DTF Printing, also known as Direct To Film Printing, works by hot-pressing transfer pieces onto a variety of garments (and other substrates). When you have this kind of machine, you can print on any kind of fabric, dark or light. You can have more varieties in your product line. Saving on labor costs, one employee can operate the machine.
Applicable scope: T-shirt, pants, bags, leather, advertising shirt customization, cultural shirt customization, fashion children’s wear, fashion women’s clothing and so on.
How much does a DTF printer cost?
The price of a DTF printer is about 3000-7000 US dollars. At present, most dtf printers on the market use Epson print heads, and the price will vary depending on the configuration. As for the cost, it mainly refers to the loss of ink and print heads, air permeability and color fastness. Personally, I think the choice of ink is more important than the machine, because the quality of the ink determines the color.
First, implementing printer DTF in your printing business does not require a significant investment. Whether you’re new to printing or looking to adjust your DTF printing to expand your business, it’s worth your time to take a closer look at these printers.
DTF printers use PET films because these are different from those used in screen printing. PET film is about 0.75 mm thick, giving it better transfer characteristics. These films are also marketed as DTF transfer films.
You can find them as cut pieces for small scale use or as reels for large commercial Settings. There are two classifications of PET films based on temperature. These are cold and hot stripping films.
Software for DTF printers
Software is an integral part of a DTF printer. This is because the software affects color performance, printing characteristics of the ink, and the final printing performance. For DTF printing, you will need special RIP software to handle your white and CMYK colors.
This is crucial because the software controls color analysis, drop size, amount of ink and several key factors that contribute to print quality.
Hot-Melt Adhesive Powder
Direct film printing powder is a white granular product that can be used as an adhesive material. This helps bind the color pigments in the printer to the surface you are printing. However, this STF hot melt adhesive comes in several grades in microns.
DTF printer ink
The inks used in DTF printers are unique pigments designed in cyan, yellow, magenta, white and black. White ink forms the basis of the print, while colored pigments print the design on the film.
Automatic Powder Shaker
This direct film printer component is common in commercial applications (DTF printers apply powder) in a uniform manner. In addition, the shaker can remove excess powder.
Curing oven
This is a small industrial oven used to melt the printer’s hot melt powder and then place it on the transfer film. Alternatively, you can use a hot press to achieve this function. However, it helps if you use a hot press in contactless mode.
Heat Press Machine
This device helps transfer the printed image from your film to the desired surface or fabric. You can also use this machine to melt powder on your DTF film.
Print on Film: Instead of using ordinary paper, you should use PET film. First, you print the entire image on PET film, on a white background.
Spread the Powder: This step is to pour hot melt powder onto the film. When printing a wet image, you should make sure that all the force is evenly distributed to the surface.
Melt the powder: Literally, momentum is melted in this step. For best results, you can melt the powder as requested by the manufacturer. The heating process usually lasts two to five minutes and the temperature is about 160 to 170 degrees Celsius.
Pre-press the Fabric: Prepressing means prepressing the fabric before transferring the image. The texture is pressed in a hot press for 2 to 5 seconds in order to dehumidify the fabric.
Heat transfer: This is the core step of DTF printing, where PET films with images and melted powder are placed on the fabric. The film adheres firmly to the fabric for about 15 to 20 seconds in a temperature range of 160 to 170 degrees Celsius.
Cold Peel: What’s more, you need to make sure the film is cooled to room temperature before you pull it off.
Post-pressing: This is an alternative method, but you can get the best results, such as water washing and rubbing fastness. In this step, the final fabric with the transfer design is pressed in a hot press for about 10 to 15 seconds.
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What types of textile printing are there? The most popular processes are screen printing, embroidery, transfer and textile vinyl. They all have different uses, depending on the number of T-shirts to be printed and the model to be chosen. Find out the importance of each one and which one is best suited to your organisation. Types of t-shirt printing Screen printing? It is one of the most commonly used printing techniques on fabric to print T-shirts. The mechanism consists of a system of plates with each existing colour in the original design to be printed. These meshes or plates will ...
Direct-to-film printing is a unique printing technology that involves printing designs onto special films for transfer onto garments. DTF printing is a heat transfer process that has the ability to last as long as traditional screen printing. Here are five things you need to know about DTF technology before implementing it in your business. Quality equipment is essential If you own a printing business, you already know that the quality of your work is only as good as the quality of your printers and inks. This is even more true when it comes to DTF printing. Like other heat transfer ...
Simply put, if you're looking for a printer that can deliver projects in bulk, look to DTF printing. It's fast, efficient and has few processes to complete. However, if you need quality prints without the need for personalisation, screen printing is sufficient. To get a better idea of which printing method is best, read on for more contrasts between the two. This text also includes the pros and cons of both methods: What is DTF printing? This is a flexible, state-of-the-art printing technology available on the market. It involves the use of special films (PET) on which you print your ...
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Customizing your garments is very easy follow the steps below: Step 1: Customize your designs with dtf printer. Cut out your image to separate it from the template. Step 2: Prepare your garment with a pre-iron at 150 degrees Celsius for cotton or 140 degrees Celsius for polyester and iron for 5 seconds.This will help remove moisture and wrinkles that could affect your print. Step 3: Place your DTF print on your garment and iron with the following settings; Cotton: 150 degrees C for 15 to 20 seconds at medium high pressure.Cotton/polyester blends up to 50/50: 150 degrees ºC for ...
DTF stands for Direct Transfer to Film, it is a technology for the textile printing market; mainly t-shirts, hoodies or similar. It is ideal for printing on demand, i.e. to sell products that are not in stock and print them only when a customer places an order. It also adapts very well to short and medium printing runs, because it has an affordable production cost and gives excellent printing results. This is why DTF is becoming very popular when it comes to launching a new clothing brand, making custom t-shirts or for uniforms. Is It Durable? DTF printing is durable, ...
