# How to put photos on shirts



## jon781 (Sep 22, 2012)

Hey guys, what's the best method for putting photos on tshirts? I've had several customers come to me wanting to put pictures of their deceased loved ones on tshirts in memory of. I just do basic screen printing but would like to branch out to other methods. Greatly appreciate any feedback!


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## rattenzadel (Nov 30, 2015)

Heat Transfer Inkjet Paper and a heat press

or if your willing to go for the investment a DTG would be the better and more quality way.


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## AE7HF (Nov 29, 2015)

not a fan of inkjet.. 
I use the OKI C831-TS. I use the weedless paper on white shirts and it does fine.. for dark or black, use the Opaque 1. It works awesome and has great washablility. No problems with the opaque 1 on cracking, fading, etc. 
inkjet can wash and fade very easily.


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## GTP30 (Dec 18, 2015)

Just done 3 photo shirts yesterday using JPSS transfer paper. My customers are happy with them and the others I have done have held up nice after repeated washing. DTG is definitely a better quality but for a few shirts or one offs an inkjet printer with pigment inks and JPSS transfer paper works well for me. 
If you don't already have a heat press and a printer with pigment inks DTG may be your best bet, you can find some DTG printers willing to do one offs at decent prices.


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## veetwincowboy (Mar 14, 2015)

I sublimate mine using a ricoh 3110 with sawgrass inks and spp papers from conde using a 16x20 auto open from hpn.. good inexpensive set up..


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

AE7HF said:


> not a fan of inkjet..
> I use the OKI C831-TS. I use the weedless paper on white shirts and it does fine.. for dark or black, use the Opaque 1. It works awesome and has great washablility. No problems with the opaque 1 on cracking, fading, etc.
> *inkjet can wash and fade very easily*.


You must be using the wrong paper and inks then.

My pigment inks do not fade in the wash quickly. The t-shirts I make the printed design remains bright and durable longer than the useful of the tshirt. In other words the t-shirts get "dingy" and worn out overall way but the printed design remains looking good.

Now I don't have any secret that I am keeping from others. If you go thru the threads there are many others that are very happy using JPSS and pigment inks.

I will put up any inkjet transfer I make to any laser transfer on the market. And I have 2 OKI's BTW.


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## jon781 (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks for the great feedback guys! I will be doing my research on all the methods you posted.


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## roadrunner197069 (Nov 22, 2015)

mgparrish said:


> You must be using the wrong paper and inks then.
> 
> My pigment inks do not fade in the wash quickly. The t-shirts I make the printed design remains bright and durable longer than the useful of the tshirt. In other words the t-shirts get "dingy" and worn out overall way but the printed design remains looking good.
> 
> ...


Inkjet opaque wont compete with laser on darks at all.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

roadrunner197069 said:


> Inkjet opaque wont compete with laser on darks at all.


Off course that wasn't the discussion, but I'll address it.

Name all the inkjet opaques _that you have actually tried_ ???

Name 1 laser opaque that won't eventually crack with machine wash/dry, _they all do_, I have been doing digital transfer _since you first could and have tested most everything_ both inkjet and laser, I have both technologies.

There is one and only 1 inkjet single step opaque that absolutely won't crack under any wash condition, in fact there are _no wash and dry restrictions period_ with a certain inkjet opaque paper. Can you name it? 

And how do define "competing"? You mean competing like paying around $2000 grand for a tabloid size CMYK laser vs. a $150 tabloid size inkjet that can make a permanent transfer that won't crack?

Laser opaques especially the weed free I would never sell to a customer. I've been wash testing laser weed free with white toner for some time now, and all the different papers and systems, sorry folks but that is one expensive dog that don't hunt. Non washable items and hard goods is the only decent application for white toner currently, and then no need to pay a fortune for it either.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

mgparrish said:


> Off course that wasn't the discussion, but I'll address it.
> 
> Name all the inkjet opaques _that you have actually tried_ ???
> 
> ...


Hey, I've no dog in this fight 
But since you use both laser and inkjet processes, when do you choose to use one rather than the other? 

I'm going to experiment with some JPSS with Epson pigment ink soon. Probably not going to mess with the dark stuff.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

NoXid said:


> Hey, I've no dog in this fight
> But since you use both laser and inkjet processes, when do you choose to use one rather than the other?
> 
> I'm going to experiment with some JPSS with Epson pigment ink soon. Probably not going to mess with the dark stuff.


I don't have any dogs in this fight either, printers to me are tools and I use the best tool for the job.

Having said that I would prefer that lasers could make better transfers as you don't have to worry about banding and such, and there are speed advantages, however, things are as they are, inkjet wins for heat transfers. 

The only OEM transfers I do on the laser are an occasional image clip laser light on light color t-shirt. JPSS I don't see the background window in white 50/50, so I don't use Image Clip on whites, but ash 50/50s look nice with Image clip laser light, and the paper washes well.

As I mentioned in a previous post, tabloid laser is expensive, I can live with having to do more maintenance on an inkjet since I can buy around 10 - 12 tabloid size inkjets for the cost of a single tabloid laser. Being restricted to letter/legal size transfers doesn't work for me.

Back around 2005 the prices dropped dramatically for color lasers, so I bought 2 Oki's. One using standard OKI toner and another I used sublimation toner in it. Back in the day I used the sublimation laser a lot it was hands down the fastest most economical mouse pad solution on the planet. Experimented and tested with all kinds of laser papers since way back then, testing all the new stuff as it comes out. 

All kinds of cool and interesting papers have came around for lasers, the problem is that people actually wash t-shirts and don't hang them on the wall as decorations so much, nor do I have a need to "prototype" a t-shirt before I send it off to screen printing.

JPSS on white 50/50 rocks with pigment inks.


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## GTP30 (Dec 18, 2015)

NoXid said:


> Hey, I've no dog in this fight
> But since you use both laser and inkjet processes, when do you choose to use one rather than the other?
> 
> I'm going to experiment with some JPSS with Epson pigment ink soon. Probably not going to mess with the dark stuff.


I've done 20 or so shirts recently using the Epson and the Durabrite ink that came with the printer. You'll want to tweak the colors some as a few will look a little off/dull on JPSS paper. So far I have a few shirts that have been through the wash 8-10 times and still look great.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

GTP30 said:


> I've done 20 or so shirts recently using the Epson and the Durabrite ink that came with the printer. You'll want to tweak the colors some as a few will look a little off/dull on JPSS paper. So far I have a few shirts that have been through the wash 8-10 times and still look great.


Epson's Durabrite pigment inks wash very well. I use Cobra's inks as they are less expensive, but Epson's pigment are durable. This is the same for the K3 and Ultrachrome pigment inks Epson has in the higher end printers too.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

mgparrish said:


> Epson's Durabrite pigment inks wash very well. I use Cobra's inks as they are less expensive, but Epson's pigment are durable. This is the same for the K3 and Ultrachrome pigment inks Epson has in the higher end printers too.


Yeah, I've had some Ultrachrome prints on photo paper hanging in direct sun for about 10 years. They still match the "controls" I've kept in a folder. Great stuff.

That said, the price for those little dinky EPSON ink carts is pretty "great" too 
I take it you've been happy with Cobra pigment ink. Are you losing a noticeable amount of durability with that, or is it a moot point as long as you are using pigment ink?

Ink/Cart/CIS options are getting limited for my old Stylus Photo 2200 (not an "R"), but I'd like to stick with it as long as it works. Thing cost a bit back in the day!


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

NoXid said:


> Yeah, I've had some Ultrachrome prints on photo paper hanging in direct sun for about 10 years. They still match the "controls" I've kept in a folder. Great stuff.
> 
> That said, the price for those little dinky EPSON ink carts is pretty "great" too
> I take it you've been happy with Cobra pigment ink. Are you losing a noticeable amount of durability with that, or is it a moot point as long as you are using pigment ink?
> ...


All the pigments I have tried were durable.


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## Embroidthis2200 (May 30, 2008)

If you're doing memorial shirts and want to up the game a bit.
we sublimate the image onto white glitter flake then press that onto the shirts.

I really gives them the sparkly angel look, our customers are liking it alot.

Cheers.


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## JosephRegan90 (Dec 26, 2015)

Select, edit, and flip your photo.
Before you transfer your digital photo to a T-shirt, you'll need to select the photo, make sure it looks the way you want it, and then get it ready for printing.
Print your photo.
Now you're ready to print your photo on iron-on transfer paper. 
Iron it on your shirt. 
Wear it well.


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## stevenphillips (Dec 26, 2015)

John, if you want to print a photo on the shirts, so you can use photo printing method or heat transfer printing method, but they are not long lasting. If you want to create a long term business relationship with your customers, so i would ideally recommend you to go for CMYK or Sublimation Printing, they are long lasting and it also give a bright result.

Sublimation Printing can only be done on white polyester fabric, however CMYK Printing can be done on white cotton fabric.

I have manufacturer who provides every type of printing method, if you want you can pm me, i'll provide you their contact information so that you can contact them easily.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

stevenphillips said:


> John, if you want to print a photo on the shirts, so you can use photo printing method or heat transfer printing method, but they are not long lasting. If you want to create a long term business relationship with your customers, so i would ideally recommend you to go for CMYK or Sublimation Printing, they are long lasting and it also give a bright result.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Steven, simply not true.  

I've been making digital transfers since you first could, and mine all outlast the useful of the basic t-shirt.

Those that make these claims of digital transfer "are not long lasting" either state that because they have never tried and read of someone else's bad experience on a forum or tried a method using poor materials and inks. 

There are many others here posting about JPSS and pigment inks, it's not my secret. Nothing personal but what you state _so broadly_ is not true.

FACT: Using quality transfer paper like JPSS and pigment inks you can create a permanent t-shirt that will last many years. The basic t-shirt will either get to dingy or deteriorate in the stitching or get stains on the basic tshirt and you throw it away, this happens but the transferred area stays nice looking.

And what are you calling "CMYK printing" for low volume or "one-off" tshirts ?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

stevenphillips said:


> I have manufacturer who provides every type of printing method, if you want you can pm me, i'll provide you their contact information so that you can contact them easily.


Steven,

If you are making a business offer (acting as a seller of products or services for example), then this post would fall under advertising/self promotion, and isn't permitted per forum rules.

If you are just helping out, from one forum member to another, then you can post the information directly to the thread, so it can help anyone who reads it.


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## Tonya6232 (Jan 3, 2016)

so mike is Epson inkjet printer good? and which one? because im running into the same issues as wanting to put photos on t shirts


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Tonya6232 said:


> so mike is Epson inkjet printer good? and which one? because im running into the same issues as wanting to put photos on t shirts


Any Epson with pigment inks are good. Epson Durabrite inks are pigment based.

I used the WF7110.


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## kevdog (Jan 2, 2016)

Can i but in and ask.
I have an HP printer model is envy 4500 and was also thinking about doing some t-shirts onto tranfer paper.

Does anybody know if HP do a good ink for this or maybe a third party ink that will do the job.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

kevdog said:


> Can i but in and ask.
> I have an HP printer model is envy 4500 and was also thinking about doing some t-shirts onto tranfer paper.
> 
> Does anybody know if HP do a good ink for this or maybe a third party ink that will do the job.


Only the black ink is pigment based for the standard carts that model uses. The tri-color (CMY) cart is dye based. As such those dye inks will bleed out and fade from washing. 

That printer is also only up to letter size paper. really too small to do designs on the XL and lager size t-shirts.

I consider tabloid size (11x17 or 13 x 19) as the min size printer for doing t-shirts.


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## kevdog (Jan 2, 2016)

Can anybody give me an idea of a printer that will do the job then, it would need to be inexpensive as i only do this as a hobby at the moment but i would like one that if needed would produce a passable finish if i was to sell a shirt.


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## kevdog (Jan 2, 2016)

I should maybe add that im UK based so maybe the models won't be the same in your area.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

kevdog said:


> Can anybody give me an idea of a printer that will do the job then, it would need to be inexpensive as i only do this as a hobby at the moment but i would like one that if needed would produce a passable finish if i was to sell a shirt.


Epson with Pigments. That would be Durabrite if 4 color.


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