Sublimation has been around for many, many years and is a go-to for the home crafter when it comes time to make custom apparel and more. However, a few years ago, DTF (direct to film) printing entered the scene and changed the landscape of making apparel at home.
Printing Direct To Film Has Many Advantages
To start with, I’m going to give a very high-level overview of the four main ink-based apparel decorating options on the market: sublimation, DTF, DTG, and screen printing. Sublimation and DTF work similarly, in that they both print ink onto a portable media (paper or film) and are pressed onto the garment. DTG printing (direct to garment) prints, well, directly onto the garment. Screen printing uses a screen with a cover over it, and single-color ink is applied at a time. Sublimation, DTF, and DTG are all methods of applying all colors at one time, instead of one at a time. For the purposes of this portion of the article, I’ll be mostly talking about DTF versus DTG and screen printing, as those are the industry standard technologies that DTF competes with, while sublimation is in a category of its own that we’ll dive into at a later time.
When DTG ruled the direct transfer space, it was extremely cost prohibitive as well as complicated to run. To do a DTG print, the shirt must first be pre-treated and cured before printing can begin, and most DTG printers start out life in the tens of thousands of dollar range. The ink is relatively expensive, and they’re complicated machines to run and use. Early on in my career, I worked for a company that sold cell phone cases, but we wanted to get into t-shirts as well. The owner hired someone specifically to run a DTG printer, and I can count on one hand how many times in the year that we had it that it worked a full day without at least one problem.
Then, you have screen printing, which is an age-old method of decorating apparel. Still an industry standard, screen printing can get really complicated, real fast. You have to figure out what mix of inks to use to achieve a certain color and have multiple screens on hand to do a multicolored print. While single-color prints can be cheaper and faster to screen print, when you start to add more colors, things get much more complicated. Storing screens, having to strip and re-coat screens, cutting the decals, it can all just add time and complication to getting a finished print out the door. And one-off jobs become extremely difficult.
However, that’s where DTF enters the race. DTF doesn’t solve all problems, as it doesn’t quite master the feeling that DTG or screen printing can deliver, but it’s a much easier-to-use method when making custom apparel at home. Machines are more affordable than DTG, easier to use than screen printing, and can fit on your desk. A DTF printer works by printing the transfer directly onto a film medium, which you then powder with TPU and cure in an oven. After a transfer is made, it can be stored for however long and then simply pressed onto the item at any time. Full-color transfers (white included) can be made ahead of time and stored or shipped easily, too. These printers take up a little more room than a standard laser printer would and give you all the capabilities of a DTG or screen print setup at home. Just be sure that whatever DTF printer you get, you buy the bundle that comes with a curing oven.
White Ink Makes All the Difference
There are so many “hacks” out there on how to sublimate or put other transfers onto a garment, but DTF doesn’t need any hacks. DTF printing works uniquely with a CMYKWW print head, which outputs the normal CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) colors, as well as two white colors. The white ink is unique in how it functions, as it provides a white color when printing as you’d expect, but it also enables full, vibrant colors on darker garments.
If you were to turn off the white ink altogether because you had no white in the design and then tried to press a red graphic onto a blue shirt, it would turn the graphic green, in essence. The white backer layer allows for full, proper, vibrant colors to be seen on any color, black included! Plus, white on black, or black on white, just looks great. Even though my small business’ logo is a deep forest green, I love seeing it in white on a black shirt. It just pops. White ink is something that sublimation can’t offer and is one of the biggest differentiators between sublimation and DTF. However, both screen printing and DTG printing offer white base inks as well.
The Film, Powder, and Inks Work Together
There are three components to a DTF print: film, powder, and ink. Whenever possible, source your film and inks from the same supplier. There’s just something about them working together well. While all inks and films should be compatible, that doesn’t mean they are. So, you can do your own testing to be sure, or you can just get the supplies from the same supplier. Personally, I use DTF Superstore for my supplies, but Ninja Transfers is another good one, and Heat Press Nation is another reputable supplier to check out. Of course, you could always look at where you purchased your printer from and buy supplies directly from them as well.
Also, while the inks are fairly consistent across the board, you’ll want to pay attention to which film and powder you buy. The film comes in various styles, most notably cold or hot peel. The differences here are what you’d expect. One is ready to peel right after you press, and the other has to come to room temperature first. And, for powder, there are a few different grits to choose from. I try to stay with a medium grit as I feel it works the best, but this is also up to personal preference, depending on the designs that you make.
How To Make Your First DTF Print
Once you have your DTF printer ready (I personally use and recommend the ProColored F13), it’s time to make your first print! Start by sourcing your design. If you don’t want to make your own, then my recommendation is Creative Fabrica. I’ve had a subscription there for years, and it’s my go-to if I need a quick design, and I don’t want to create it myself. Of course, there are numerous other places to get designs to print. But you’ll want to make sure that the design is a PNG with a transparent background; otherwise, the print won’t look right.
Now that you have a design, it’s time to bring it into your RIP software. This should have come with your printer. I use ProRIP 2.4 as that’s what I got with my ProColored printer, but I’ve also tried a few others out. You can buy RIP software, which has more features, but it can get expensive, so I stick with what came with my printer. Once you RIP the image, it’s time to print! From there, you’ll powder the printed graphic with your TPU powder of choice (this is the brand I use) and then cure it in a curing oven or under your heat press.
Now that you have a completed transfer, simply press it onto the garment or whatever you’re decorating with a heat press or iron! A heat press is recommended but not necessary.
What Can You Press DTF Transfers On?
The list of what you can press a DTF transfer onto isn’t quite endless, but it might as well be. You can press it onto more than you can’t. For instance, I’ve pressed DTF transfers on all types of shirts (100% cotton, polyester, tri-blend, nylon, you name it), as well as acrylic, wood, canvas, and more. You can also press DTF transfers directly onto hats, onto leather or leatherette, metal, and the list goes on.
The one thing to keep in mind is that smooth surfaces like acrylic, metal, or glass won’t hold up to a lot of abuse. The transfer will adhere for sure, thanks to the TPU powder, but it won’t be ultra-strong as it’s only adhering to a smooth surface. However, things like slate, wood, leather, or fabrics will hold that graphic pretty well. A well-done DTF transfer should hold up to ~40 to 50 washes before it starts to degrade.
Be Sure To Keep Up With the Daily Maintenance
One of the downsides of DTF printing is the maintenance requirement. You’ll need to do a nozzle clean or a print at least twice a day. You might be able to get away with once a day, or once every few days, but to prolong the life of your print head, I (and most manufacturers) recommend doing it in the morning and evening. For me, personally, I do a head cleaning as soon as I walk into the office in the morning, and then one at night. It doesn’t matter if I print throughout the day; that’s my routine. I’ve lost a print head already, and they’re not cheap to replace, so I run some ink through the head to ensure that the nozzles stay clean.
The white ink has magnesium in it, which can clog the fine nozzles on the print head if not constantly flowed. On higher-end DTF printers (that cost tens of thousands of dollars) it’s easy to do what’s called “wet capping” the head, where you put some distilled water under the print head to keep it moisturized. With a smaller printer like the ProColored F13 that I have, that’s not as simple of a task, and it’s easier to just flow ink through the head with a head cleaning. If i’m going out of town for any length of time, I’ll put the printer into vacation mode, which is when you pull the standard ink sacks from the print head, flush the ink out of the print head, and then leave moisturizing liquid (distilled water works just fine) in the print head so it can’t get clogged while you’re gone.
These Items Are Must-Haves for DTF Printers
Now that you understand what DTF printing is and the basics for going from design to decorated apparel, I want to tell you some items that are invaluable to me as a small business/hobbyist who uses a DTF printer multiple times a week. Below is a list (with links) to some of my favorite DTF items. One thing to keep in mind about having extra ink on hand is that it does have an expiration date. So, don’t buy a ton of ink unless you’re printing a lot. Have enough extra on hand to refill what you use on a regular basis, but don’t buy in bulk if you’re only doing one or two prints a month.
