When it comes to printing apparel, there are two main methods: digital printing (DTG) and screen printing. DTG is best for designs with a lot of details, while screen printing is better for large areas of solid color.
How does screen printing work?
Screen printing is a printing technique that involves pushing ink through a mesh screen onto fabric. The ink doesn’t soak into the fabric, but remains on top, creating a print.Screen printing is a process that entails creating a special screen for each element of your design. The colors and elements are then applied one at a time to the garment. The more layers a design has, the longer it’ll take to print it and the thicker it will feel on the product.
Screen printing is primarily used to print items in bulk because of the lengthy setup time necessary. The process is not cost-effective when used to produce only a few items, as it can take hours to create the stencils needed for each design.
What is the environmental impact of screen printing?
Designers who use screen printing often order products in bulk, which can lead to overproduction. This is a problem that the sustainable fashion movement is working to address. Additionally, screen printing requires a significant amount of water, and it’s typically done with plastisol inks, which are not biodegradable.
How does DTG (direct-to-garment) printing?
DTG printing is a process that sprays ink directly onto a garment. This ink then soaks into the fibers of the clothing, similar to the way ink is printed on paper. The primary advantage of DTG printing is that it’s easy to produce one-offs; when a customer orders a single t-shirt from our shop.
Does DTG show detail?
DTG printers are becoming more popular because they offer a lot of color options. This allows us to test out various colors and designs. We can produce photorealistic images.With digital textile printing (DTG), it is important to avoid transparency. Elements that are less than 100% opaque do not translate well in DTG printing—printers will attempt to fill in the missing color by spreading the ink, causing the fabric to have a lot of gaps. That is why it is best to use solid colors or create fake semi-transparency.
Why did we choose DTG?
Direct-to-garment printing is a hassle-free way to get the products ready for your customers. With DTG, the entire design is printed in one go. Since DTG doesn’t have a color count, there’s no extra setup time to start printing, so your order gets fulfilled as soon as we can process the order.
Check out our latest DTG printed designs here.