DTG Printing 101: The Top 10 FAQs

Among all printing methods of the current printing community, DTG printing still plays an important role and is applied by a significant number of people. In this blog, we’ve gathered 10 top FAQs and accordingly provided their answers to enable a better understanding of DTG printing.

Written by Procolored - Published on Dec 13, 2024

7 minutes read

Written by Procolored - Published on Dec 13, 2024

PASSAGE SUMMARY

#1. What Can DTG Printing be Used For?
#2. How to Achieve DTG Printing?
#3. Is the Pre-Treatment a Must?
#4. What Ink Does DTG Printing Apply?
#5. What Businesses is DTG Printing Suitable for?
#6. Is DTG Printing Cheaper Than Screen Printing?
#7. Is DTG Printing the Best Choice for Fabric Printing?
#8. Any Color Requirements for the Desired Fabrics?
#9. How Long Can DTG Printing Last?
#10. Any Washing Tips for DTG Printing?

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#1. What Can DTG Printing be Used For?

DTG printing, also called Direct-to-Garment printing, is a kind of inkjet printing used to deliver printings on fabrics. Unlike screen printing that needs a stencil or screen to shape a graphic template, or DTF (Direct-to-Film) printing that has to print on a film first, DTG printing directly deposits inks onto fabrics, greatly simplifying the fabric printing workflow. Generally, DTG printing exhibits the most perfect effect on cotton, and it’s also suitable for polyester, jersey knits, linen, rayon, wool and other synthetic fibers. However, it might present poor and deficient effect on thin fabrics like silk or tulle.

#2. How to Achieve DTG Printing?

A DTG printing process can be divided into three main parts: pre-treatment, printing and curing. Now let’s break them down with details:

Graphic design: First design and confirm your desired graphic, make sure it has a complete finish and with appropriate resolution.

Flatten the fabric: Use heat press to remove fabric wrinkles, to ensure a better printing performance.

Pre-treatment: Place the fabric on printing platen and fix it, then spray some pre-treatment fluid on it to enable a closer ink bonding.

Printing: Wait until the pre-treatment gets dried then start the printing task, the DTG printer will directly deposit DTG inks onto fabric, presenting a hassle-free printing process.

Curing: The curing process is optional. Some people prefer to leave the DTG printing dry itself, yet an extra heat pressing can cure the inks quicker and guarantee a higher resistance to washing, scratching and abrasion.

#3. Is the Pre-Treatment a Must?

Yes, pre-treatment might be the only knotty part of DTG printing, but it’s a must. The pre-treatment liquid encompasses chemical compositions like binder and pH adjuster that can significantly strengthen DTG ink adhesion, creating a closer and stronger bonding between inks and fabric thus realizing a complete reproduction of all the real colors. Without a pre-treatment, the finished DTG print might be dimmer and more possible to fade due to washing and scratching.

#4. What Ink Does DTG Printing Apply?

DTG printing applies designated DTG ink. DTG ink typically consists of water-based pigments or dyes suspended in a liquid carrier. Like any other inks applied in other printing methods, DTG ink also exhibits properties like viscosity, vibrancy and durability. But one thing that helps it stand out is its eco-friendliness. Compared to ink used in screen printing, DTG ink contains less VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds), which can do harms to both environment and human health; compared to DTF ink, DTG ink encompasses less solvents or additives.

#5. What Businesses is DTG Printing Suitable for?

With its versatility in fabric decorating, DTG printing is widely applied in producing customized products like garments, cushion covers, caps, bags, etc. Some printing studios also use it to produce promotion goods like banners, flags or fabric posters. However, due to the productivity limits, it’s more recommended to use DTG printing in POD (Print-on-Demand) businesses that handle printing orders of smaller quantities.

#6. Is DTG Printing Cheaper Than Screen Printing?

It highly depends on the scale of your printing business. Typically, screen printing is perfect for mass production - to complete an t-shirt order with the same graphic, you only have to create one stencil, and then you can just go ahead on the repetitious squeegeeing, offering high efficiency as well as low cost needed. But when applying screen printing for small run orders with diverse graphics, creating numerous stencils can already be a tough job that costs not only money but a lot of human effort.
DTG printing instead, is much more suitable for small run businesses. Although a DTG printer usually costs more than a set of screen printing tool, with its simple operation, smooth workflow and lower deficiency rate, your upfront investment will pay for itself quick as you successfully finishing the growing incoming POD orders.

#7. Is DTG Printing the Best Choice for Fabric Printing?

There is no “one method fits all”. Some people venture into fabric printing as a hobby, some as a side hustle, some as a full-time occupation - your individual needs decide what is the best choice for your printing journey. However, there are still some universal advice that might be helpful:

For printing studios with mass orders: Better try screen printing and let go of digital printings like DTG and DTF. Screen printing requires less maintenance and exhibits higher efficiency when printing the same graphic repeatedly.
**Screen printing is more suitable for producing simple and single-colored graphics.

For POD business owners & printing hobbyists: DTG or DTF printing would be recommended since they deliver prints with higher accuracy and requires less human effort, showing great friendliness to fabric printing newbies. DTG relatively requires simpler workflow than DTF, yet its compatible fabrics and colors are more limited.

#8. Any Color Requirements for the Desired Fabrics?

As it’s previously mentioned, DTG printing directly deposits inks onto fabrics. During this process, the DTG inks will adhere to and bond with the textures, and at the same time get absorbed by the textures, leading to a dimmer color reproduction. The darker the desired fabric is, the dimmer the print color will be. So yes, it’s recommended to avoid dark or black fabrics in DTG printing.

image: https://merch38.com/merch38-deals-with-direct-to-garment-dtg-printing/

#9. How Long Can DTG Printing Last?

To achieve high durability, a DTG printing must meet requirements as below:

Presented on suitable fabric that has got pre-treatment, better on fabrics made of over 80% cotton.

Use a qualified DTG printer and DTG inks to deliver the printing.

After the printing, make sure all the inks are completely cured and dried.

Apply proper washing method.

With all the above requirements matched, a DTG printing can endure over 50 washes and remain vibrant and integral.

#10. Any Washing Tips for DTG Printing?

Always wash inside-out, in cold water.