned customers and generate add-on sales as well. Here are some tips and tricks to give you a

head start on now to sell to elementary, high school, college and Greek student organizations.

The Internet is the great equalizer of information — everyone can find what they need to

know, if they just take the time to look. Pick a college in your area and type the school's

name into a search engine, such as Google. You'll quickly find a home page for the

school, which will lead you to contact information for hundreds of registered student

organizations (RSOs). You can find out how many students the group has, its purpose,

the types of events they have, the name of the advisor, and so on.

Many student organizations are inundated with direct mail from companies soliciting

their services, so you'll want to make a personal contact, if possible — especially if the

group is a local one. Your best bet is finding a personal contact (a student, coach or

teacher) who either goes to that school or may be in a specific organization. You may not

have any kids in school but maybe you have friends or contacts who do.



If you can't find a personal contact, find the name of the group's non-student adviser, and

try to arrange a face-to-face meeting. If you can't meet, send him a sample (if the group

is large enough to produce a respectable size order) as an introduction and gesture of

good will. You also could drop by a meeting, practice or game and say hello to the coach.

You could say something like, "I noticed that parents aren't wearing a wrestling team

shirt. What do you think about us setting up an order for wresting T-shirts for all of the

parents?"

An additional note: Trying to attract student groups via paid advertising is probably a

wasted effort. You already know exactly where the group meets and when, so it makes

more sense to do a direct, one-to-one sales pitch instead of placing a mass advertisement.

Once you've made contact, find out who the group has used in the past for their

decorating services and how happy they are with that company. It's helpful to know what

they've ordered and how much they've paid so that you can figure out a competitive

advantage to offer — whether it's lower price, faster turnaround, or unique services such

direct-to-garment four-color process. This also will ensure that you're not wasting time

pursuing a group that orders only a dozen T-shirts every year and is 100% satisfied with

its dirt-cheap supplier.

Even if the group is satisfied with its current vendor, you may be able to offer additional

or different creative services, so don't give up too easily. For instance, you might suggest

giving the group a discount if they'll let you apply your company logo on all of the

garments it orders from you. Or, the current vendor might be a large shop that can't offer

the level of personalization that your smaller shop can provide. For example, if your shop

has a direct-to-substrate printer or garment graphics cutter, this makes it easy for you to

add personal names. The point is you need to find out what they're doing now so that you

can figure out your angle.

Remember that most school organizations are accustomed to paying more for each color

they add to their design. With processes such as direct to garment and print and cut, you

now can offer four-color process for the same price as a one- or two-color designs. Spend

time as necessary educating school customers about some of the newer printing

technologies available and how they can benefit.

Once you're in with a group at the school, there is a snowball effect, where other groups

start to use your services. For instance, a student on the swim team may also be in band,

so he may help spread the word about your company. You might even want to give that

swimmer a few free garments to help generate buzz or provide a few freebies for the

team's coach.

One great plus about student organizations is that they have a new person in charge

almost every year. This means that you have another chance to get business every year.

Of course, the flip side of this is that once you're in the door, you have to hustle to stay

in, since you're dealing with an ever-changing customer base.

You'll need to work out a simple, organized process for collecting and distributing

orders. For example, let's say you're working with a band booster club, whose members

must wear an embroidered shirt. You'll distribute order forms to the group's advisor, who

then sends home those forms with the members. Students bring completed forms back

with a check and the adviser turns over the forms and a single check for the full amount

to your shop.

One of the newer techniques is setting up a Web site. This also gives you a competitive

edge. With a Web site to collect the information, including sizes, colors, credit card

information and so on, there are no forms to be distributed or collected. There also are no

cash or checks to collect and deposit as customers pay online. Not having to collect and

process money is a huge time saver, and this service alone may get you in the door when

selling against an established company.

A Web site also generates the opportunity for add-on sales. Make sure that you display

additional, perhaps more upscale items for parents to see as they get online to place the

order. A parent may not have been interested in the shirt chosen for the kids to wear but

Selecting the right DTG garment printer for your T-shirt Printing business

When it comes to DTG (digital garment printers) you need to consider the volume of business you think you may do in your chosen niche. Whether you are just starting a t-shirt printing business or complimenting an existing embroidery shop or screen printing business, the apparel decorating machines have loads of profit potential. Adding a DTG kiosk II or a DTG HM1 to an embroidery equipment purchase could make you a one-stop shop and open you up to thousands of dollars more in embroidery sales and printing

The  Bullet, and Xpress digital garment printers are used for high volume printing and can print on light and dark garments. Any of these machines could start you in your own t shirt printing business, however read further if you are considering purchasing apparel decorating equipment.

How do I know if DTG printing is right for Me

Inkjet to garment (DTG) digital printers have captured the industry's attention with numerous suppliers introducing cutting-edge equipment that can quickly and easily produce some amazing looking prints. If you've been thinking about taking the plunge, but have questions about how to pick the right printer, here's a guide to getting started on your shopping journey. "How do I know if DTG printing is right for me?"

Inkjet direct-to-garment (DTG) digital printers have captured the industry's attention with numerous suppliers introducing cutting-edge equipment that can quickly and easily produce some amazing looking prints. If you've been thinking about taking the plunge, but have questions about how to pick the right printer, here's a guide to getting started on your shopping journey. "How do I know if DTG printing is right for me?"

Actually, this is an easy question to answer. Whether you're a screen printer, embroiderer, trophy and awards dealer, sign shop or other type of business, the answer depends on this: If you're looking to expand your decorating repertoire with the ability to handle short- to medium-run orders, then DTG technology may be perfect for you. On the other hand, if you are a high volume contract shop, you have different variables to consider.



For instance, if you have access to a group of people with a similar interest - boat enthusiasts, dog lovers, fair attendees or bike riders at motorcycle shows - then a DTG machine can be an ideal fit. The technology is well-suited to answer high demand for small, custom orders. If you buy the right machine and know what you're doing in terms of artwork and production, you can generate some great margins.



Mass customization seems like an oxymoron, but it's the new frontier in the apparel decoration marketplace, and some smart decorators are capitalizing on the opportunity. For instance, if your shop is primarily an embroidery operation that has been sub-contracting screen printing, then DTG offers independence from relying on an outside source. That can bring peace of mind and reduce the risk of exposing your customer base to a potential competitor.

On the other hand, you may be disappointed if you think a digital garment printer will enable you to produce large orders more easily and inexpensively than you can with a good crew running an automatic screenprinting press. Such unrealistic expectations will result in frustration.

Further, you need a good understanding of graphics programs, or a willingness to learn, so you can feed good artwork to the digital printer and get consistent, professional results. And you must commit to learning a new garment decoration technique.

Finally, the process may not fit your shop if orders are dominated by polyester or high-polyester content apparel, such as athletic jerseys. The inkjet DTG process is currently a cotton or high-cotton content process.

DTG Digital Inkjet to garment printers is committed to providing you with the most up to date information regarding the processes surrounding the evolution and development of the Direct To Garment printing process. The information provided below will give some additional and most current information for the best methods of application and process to give you the best prints and wash-ability.

The DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution is for use only with DTG white ink. In order to achieve consistent and even white prints on dark or light colored cotton fabrics, proper application of the DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution must be practiced. Application of the pretreatment solution is key to obtaining white opacity and ink adhesion to the fabric.



Equipment needed for proper DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution application:



• N95 Approved Respirator (3MTM Model # 8210 or similar)

• Foam Roller (the type used for painting)

• Liquid Mistifier (airbrush, air pump sprayer, fine mist power sprayer, such as Wagner® Power Sprayer Model HVLP)

• T-shirt Press

• DTG Release Paper - Part# - DTGRPAPER (In some cases, parchment paper with silicone base may cause insufficient bonding issues)



Recommended procedure:



The following procedure will help ensure consistent quality and performance of the DTG White Ink:



1. Agitate or shake the pretreatment solution prior to filling your sprayer. Locate the sprayer area in a different room than your printer(s). Overspray can find its way into the printer and potentially damage the device.



2. Locate the sprayer area in a well ventilated area. Set the heat press for 170°C (~340°F)



3. In humid environments, it is often beneficial to pre-press the shirt (using the parchment paper as a barrier from the press) for 10 to 15 seconds prior to applying the pretreatment. This removes some of the water naturally trapped in the fibers.



4. Using the spraying system, spray DTG White Ink Pre-Treatment solution evenly on the area that is to be printed. The recommended coverage is about 20g to 25g (0.7 oz to 0.9 oz) for a 14" x 17" printing area.



For example :

- Set your sprayer for medium coverage. This is normally the setting between no liquid being sprayed and the maximum available.

- Prime the sprayer for a few seconds by spraying into a large cup, but not on to the shirt area. This helps prevent larger drops that occur when the sprayer is starting up.

- Keep the sprayer about 12 inches (0.3 meters) from the shirt and begin spraying from the top to the

bottom in a left to right (and then reverse, right to left) motion without ever turning off the sprayer.

- It is good practice to allow the sprayer to go beyond the edges of the shirt before beginning or reversing direction. This prevents more pretreatment from being deposited on the shirt during the direction change.

- If all settings correct, you should dispense the proper amount of pretreatment solution in about 15

seconds.

5. Following the application of the pretreatment solution, and prior to heat pressing, close examination of the garment's surface should show the appearance of fine droplets not unlike dew on grass.

A representation is shown below:

6. After spraying the garment, wipe with the foam roller, uniformly and in one direction, to get even coverage.



7. For best image quality, drying the pretreated garment in a t-shirt press (using the parchment paper as a barrier from the press) is preferred. A minimum of 15 seconds, up to a maximum of 60 seconds at the 170°C (~340°F) setting.

Examples:



1) Correct Pretreatment:



The image below represents a shirt that has been properly pretreated, printed, heat-pressed and subsequently washed through three (3) industrial washes. Note the white under-base and color

retention.



This is a properly treated, printed and post-treated shirt.

2) Insufficient Pretreatment:

If too little pretreatment solution is applied, the white ink will have a mottled appearance after printing.

This is due to an insufficient amount of pretreatment to keep the white ink layer on the surface (the ink soaks into the fibers of the shirt).

3) Excessive Pretreatment:



Applying too much pretreatment solution will provide you with a very good looking print prior to washing. However, excessive application of pretreatment will cause poor wash fastness and durability. The white layer becomes much more susceptible to flaking off of the shirt in a wash if too much pretreatment is applied.



Here is a shirt with an excessive amount of pretreatment looks very good after printing and pressing:

Congratulations on your investment into a DTG Digital Garment Printer.  Now it's time to get down to making money with this exciting machine.  There's a seemingly endless number of angles you can take to be successful with your DTG, following you will find a few of these options.

Focus on a specialized market

Every one of us has some sort of hobby or passion that absorbs a good amount of our free time (and sometimes it absorbs some of our not-so-free time).  Try to tap into the marketplace for your passion or hobby.  Some examples of good vertical markets would be - boat enthusiasts, horse enthusiasts, bikers, hunters, fishermen, any type of youth sports groups, dog shows, the list goes on and on.  If you are involved in any of these pursuits (or some similar type pursuit) check out the opportunities to attend and set up a booth at one of their events.  A custom garment printed on demand will garner a much higher selling price than a generic event garment.  If your window to sell is very limited, consider creating a couple of generic sample custom prints and take orders for the garments, promising a quick turn around time.  Shirts at events like these can often sell for $25, $30 or even more, calculate the price of a priority mail envelope into the pricing and drop the prints into the mail the next day.  Have your customers fill out the envelope so there are no address issues.

.  It's a good idea to print with your DTG everyday anyway, so why not develop a sample t-shirt that shows the quality you can print and offers ideas for reasons to have shirts DTG printed - such as - family reunions, golf tournaments, charity events, baby births, milestone birthdays (Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40!) etc. A white t-shirt printed with a typical image may cost you $1.50 - $2.00, and you need to run the printer anyway! This is a great way to "harvest" more income from your existing customer base, while providing your customers with an exciting new product.

Use their logo from a business card or website to generate a quick, custom sample

If your business model is more business to business (B2B) - like promotional products companies - then a slightly different approach will work.  Invest in one of the inexpensive business card scanners (they are available for less than $150) and simply pick up business cards from prospective clients and generate a custom shirt with their logo on it and bring it in to them.  This is a great ice breaker and can very easily open doors for you, maybe for even more business other than just your direct to garment printer.  With a little cleanup you may also be able to pull this feat off from potential customers' websites (be aware that most web graphics are only 72 DPI - so you may need to do a bit of software magic!).

Evaluate the t-shirts that you have purchased in the past

Take some time and lay out the t-shirts from your "t-shirt drawer" onto your bed.  Look at the shirts and try to remember where, when and why you purchased them.  In most cases, t-shirts are an "impulse" item.  No one wakes up in the morning and says to himself or herself that they are going to go down to the Wal-Mart and buy a t-shirt with "fill in the blank" on it. More than likely, you are going to be walking through the Wal-Mart and see that shirt with "fill in the blank" on it and decide to buy the t-shirt.  By evaluating your own t-shirt buying habits you can get some insight into the reasons that folks buy them, which will help you to better market your DTG output.  (By the way, make sure to put the t-shirts back into the drawer or your spouse will not be happy!)

The Secret is:  you gotta show them some output to generate interest!  a few of these options.