Understanding the Various Tshirt Printing & Decoration Processes

I have many conversations with people who’re thinking of getting started with a Tshirt printing business, and it’s very common that at the stage that folk are considering putting their hands in their pockets to buy Tshirt printing machinery, they’ve not actually given much thought at all to which process they are going to be using. 

If this is you, if you know you want to create Tshirts, and perhaps other items, but you don’t actually know which process you’re going to be using, then just leave your credit card in your pocket for now, and find out exactly which decoration process is right for you, first. If you don’t do this, you could easily end up with completely the wrong Tshirt printing setup.

Inkjet Transfer, Laser Transfer,  Dye Sublimation, Vinyl, Direct to Garment, Screen printing, Outsourced Transfers…

This isn’t even all of the possible printing methods for Garments and giftware, but it covers the majority of Tshirt and gift printing processes.

If you’re starting a small Tshirt and Gift printing business, more than likely one of the above processes will be what you’ll use, or more than one. 

Inkjet Heat Transfer Printing

This is one of the oldest digital Tshirt printing methods. It’s one of the easiest and one of the cheapest, so it’s a very popular process for new Tshirt printers, especially for personalization printing. Click here for more information about inkjet heat transfer printing.

CMYK Laser Heat Transfer Printing

CMYK Laser heat transfer printing is another popular process for personalization printing. It requires a bit more upfront investment than inkjet transfer printing, but not a huge amount more – and it gives you a really wide scope, including being able to print onto hard substrates including wood, glass, ceramics and candles.

White Toner Laser Heat Transfer Printing

This is still laser transfer printing, but via special laser printers that have been modified to have a white toner, to allow for self weeding full color transfers to be printed on both light and dark garments. Self weeding means no need for a contour cutter, and no need for weeding out the background, but there are some cons to this process, mainly in that it’s a mcuh more expensive process to get setup with, and it’s quite a fiddly multiple step process too, so it’s not for everyone.

Dye Sublimation Printing

This is a fantastic process for a very wide range of giftware products, however there are some cons when it comes to Tshirts, which means dye sub isn’t the best choice for everyone when it comes to Tshirt printing. Even if you don’t choose dye sublimation printing as your main Tshirt printing method, though, there’s a very good chance you’ll decided to ass dye sub as a string to your bow, at some point, regardless of which kind of Tshirt printing business you decide on.

Heat Transfer Vinyl

Another very tried and tested process, heat transfer vinyl is used to print Tshirts by contour cutting text, designs and nunbers out of Tshirt Vinyl, and then heat pressing the vinyl onto the Tshirt. This process doesn’t require a huge amount of investment, you don’t need a printer for it – you need an optical contour cutter, different coloured Tshirt vinyl, and a heat transfer press.

Tshirt Screen Printing

One of the most well known Tshirt printing methods, particularly suitable for larger volumes. Although digital tshirt printing has become increasingly popular and accessible over the years, screen printing is still the leading method for printing Tshirts, other garments and other items, in larger volumes.

Direct to Garment Printing, DTG

Another great Tshirt printing process, DTG is one of the most expensive digital Tshirt processes in terms of initial outlay, so it’s not the right process for most small startups. If you have the budget, though, and you want great print results including stunning full colour and photographic prints on light and dark 100% cotton Tshirts, then DTG is worth considering. 

Outsourced Transfers

This involves outsourcing your transfer printing, and just doing your transfer pressing in-house. It’s not a bad option for own brand printing, and bulk Tshirt printing.