A plethora of methods to get the best T-shirt prints

A T-shirt is a ubiquitous piece of clothing worn by both genders of all age groups. T-shirts bearing prints of various designs or slogans or logos are very much popular among the people. Many T-shirt manufacturers also offer custom-printed T-shirts. Many companies custom design the T-shirts for their staff to make them unique to the companies. The advent of digital technology has revolutionized high quality t shirt printing. However, traditional methods of t-shirt printing are still being employed by the manufacturers. The printing method used depends on the type of fabric, color, design of the print, and the volume of t-shirts to be printed.

These are some of the standard t-shirt printing techniques used to make high-quality printed t-shirts.

Screen printing

The screen printing method involves a nylon mesh, which is coated with a photosensitive emulsion. After the screen dries, the design is placed on it and secured using adhesive. After that, the screen is placed under UV light. This causes the design to be burned into the mesh screen. The mesh screen is finally flooded with the ink through a screen printing machine.

Screen printing is one of the most preferred methods for high-quality t-shirt printing. This method accurately replicates the design on the T-shirt. Screen printing is highly suited for high volume orders and is widely used for mass productions of printed T-shirts. The inks used for screen printing are of premium quality and thicker than inks used in other types of t-shirt printing. This is why screen printed t-shirts appear bright and vibrant, and the print is highly durable. Screen printing prints 200-500 t-shirts per gallon of ink.

Heat press printing

In the heat press printing process, the design is first incorporated on a unique heat transfer sheet. The design is printed on the sheet digitally using a special solvent ink. The heat transfer paper is then placed on the T-shirt and subjected to heat and pressure. The combination of heat and pressure causes the design on the paper to transfer to the t-shirt fabric.

Dye-sublimation is a subtype of heat press printing. In this method, dye-based ink is used to print the design on the heat transfer sheet digitally. The dye turns into gas when subjected to heat and seeps inside the fabric of the t-shirt. The gas molecules solidify once heating is stopped and become a part of the fabric. Dye sublimation is mainly used for polyester t-shirts.

Plastisol transfer printing is another subtype of heat press printing. In this method, the design is printed on a plastisol transfer paper using inkjets. The plastisol transfer paper is then heat pressed to transfer the design to the t-shirt.

DTG Printing

DTG stands for Direct To Garment. This type of t-shirt is similar to paper printing. The only difference is that a DTG printer injects ink into the fabric. There are no secondary steps involved since the DTG printer directly prints the design on the t-shirt. The high color mixing potential of the DTG printer enables even the minutest color and design details to be efficiently printed on the t-shirt.

DTG features 6among high-quality t-shirt printing methods because even intricate designs are recreated flawlessly on the fabrics. You do not feel the print because it is infused into the fabric.