Choosing a DTG Printer

Jaime Ghisays
2021-03-25T08:00:00-07:00

Learn how to choose a DTG printer with our guide.
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If you have a business that does DTG printing, you know that you need a top-notch DTG printer. But learning what features to look for in a product like this can be challenging. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about choosing a DTG printer for your business.

What Is DTG Printing?

DTG printing is short for direct to garment printing. It refers to a special printing method that allows you to print directly onto textiles.

A printer like this works much like your home printer hooked up to your computer, but with a few significant differences. It offers a versatile and convenient alternative to traditional screen printing.

What Are The Benefits of DTG Printing?

These include:

Wide collection of applications. From T-shirts to Canvas printing, Tots, Hats, Shoes and much more.

Photorealistic Quality Printing.

Print Over cotton & Blends.

High Durability and Quality.

Photographic reproduction. (Screen Printing can’t print photographs).

Lower cost of production in low and medium production runs vs Screen printing.

No limits or minimums per design/style.

Automatic Color Mixing

WIth DTG printing, ink colors mix with traditional CMYK+W ink. What does this mean for you? Essentially, it opens up the possibility of printing designs that aren’t possible with other methods.

Photorealistic Printing

Because there are more options for colors with DTG printing, you have more options for designs. These include photorealistic designs that weren’t possible with other textile printing methods. With extensive ink mixing, you can achieve slight gradient variations and more accurate images.

More Fabric Color Options

DTG printing also offers the opportunity to print on more fabric colors. This is because you can print a white base under the ink, which gives you a background to help more shades pop.

Who Needs a DTG Printer?

Most DTG printer users are businesses that provide custom printed textiles. These could include everything from small businesses to huge corporations shipping products around the world.

The bottom line: DTG printing is a highly versatile printing technology that opens and expands any business potential to achieve more revenue. Thanks to its technology it can extend any business product portfolio with a high level of profitability. The personalization business has been growing rapidly and its demand expanded from promotional items to textiles. Any person/business that wants to enter this niche will find huge profit potential.

What To Consider

So what should you consider before you choose what type of DTG printer is right for your needs? Here are a few of the top considerations before you get started:

Volume

Printing speed

Budget

Type of work you plan to do

Product quality

Extra features

How steep is the learning curve?

Volume

Before any decision about which DTG to choose, think about your volume potential. No matter what the cost of the DTG printer , the most important question you need to ask yourself is what would be your potential business?. Based on the answer of this question, the answer will come easier. Besides, ideally you will seek finance to purchase it, and the business you generate should cover all expenses including the cost of the printer.

Implementing a detailed business plan will give you an idea of how much work you are likely to do at the beginning. From there, you might have a bit more leeway to make estimates on your future work volume.

Printing Speed

Secondly, consider how fast you need to print. Will you be printing bulk orders and storing them or churning out custom orders as quickly as possible?

Different DTG printer models have different speeds, especially when it comes to more complex printing jobs. Sometimes, you might have to prioritize between speed and quality. With that in mind, choose carefully!

Budget

Obviously, one of the most important things to consider is your budget. Weigh this against how much you plan on producing and how quickly.

In general, you can expect to pay more for a DTG printer than for a standard printer. But this also ranges depending on the model, quality, and extra features it offers.

The simplest models are likely to run you about $12,000. These let you perform the most basic printing needs. For some users, this is more than enough. Others need more complex models with more features.

Industrial DTG printers can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But these are designed to handle huge volumes and print at the best quality

Type of Work

Make sure you also consider the type of work you plan on doing. Why does this matter, exactly?

Some businesses offer custom design printing. That means that they need a DTG printer with more options for color mixing, layering, gradients, fabric types and colors, and more.

Being able to offer people a wider array of choices is a good business model — presuming that you plan on using your DTG printer for business.

But it also means that you might need a printer model with more offerings. On the other hand, if you plan on producing a few basic printed items, a no-frills model could be perfect for your needs.

Product Quality

Obviously, when buying any product, you want to know what the quality is. In the case of DTG printers, you can find this out by looking at the work they produce.

Look at the prints. Are they accurate replications? Do they use a variety of colors and gradients? Are they capable of producing photorealistic prints?

You can also ask yourself questions like:

Can this do white layering to print on different colors effectively?

How well does it mix ink colors?

How well does the print measure up to the original artwork?

How quickly does it work?

Features

As we mentioned above, different DTG printer models have different features. Some of these are highly complex, while others have more basic functions.

It is up to you to decide what features are vital for your needs. For some people, certain features are non-negotiables, while others are just nice to have.

Here are some features to consider:

White layering

Software support

Color matching

Self maintenance

Learning Curve

DTG printers are not complicated machines. As such, they have a learning curve. However, some are more complex than others. Before you choose a model, do some research and read online reviews to find out how intricate the machine is and how long it might take you to learn your way around it. Seek for suppliers that go the extra mile in training you how to become an expert in the process.

The Bottom Line: Choosing a DTG Printer

Choosing a DTG printer is only the first step. Before you get started, you will also need to ensure you have all the proper equipment to support it. All Printheads has everything you need to hit the ground running. To get all the equipment you need for your DTG printer, visit our website.