Direct-to-Garment Printing

One-off full colour printing

Direct to garment printing systemDirect to garment printing also known as DTG printing, digital garment printing and inkjet to garment printing, is a process of printing on textiles and garments using specialised or modified inkjet technology.

Most direct to garment printers are manufactured from pre-existing Epson inkjet printers, but this is not always the case and several manufacturers do produce their own hardware.

The beauty of a direct to garment printer is the ability to produce one item in full colur. This makes a DTG system ideal for producing samples and very short production runs. However, it should be remembered that the inital purchase cost of this type of hardware could be in excess of £10,000 and when compared with both heat transfer and sublimation printing onto garments, DTG systems offer no significant advantage for one-off or short run production.

Direct to garment printers are often seen to be a complete replacment for traditional screen printing systems and in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

For the same cost as a direct to garment printer, it is possible to purchase a complete screen printing system - 4 colour, 4 station carousel, flash cure dyrer, UV exposure unit, tunnel dryer -that would eclipse the capability of any other process for printing onto garments in every way with the possible exception of the production of single run, or very small quantities of full colour shirts.

The market for "push a button" print technology is growing all the time, but it will never replace the traditional way that garments are screen printing.

Dalesway does not market direct to garment printers, but we would be more than happy to put you in contact with suppliers that can offer such equipment. Please ask us if you would like help with this.