Digital printing on t-shirts: Understand how it works

In the world of printing, there are several techniques for making personalized t-shirts. And digital printing on t-shirts is one of the most current and encompasses technology, speed and quality.

Also known as DTG (Direct to Garment printing), digital printing is a technique that allows you to print t-shirts, exactly as the art is seen in the image, directly on the fabric. 

And, regardless of what the art is like, this technique has the capacity to print both images in lines and chromia. This is all possible because of an inkjet printer.

Do you know paper printers, which print any type of image? It’s the same logic. With digital printing on t-shirts, the prints are made like this, but instead of paper, fabrics are used. At Dallas Shirt Printing we provide dtg printing in Dallas, screen printing 3D printing ( 3D rip shirts )

Difference between screen printing and digital printing

In screen printing, the process is more artisanal. The art is printed on canvas and each canvas contains a part with a different color. For example, the design has a total of three colors. Therefore, you need to have three types of it, one for each color. Each dye is applied directly to the fabric and then dried. 

For this technique, line arts are most used, since they are arts in which it is possible to count the number of colors, since there is no color variation.

A tip for those who choose to use the screen printing technique is to use it when large quantities of t-shirts need to be printed. This is because the same screen can be used in several pieces, which reduces production costs.

In digital printing, the process is automated. You program the art to be printed on the shirt on a computer, the computer sends the art to the printer and the print is made directly on the shirt. Thus, the workforce to carry out this work ends up being more practical as well.

In digital printing, as the image is printed directly on the shirt, it is possible to print line arts and also chromatic arts – which are those that have countless numbers of colors and tonal variations.

For example, a photograph is best suited to be printed using this technique, as it has gradients that are better captured by the machine.

The digital printing technique has grown a lot in recent years and, therefore, the cost-benefit has been interesting. In addition to the agility in printing, the colors are more vibrant and durable on the fabric. 

Another important point is that prints made using this technique do not require large quantities of pieces to be produced. It is possible to print just one shirt or thousands of them, without the production cost changing much. This dynamic opens up possibilities for brands to sell shirts on demand, without the need to have stocks. 

Main differences between Silk Digital and Silk Digital HD

With the advancement of technology, digital printing is increasingly improving. Today, it is possible to find techniques such as Silk Digital and also its more advanced version, Silk Digital HD . Despite working with the same logic as direct printing on the t-shirt, with speed and quality, both have their differences:

In Silk Digital, printing is done with fixative, white base and toners in CMYK colors. Although the image resolution is great, some colors like red are a little off. 

Another important point is that the fixative leaves a smell after drying in the production process. For those who have a shirt brand, this smell is a problem, as the shirt can arrive at the customer’s home with the odor of the fixative.

To try to alleviate these issues, Silk Digital HD was developed…

First, it is important to highlight that Silk Digital HD prints a print 3x faster than a large Silk Digital machine. 

And, in addition to white+CMYK, the technique uses two auxiliary colors that enable the creation of more than 60 million colors for printing. Silk Digital HD also allows the exact definition of the tone using the pantone number of each print. This makes the print more faithful to the art and makes the print much more powerful.

An important advance in this technique is that it uses the new generation of paints that are biodegradable, in addition to the entire process being carried out without water and with zero carbon dioxide emissions.

The issue of the fixative smell has also been resolved and the material used is odorless.

Discover Studio 3D and make a personalized t-shirt

How about taking a test to see the quality of the digital print up close?

In Dallas Studio 3D, you can see your creation from the front, side, back, upside down… In a simple, practical, fun way and with all the freedom for you to make the print your way.

You can upload your artwork or create it from scratch.

We print using the most advanced Silk Digital HD printing technique.