Garment Printers; Power to the Printer
Second-guessing yourself on which direct-to-garment printer to buy? Or, are you trying to decide if a garment printer is even right for your business? Not to worry! We have the pros and cons to inform you through the decision-making process.
By Matt George
This bag is an example of how mixed media can be done with a direct-to-garment printer. The Melco logo was printed in full and embroidery was done on top. Printed by AnaJet Inc. (asi/16000);
Are you on the fence when it comes to whether or not you should purchase a direct-to-garment printer? Well you came to the right place. Although the conventional method of screen printing has been used for years, direct-to-garment printing technology is certainly evolving and making its case in the decorated apparel industry.
Direct-to-garment printing applies a full array of colors directly to a garment or other imprintable product without the use of a screen, similar to the way an inkjet printer prints on paper. Initially, the method was best suited for light-colored garments such as T-shirts, since white ink wasn't available. But with the advancement of technology, printing on dark fabrics is now possible.
Mike Angel, vice president of marketing and U.S. sales for Melco, says that if you're considering printing on dark garments, "Forget about the process you've used for printing on light ones." For white and light-colored cotton, cotton blends, polyester or spandex garments, no pretreatment is necessary. But for dark-colored garments, the process is different.
First, dark garments must be pretreated by spraying a pretreatment chemical onto the printing area as a primer. When it's printing on dark garments, the printer lays a foundation of white ink first, so there's a white base and background to print the color onto the fabric.
"The white ink contains titanium dioxide (TO2), which can damage print heads if the ink isn't flowing regularly," Angel says. "This means that dark-garment printing requires daily use of white inks to avoid clogging. The challenge is to keep the process optimal with plenty of maintenance. Your machine must be maintained vigorously, as the white ink gels dry quickly when exposed to the air."
Additionally, to ensure wash-fastness, heat treatment is needed as a post-treatment. "You can use a heat press or textile oven, usually at 350 degrees for about 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the ink and material," Angel says.
Garment Printer Pros
Garment printers are compact, quiet and ideal for home-based or commercial use. In fact, Matt Rhome, outside technical consultant for Brother International Corp., says a decorator who "operates a garment printer will have plenty of floor space, as opposed to screen-printing equipment.
"Screen-printing equipment is relatively large and messy, making it unsuitable for a residential setting," Rhome says. "It also takes a great deal of time to set up your station. If you were to get an order for 50 T-shirts, the average time it may take you to set up shop is around three hours. You could set up and print 50 shirts in only an hour with a garment printer." As you no doubt already know, time is often critical when it comes to making a sale to a potential client.
In today's economy, there's a high demand for short runs in a timely fashion. "Most businesses will ask for a minimum of 50 or more orders from a customer if they own and operate a screen printer," Rhome says. "With a direct-to-garment printer, there's no minimum and the turnaround time is usually fast. Due to screen preparation and special ink mix, sometimes screen printing requires a one-week turnaround. Garment printing can produce finished products within minutes."
Additionally, direct-to-garment printers have a positive environmental impact, which is sure to benefit your sales as a lot of end-users are becoming more eco-conscious. "Inks are typically water-based, so there's no cause for significant environmental problems," Rhome says.
Screen printing is done mostly with plastisol, which can cause some health issues. And the wastewater from the cleaning process when screen printing is done contains PVC and phthalates. It's a messy and labor-intensive procedure. Digital printing, on the other hand, requires no special cleanup process.
Garment Printer Cons
There are some cons when it comes to direct-to-garment printers. For starters, garment printers don't fare well when printing athletic uniforms. "You wouldn't want to use a garment printer to print on nylon jerseys or even polyester," says Tommy Martin, digital sales and support manager for Hirsch International. "Since the ink is water-based, it won't adhere to the fabric.
"Also, since it requires white ink, if you're looking to get into the black-T-shirt market, which certainly has its benefits, you should consider your budget first. You'll spend as little as 20 to 25 cents to print a white shirt and $2 or more to print the same image on a dark shirt," Martin says.
Another thing to consider is the actual shape of the item you'll be printing on. Sometimes garment printers can't accommodate items that aren't flat, such as a backpack. "It's been known to skip areas, but that's only if there's a bump or crease," Martin says. "A good way to prevent this from happening is with the proper hooping or to simply hold the item in place."
Price and Quality
"Today, consumers are being more cost-conscious and we're seeing a lot of orders in small runs," says Chase Roh, Ph.D., president of AnaJet Inc. (asi/16000). "If you compare garment printers to screen printing or sublimation, the route to choose for an end-user is obvious. Screen printing isn't suitable for jobs less than 100 pieces. With a garment printer, you can print one T-shirt."
Roh warns that consumers may be misguided, as they're often told that screen-printing inks are priced lower than garment printing inks. But the ink cost advantage is more than offset by the expenses of screen printing's process, clean-up, longer production lead time and high labor costs.
So what's the right amount to charge your client for a decorated T-shirt? "The average price in the marketplace is between $4 and $12 depending on the size of the design and how many she orders," Rhome says. "If she orders six dozen T-shirts, then you could mark the price down to as low as $8 each. It should only take 30 seconds to one minute to create the T-shirt, so your asking price should be fair."
When it comes to the quality, there are differences between garment printing and screen printing, with the most notable being the feel. "Screen-printed garments have an undesirable hand tactile feel of plastisol, where digital prints with water-based ink give off a soft hand," Rhome says. "You also don't have the cracking, peeling or heaviness of the screen-printed T-shirt. It's been said that most direct-to-garment designs will start to deteriorate after 15 or more launderings, but that's not necessarily true. And if that was the case, you can even ask your clients if they'd rather take the distressed look that seems to be trendy over a design that's cracking."
However, Angel says the quality really depends on the interest of the buyer. "If you're looking to get a more detailed, vibrant and glossy image, you may want to purchase an item designed by a screen printer," he says. "That being said, screen printing can't handle intricate designs or color photos, and the artwork has to be specially prepared with consideration of chokes and traps, half-tones and so on."
Screen printing also requires printing one color at a time; therefore, typical garments can have three colors at most. "Digital printing uses process color or full color, typically has 16 million colors and is printed on one pass," Angel says. "And that's at the same price. Of course, for screen printing, the more colors in a garment, the higher the cost."
Misconceptions
One of the biggest misconceptions about garment printers is that the machines aren't durable, but industry experts say that's completely untrue. "There are a lot of so-called decorators out there who've bought off-the-shelf desktop printers, such as Epson printers, from a local Office Depot and hacked them together to create garment printers," Rhome says. "To no one's surprise, those printers fail, have a lot of issues and give embroiderers who bought the right equipment a bad name."
Martin agrees, saying that even if decorators don't try to build a machine themselves, they might still have a budget mentality, which leads them to buy the cheapest printer available on the market. Instead of investing in one that will last for years, decorators are "keeping their wallet in their back pockets," he says.
"There's a reason why every machine is set at a different price," Martin says. "When you're looking at machines, it's like cars. Do you want a Honda that may only produce a T-shirt every 10 to 15 minutes, or a Cadillac that will result in high quality and can produce shirts with a quick turnaround? And the most important thing is retaining your customers. If you're distributing shirts that only last through a few launderings, you can kiss your client base good-bye."
Another misconception: Direct-to-garment printers are too difficult to understand. "For some reason, buyers have this notion that learning each step to operate a garment printer is like learning a foreign language," Rhome says. "The technology is relatively simple to use, but it still requires an investment of time and energy to get the most out of it."
If you find yourself scratching your head after owning your machine for a number of weeks, Rhome suggests scheduling a training session with the manufacturer. "Operating your garment printer for a few weeks will allow you to ask questions based on real-world experiences, rather than hypothetical ones," he says. "And if your trainer is coming to your shop, make sure to clear your production calendar so you can focus without interruptions."
MATT GEORGE is a staff writer for Stitches. Contact: mgeorge@asicentral.com.