DTF, DTG, Screen Printing, Sublimation and Heat Transfer Vinyl Compared
are explained briefly when you hover over or tap them.
There are more ways to get a printed T-shirt than the three techniques that are common in a makerspace. Besides heat transfer vinyl, sublimation and DTF, print shops mainly work with DTG (Direct to Garment, printing directly onto the textile) and screen printing. This article puts all five side by side. If you only want to know which of the three makerspace techniques suits your fabric, Plot, sublimation or DTF? is enough. Hard goods such as mugs, wood or acrylic are covered in UV printing, DTF or sublimation?.
How the five methods work
- Heat transfer vinyl (HTV): a cutting plotter cuts the design from a coloured film, you remove the excess (weeding) and press the film on. Each colour is a separate layer of film.
- Sublimation: an inkjet printer prints with sublimation ink onto transfer paper. In the heat press the dye turns into a gas and bonds with polyester or a polymer coating. Details under Sublimation explained.
- DTF (Direct to Film): the printer prints colour and a white underbase onto PET film, hot-melt powder is applied and cured. The finished transfer is then pressed on. Details under DTF printing explained.
- DTG (Direct to Garment): an inkjet printer prints water-based textile ink directly onto the garment, which is fixed on a platen for this. The textile is usually sprayed with a pretreatment and pressed beforehand. According to Wikipedia, this lays the fibres flat and improves the bonding of the ink, which is especially important for white ink on dark fabrics. The ink is then fixed with heat.
- Screen printing: the ink is pushed through a fine screen in which only the areas of the design are open. Each colour needs its own screen. According to the retailer McLogan, the widely used plastisol ink has to reach 320 °F for at least one minute, which is about 160 °C. Lawson Screen & Digital stresses that the whole ink layer has to reach this temperature, not just the surface, and refers to the data sheet of the ink in question. According to Printify, prints that are not cured enough can crack or peel.
Comparison at a glance
| HTV | Sublimation | DTF | DTG | Screen printing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton | yes | no | yes | yes, the method’s strength | yes, best according to Printify |
| Polyester | yes | yes, at least about 75 % according to Cricut | yes | limited, according to Printify best on cotton and blends with a high cotton content | yes, according to Printify often with special inks against bleeding |
| Dark fabrics | yes | no | yes, thanks to the white underbase | yes, with pretreatment and a white underbase | yes, plastisol covers strongly according to Printify, water-based ink needs a white underbase |
| Photos and gradients | no | yes | yes | yes | limited, according to Printify best for one to three colours |
| Feel | noticeable film layer | not noticeable, dye is in the fibre | thin, smooth layer on the fabric | soft, ink soaks into the fibre | plastisol sits thicker on top, water-based ink soaks in and is softest |
| Setup per design | plotting and weeding for each piece | low | low | low | one screen per colour |
| Sensible quantity | single pieces to small runs | single pieces to small runs | single pieces to medium runs | single pieces to small runs | large runs |
The statements on the feel of DTF, DTG and screen printing come from the print service Printify, the others from the linked articles in the wiki.
Durability and washability
The methods age differently:
- Sublimation: the dye sits in the fibre. There is no layer that could crack or peel. For Infusible Ink textiles, Cricut recommends washing inside out and cold, and ironing only at a low temperature so that the dye does not become active again.
- HTV: Cricut advises washing no earlier than after 24 hours, inside out and without bleach. If pressed badly, the film can come off.
- DTF: Printify gives 50 to 100 washes before fading, cracks or peeling become visible. Weak points are areas that move a lot, such as elbows and seams. Wunderlabel allows up to 60 °C, no earlier than after 24 hours.
- DTG: Printify gives more than 50 washes, after which the colours fade slowly rather than cracking.
- Screen printing: Printify describes properly cured plastisol prints as very wash-resistant. Printify does not give a figure.
Printify’s wash figures apply with correct care and to a service provider’s production. There is no uniform manufacturer claim for all machines. In your own production, durability depends heavily on how cleanly the print was pressed or cured.
What a piece costs
Fixed unit prices cannot be given reliably, as they depend on machine, material, design size and working time. What matters more is how the costs are made up:
- Screen printing has high costs before the first shirt: each colour needs its own screen, and according to Printify print shops charge a setup fee per design and often per colour. In return every further piece gets cheaper, because the setup is spread over more items. That is why Printify recommends screen printing for hundreds of identical shirts.
- DTF and DTG have hardly any setup costs per design. According to Printify, the effort for one DTF shirt is about the same as for fifty. In return the cost per piece hardly falls with quantity, because ink, film and powder are used up in the same amount for every piece. For DTG on dark fabrics, according to Printify, 15 to 30 minutes of pretreatment per batch are added.
- HTV needs hardly any money for equipment, but working time: every piece is plotted, weeded and pressed, and every further colour is another layer. Sign Warehouse describes how costs and effort rise steeply from two or three colours and how the method does not scale to hundreds of identical shirts.
- Sublimation has low consumable costs per design, but requires polyester or coated blanks, which are often more expensive than plain cotton goods.
For the entry costs, a US retailer has worked out the equipment needed, and the figures are in Plot, sublimation or DTF?.
What the wiki offers for getting started
- HTV: cutting plotters and heat presses in the device overview.
- Sublimation: Epson SC-F100, Sawgrass SG500 and SG1000, Brother SP1 under Sublimation printers.
- DTF: Procolored F8 Panda, Procolored K13 Lite and xTool Apparel Printer Plus under DTF printers. Many people also order the transfers ready-made and only need a heat press themselves.
- DTG: the wiki does not list pure DTG printers. There are two UV printers in a version with an additional textile print head: xTool O1 Omni and Longer ePrint. With the SureColor SC-F1000, Epson offers a combined DTG and DTF printer with white ink which, according to Epson, prints on cotton, nylon, leather, polyester, denim and 50/50 blends. Epson does not state a price on the product page.
- Screen printing: the wiki has no devices for this. To cure plastisol you need a heat source that brings the whole ink layer to the temperature on the ink’s data sheet for at least one minute.
In short
- One to a few cotton shirts, single-colour logo: HTV.
- Photos on white polyester or on mugs: sublimation.
- Colourful designs on any fabric, including dark: DTF.
- Soft, detailed designs on cotton: DTG, usually through a service provider.
- Hundreds of identical shirts with few colours: screen printing, usually through a print shop.
Sources
- Printify: DTF vs. DTG, DTF vs. screen printing (print service)
- Wikipedia: Direct-to-garment printing
- Lawson Screen & Digital: How to Properly Cure Plastisol Inks (retailer)
- McLogan: How to Properly Cure Plastisol Ink (retailer)
- Sign Warehouse: DTF vs. Sublimation vs. HTV (retailer)
- Epson: SureColor SC-F1000
- Cricut: Infusible Ink FAQ, Applying iron-on
- Wunderlabel: Pressing DTF transfers