t-shirt printing
Tips & Tricks

Which Methods Are on Trend in T-Shirt Printing

With the rise of the online t-shirt business, different business persons are trying their level best in coming up with unique designs using different printing methods. Perhaps you are printing your t-shirts. Will you use a method that cannot accommodate more instructions simultaneously?

When choosing the method to use in printing your t-shirts, you have to consider the output of the method and the quality of the printout. Also, you have to use a method that is more compatible with multiple fabrics. Below are the trending methods for t-shirt printing.

Screen printing 

Screen printing produces an amazing output that can last for years. It’s a method that many professionals highly prefer due to its capacity to produce a large amount of output within a short period. With screen printing, you will need some stencil and a mesh that will hold the stencil. The mesh is typically made of synthetic materials like nylon.

Then you will have to spill the ink over the mesh and press it with a squeegee to ensure that the entire area is equally covered. Through screen printing, you can explore a variety of t-shirt business opportunities of diverse fabrics as the stencil can be used repeatedly. In addition, using print services offered by Printbest will make your product more marketable as the printouts are made of high-quality technology and inks developed by Kornit, the industry-leading brand in DTG printing.

Dry sublimation

The dry sublimation method is best suited for big and complex designs. If you have ever seen a t-shirt covered in print, it was probably printed by this method. It’s a method best suited for light fabrics like polyester fabrics and cannot be used on cotton t-shirts.

For dry sublimation, you will need a special liquid dye that you should apply on the transfer paper first. You will have to wait until the liquid dries, then use heat and pressure for the sublimation process. It’s a method best suited for printing the whole t-shirt, and it requires a very light fabric.

Direct to garment technique (DTG)

Direct to garment printing method is amongst the newest technologies in the t-shirt’s printing industry. It gives very quality designs, especially when working with complex designs that the customers propose. No thick layers will be felt as you pass your hand on the surface of the print. If you want to operate the machine from home, you will need to have basic printing skills used by the DTG.

It works similar to the printers; you insert the paper into the printing machine, apply the printing design, and collect it on the other end. A DTG printer is needed to use this method, and it should be of high quality to ensure that you won’t waste a lot of resources.

Heat press printing

It works almost similar to the dry sublimation with slight differences. Heat press printing is suitable for smaller quantities of t-shirts, and it serves as a better way of experimenting with your t-shirts before applying them to the ordered ones. It’s advantageous in that you can easily replicate a very complex design, saving a lot of time that would have been used in the settings.

With heat press printing, you can use the full spectrum of colors for the desired outcome. You will need a paper to apply, design, then apply heat and pressure to replicate the t-shirts. After that, make sure that you remove the transfer paper carefully and strip off the excess dye. 

Vinyl cutting

The vinyl cutting method is more of a cutting process. You have to cut the material precisely according to your design, and afterward, apply it to the fabric. It works well for both large and small quantities of t-shirts. The sports industry is among the main areas where the vinyl cutting method is highly used. To apply the method, you will need a professional CAD cutter to tailor the design as per the requirements.

To apply the design, you will need to use the heat press method with different colors depending on the design that you are coming up with. With vinyl cutting, you don’t need to have any special equipment for the printing purpose as the professional CAD cutter is used to make all of the patterns.

Photo by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

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