# Heat Transfer vs. DTG Printing



## gail12 (Aug 16, 2010)

Hi,

I am a newbie. I am trying to decide between Heat Transfer & DTG printer. What are the pros & cons of each? Am I correct that both methods work only on cotton and both have difficulty with dark shirts? It seems that Heat Transfer is much less expensive.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

Heat transfers can be done on different materials and is not limited to 100% cotton. Fairly inexpensive. DTG is limited mostly to 100% cotton although some blends down to 50-50 can be used but the farther u are from 100% the lesser the results. DTG is far more expensive startup with a much steeper learning curve.


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## EXTouch (Mar 22, 2007)

Hi Gail, 

These are two threads that have a lot of information (and opinions) about the t-shirt printing methods. 

They're long, but there's some good stuff in them. 

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t37985.html
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t48532.html

I'm embroiderer, but I'm getting into the in house printing now myself. These were very helpful starting points for me. 

Good Luck!


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

gail12 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am a newbie. I am trying to decide between Heat Transfer & DTG printer. What are the pros & cons of each? Am I correct that both methods work only on cotton and both have difficulty with dark shirts? It seems that Heat Transfer is much less expensive.


The difference is about $15K on the low end and $50K on the high end. 

DTG is expensive to get into. Consider getting a cutter, heat press, and ordering plastisol transfers and for about $3K you can do several hundred shirts a week.


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## Texsource Scott (Aug 24, 2010)

gail12 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am a newbie. I am trying to decide between Heat Transfer & DTG printer. What are the pros & cons of each? Am I correct that both methods work only on cotton and both have difficulty with dark shirts? It seems that Heat Transfer is much less expensive.


The question you should be asking is, "How much maintenance are you willing to do?" The Direct to Garment machines are a bear to maintain. They have to be used everyday to keep the heads unclogged. If you are willing to properly maintain the machine they are great. You can achieve remarkable prints with them. Using transfers requires less maintenance. Practically none if you are ordering your transfers. Base your decision on what market you are trying to reach as well. Good luck with you decision.


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## REAMS (Aug 8, 2010)

I've heard that heat pressing plastisol transfers is almost the same quality as screen printing, to the point most can't tell the difference. How is the quality of heat pressing compared to DTG


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