Digital printing, also known as direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, is a versatile method that allows for the printing of any t-shirt design, regardless of the number of colours, onto shirts of any colour. While the process differs from traditional screen printing and requires more effort and time, it offers several advantages. Digital printing involves directly transferring your image from electronic sources onto the fabric, making it ideal for low-volume and multi-coloured print jobs.
Benefits of digital printing include:
- Environmentally friendly: Digital printing uses water-based inks, which are more eco-friendly compared to traditional solvent-based inks commonly used in other printing methods. This makes digital printing a greener option.
- No minimum order quantities or set-up restrictions/costs: Unlike some other printing methods, digital printing does not require a minimum order quantity. This means you can print a single t-shirt or a small batch without any restrictions. Additionally, there are no significant set-up costs involved, making it cost-effective for small-scale printing projects.
- Quick pre-production proofs and approvals: Digital printing allows for quick turnaround times when it comes to pre-production proofs and obtaining approvals. This can be advantageous if you have tight deadlines or need to make adjustments before finalising the printing process.
- Flexibility in artwork formats: Digital printing offers flexibility in the types of artwork formats it can work with. Whether you have vector art, high-resolution images, bitmap images, or digital camera photos, digital printing can accommodate them all, ensuring that your design comes out as intended.
- No concerns over spot vs. process colour: With digital printing, you can bypass the spot colour vs. process colour consideration. Since the printing is done directly from the computer, there is minimal room for error, resulting in accurate and vibrant colours on your printed t-shirts.
Advantages of DTG Printing:
In addition to the general benefits mentioned above, direct-to-garment (DTG) printing offers specific advantages:
- One-time set-up fee for the same artwork and colour: If you’re using the same artwork and colour for multiple t-shirts, DTG printing typically incurs a one-time set-up fee. This can be cost-effective when printing a larger quantity of shirts with the same design and colour scheme.
- Eco-friendly water-based inks: DTG printing utilises water-based inks, which are more environmentally friendly compared to solvent-based inks. This aligns with the increasing emphasis on sustainable and eco-conscious practices.
- High-quality multi-coloured printing: DTG printing excels in reproducing intricate and multi-coloured designs with excellent precision and detail. It allows for high-quality prints, including gradients, shading, and fine details, on your t-shirts.
- Compatibility with various image formats: DTG printing can work with various image formats, including vector images, high-resolution images, bitmap images, and even digital photos. This versatility ensures that you can use your preferred image format without compromising on print quality.
- No concerns over spot vs. process colour – we print directly from the computer, there is little room for error
By leveraging the advantages of digital printing, specifically direct-to-garment printing, you can achieve custom t-shirt designs that are environmentally friendly, high-quality, and flexible in terms of colors and artwork formats.
Kornit Digital
Kornit Digital is the global leader in on-demand sustainable fashion production.
By 2026, Kornit’s technology will enable the production of approximately 2.5 billion apparel items in a responsible manner.
- Reduce overproduction by up to 30% annually. Moving the industry to on-demand manufacturing will eliminate the overproduction of an estimated 1.1 billion apparel items each year.
- Reduce water waste, to just that required to print. In addition to eliminating overstocks, Kornit’s on-demand production will support saving an estimated 4.3 trillion liters of water annually. Enough drinking water to hydrate the entire US population for 11 years.
- Reduce CO2 emissions. Kornit’s sustainable on-demand production, consumes less energy, and generates less waste, preventing an estimated 17.2 billion kilograms (37.9 billion pounds) of greenhouse gas emissions annually, compared to traditional manufacturing.
Brother GTX
DTG with Brother facilitates a higher resolution, crisp graphic detail and full-colour capability. DTG opens up a whole new world for textile decoration. You aren’t limited with a set number of colours and you can push your creativity with explosive graphics. Even include photography in your designs. With DTG, the sky is the limit!
Water based pigment inks, Innobella Textile Ink are ECO PASSPORT by OKEO-TEX® certified and CPSIA compliant. They have less of an impact on the environment with cartridges that use less plastic with replaceable ouches. Produce prints that stand up to multiple washings and maintain their integrity even longer. All of this with the convenience and dependability Brother DTG is known for.
