Understanding the Four Main Apparel Decorating Processes

In the world of garment printing, there are four popular apparel decorating processes: direct-to-film (DTF) printing, direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, screen printing, and embroidery. Each has its advantages depending on the garment, turnaround time, and desired result.

DTF printing is both a digital printing and transfer process that works for several different fabrics, including polyester, cotton, blends, nylon, denim, leather, and more. Using an inkjet printer, the CMYK design is printed onto a special PET film prior to a white ink layer, and then a special adhesive powder is applied on top, which is then cured. The design is then cut from the sheet and ready for pressing onto the garment. DTF transfers can fill the gaps for smaller jobs and can handle multiple colors with ease.

DTG printing works best on 100% cotton apparel. The process requires pretreatment of the garment, and some manufacturers offer special pretreatment to print on polyester. The less fibrous the material, the better, so high-quality garments are important here. Apparel with coatings like stain resistance and weatherproofing will repel DTG’s water-based inks. Dark-colored garments can be tricky, but with proper pretreatment and a white underbase, vibrant prints on black or dark shirts can be done. DTG works well for one-off, full-color, and intricate designs, with the ability to create photorealistic images. It’s ideal for small to medium order quantities.

Screen printing offers durable and vibrant prints. It works well on many fabrics, including cotton, polyester, and blends. Stretchy fabrics like athletic wear can be tricky, but with the right ink formulation, it can be done. This process is ideal for large orders of the same design.

Embroidery offers a professional look and higher perceived value for brands. Polos, shirts, jackets, hats, and backpacks are just a few of the products that work well for embroidery. Thin materials like rayon, silk, and super thin T-shirts aren’t ideal due to their susceptibility to tear or pucker. Stitch-dense designs can weigh down knit fabrics, so it’s important to consider wearability. Good embroidery is about good digitization, converting a PNG or JPB image into a file that can be read by the embroidery machine.

When considering offering apparel printing, don’t forget to factor in the cost of error. If a high-ticket item like a name-brand jacket gets ruined, that’s now the in-plant’s responsibility. The decoration is the end of the line before it gets to the end-user. If you forget to take the backing off embroidery or scorch the garments, you take on the cost and risk of losing the customer.

On the flip side, the major pro of bringing decoration in-house is having control over the production process and schedule. If a client is crunched for time, your in-house apparel capabilities can save them, boosting the in-plant’s value tremendously.