# Is Dtg The Way To Go?



## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

I have had some American Apparel white shirts garment printed with, I believe, DTG printing. The images are B&W digital photos. I want to switch to some softer, vintage style tees from Alternative Apparel (burnout tee). Is this style printing the best way to go? I would like to print on dark shirts as well, however with this type of printing (DTG) it is not possible. I want that "soft hand" feel to them as well. I have read a tiny bit about water-based printing of some sort.

Any ideas??


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## fdsales (Jul 1, 2007)

DTG uses water-based inks, and has a very soft hand (feel), pretty much the same as you would get using water based inks on a screen press. Some DTG printers do print on dark shirts using white ink as a base, however, it requires that you apply a pre-treatment to the dark shirt.
If you really considering DTG printing, this forum has EXCELLENT info. Take some time & go thru all the threads, and you'll learn a lot....if you have any questions, just post them in that thread, and you'll get an answer.


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## csquared (Sep 8, 2006)

If you are doing photo realistic printing I feel that DTG might be good for you. If you are printing on dark shirts you will start to feel the print more than when it is printed on a light shirt because of the extra ink (underbase)


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

Thank you both!!! I am so greatful to you for answering my questions. 
Cara


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

csquared said:


> If you are doing photo realistic printing I feel that DTG might be good for you. If you are printing on dark shirts you will start to feel the print more than when it is printed on a light shirt because of the extra ink (underbase)


I do have another question regarding the dark shirts....

The screen printers I used told me that I could not use "garment printing" (which is what they called it-assuming it's dtg) to print on dark shirts. The reason was because they used the white of the shirt as the color white and only black ink. Why would that be?  Does that mean my only option would be to have the color of the shirt represent the white in the photo? 

I don't mind a little extra feel on the dark shirts as long as it is a pretty soft hand.


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

fdsales said:


> Some DTG printers do print on dark shirts using white ink as a base, however, it requires that you apply a pre-treatment to the dark shirt.


Ok, I think this was my answer. LOL. This is what the screen printer had not mentioned. So, maybe that place doesn't offer such printing treatments. Is this my best option? I will scan the forum too. Thank you.


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## Parkwood (Jan 14, 2008)

If you want a soft look on a lightweight shirt than DTG will work perfectly on light colored shirts.

The only way DTG can print on black and dark grounds and get bright colors is by printing an underbase of white. This will result in a very heavy hand and I don't think that is compatible with a lightweight, combed cotton t-shirt. Additionally, DTG on white (dark shirts) is a hassle if you do it yourself and can be very frustrating and expensive. 

Now if you want the soft hand on darks like Ed Hardy shirts, then you are going to have to discharge. The only DTG printer that does that is a Mimaki and I don't think it's been widely placed. That is, there aren't too many around.

Discharge printing by silkscreen is more commonly done.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

When printing a dark dtg shirt you will have a little heavier hand than on a white shirt but not very heavy as the poster above stated. when any light color is printed on a dark shirt you will get more of a feel than a light color shirt due to needing a white underbase and this also includes screen printing. Discharge is nice but for a photo quality print it would have to be done in half tones I believe so you would not get the detail that you would with a dtg. Discharge is very soft though


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## Parkwood (Jan 14, 2008)

My point about the heavy hand was that it will feel heavier on say a 4.3-4.5 oz black shirt than a 5.5 or 6.1. By contrast it will be heavy. Since discharge is the equivalent of printing on greige goods and not a white underbase you won't get the pop but still fairly bright colors can be achieved.


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## martinwoods (Jul 20, 2006)

I have the Brother and cannot do white ink, but I LOVE the Brother. I have gotten many samples of the dark shirts and they do not have a heavier feel than screen print would, I did get samples from Mimaki and after what I got I would not even consider the disharge printing they offer. JMO though


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

CaraJaya said:


> I want to switch to some softer, vintage style tees from Alternative Apparel (burnout tee). Is this style printing the best way to go?


The Paper Ranch did the last two days at the ISS Orlando Show using a Direct Advantave and burnout shirts from Canvas (which is owned by Bella). The Bella girls loved them. Even put some foil on a shirt as well. The hand is incredible. 

The only thing you need to think about is that the burnout shirts are so thin that some of the ink will go through them. We put a teflon pillow between the two layers so that the ink does not bleed through the back side. I would image some paper would do the same thing.

Hope this helps.

Mark


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

DAGuide said:


> The Paper Ranch did the last two days at the ISS Orlando Show using a Direct Advantave and burnout shirts from Canvas (which is owned by Bella). The Bella girls loved them. Even put some foil on a shirt as well. The hand is incredible.
> 
> The only thing you need to think about is that the burnout shirts are so thin that some of the ink will go through them. We put a teflon pillow between the two layers so that the ink does not bleed through the back side. I would image some paper would do the same thing.
> 
> ...


Great. Can you recommend a screen printer that would be able to do this type of printing? ..on the Burnout Tunics, large b&w digital prints, on light and dark shirts. I am having a bit of info overload on google right now.  Thanks everyone!


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

CaraJaya said:


> Great. Can you recommend a screen printer that would be able to do this type of printing? ..on the Burnout Tunics, large b&w digital prints, on light and dark shirts. I am having a bit of info overload on google right now.  Thanks everyone!


If you are now looking for a screen printer (and not a dtg printer as previously being discussed), then just flip through your phone book and call the screen printers and ask them if they print waterbased inks. If so, you are good to go on light colored garments. 

Because your graphics are black-n-white, you are not going to get as soft hand on the dark garments. You could try getting the shirts printing using discharge inks, but you will not have a true white and it might be hard to find this type of shirt that is discharge-friendly. If you go with either plastisol or waterbased inks (whether by a screen printer or dtg printer), you are going to have to have a white underbase that will give the design a heavier hand / feel to it.

Hope this information helps.

Mark


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

DAGuide said:


> Because your graphics are black-n-white, you are not going to get as soft hand on the dark garments. You could try getting the shirts printing using discharge inks, but you will not have a true white and it might be hard to find this type of shirt that is discharge-friendly. If you go with either plastisol or waterbased inks (whether by a screen printer or dtg printer), you are going to have to have a white underbase that will give the design a heavier hand / feel to it.
> 
> Hope this information helps.
> 
> Mark


This helps a lot. 

I am going to go ahead with printing on the light shirts to get a sample on the Alternative Apparel burnout tee. Through my search on the abyss of the internet I found a company that does "high quality screen-printing with Plastisol ink". Other places I have checked were either unable to print on the burnout tee or did not have a website for me to see examples of their work...which to me seemed important. 

I am going to see how this printing works out and if anyone can recommend a website for dtg printing let me know. 

I am also considering using an American Apparel tee..although I believe the tri-blend is their softest, yet there is no white. Can anyone recommend a really soft tee to try samples on???? 
Thanks so much.


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## CaraJaya (Feb 2, 2008)

CaraJaya said:


> Through my search on the abyss of the internet I found a company that does "high quality screen-printing with Plastisol ink".


Oh, need to clarify...

the printer said that they can print on water based ink on the Burnout Tunics no problem. I had mentioned I liked the DTG "soft-hand". So, I'm sure that is different then the Plastisol.....


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