DTF and the future of screen printing

[whitewater]

yes, we have to old singles, that we just used for it, def need something more efficient and better.


Thats next.

[DonR]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

[zanegun08]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

Then at least in this case you can just blame the robot for the stupid placement on both the tees and especially the totes.

They've had this robot arm at the show for a couple years now, it'd be neat to know how many they have sold, and of the people who bought them how many are actually using them on the regular.  I'd bet it's more of a pain to setup than just using some lasers and placing the transfers on the press with laser alignment.

Call me when a DTF printer can print silicon inks, until then transfers will always feel like a plastic sheet on a shirt and should only be used sparingly.

I should post my kindergarten school photo of me in a crewneck sweatshirt with a big iron on transfer my mom made for me.  If transfers haven't replaced screen printing  in all this time, it sure isn't going to now, hopefully it just continues to increase the perceived value of screen printing as an art form rather than a cheap commodity.

[Homer]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

 hopefully it just continues to increase the perceived value of screen printing as an art form rather than a cheap commodity.

I don't know man, I think it's sucking the value right out of the industry. I hate it too, don't get me wrong. I am not jazzed at all about this. The cost of entry to be "in the biz" has just decreased dramatically, everyone with Canva and access to DTF transfers are taking over school orders.... I think your customer base is going to dictate a lot about the future. I know our base doesn't know or care how it's made. They want it NOW and CHEAP, the old Amazon effect.. I need to either change my customer base or adjust to the demands. So far, stacking shelves at Home Depot sounds like the better option 

[GraphicDisorder]

I don't know man, I think it's sucking the value right out of the industry.

This.

My view, the layman is foaming at the mouth how good DTF is for them. But the layman also thinks their local screen print shop that pfpfpfpfpfpfpfpfpfpfpf a white print is amazing. The trouble is those people have friends and they tell all their friends about this new way to print shirts (which its really not new its just easy/popular now). Then those people go out and buy it and unless they know better or the print starts failing they think its great.

But what I do know is any of my common screen print customers that end up trying this stuff, come running right back to us with a horror story.

I still think it has its place, I think that place is MUCH smaller than people are pushing for right now. (Fix for needing a infant shirt with adult order, garment with a hole and no replacement at that time, one off shirt for a event, etc).

Ill say it this way, if the world really goes to DTF. A lot of shops will be out of business, so you doing DTF will be short lived as that process/equipment will continue to improve/get easier and probably cheaper too. What value do you think your shop will offer if Betty Sue can spend 10k and get to the top of the game just like you. Many shops don't do art worth a dang, AI will replace most shops art team. No value there. All these people will run out and get accounts for blanks just like all of us have. There will be no value there. These DTF people will replace us all if you don't start educating people on the differences.

At the end of the day, people have heat pressed their hearts out and its not killed screen printing yet.

DTF is sort of like Electric Cars. REALLY good on paper. REALLY fast. Lower cost to drive than ICE cars. BUT, I have owned one. If you aren't in a big city charging networks are a joke. Have you deal with the winter in a Electric car yet? Range is dramatically reduced. Have to travel certain ways to make sure you can hit a charger. So on and so fourth. Perfect for certain situations.....but not near all. Where are people who live in apartments going to charge a electric car in a small town? Ill help you, they aren't. How about people who live in dorms? Sure all this is improving, but its going to need major major leap forward to be able to work for all logically, never mind the electric grid concerns. DTF is like all of this, great for certain stuff but practicality of it for all your printing is not even remotely logical.

[tonypep]

Agreed on all points Brandt!

[whitewater]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

Just ordered one!.... ah just kidding! LOL

[Nation03]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

 hopefully it just continues to increase the perceived value of screen printing as an art form rather than a cheap commodity.

I don't know man, I think it's sucking the value right out of the industry. I hate it too, don't get me wrong. I am not jazzed at all about this. The cost of entry to be "in the biz" has just decreased dramatically, everyone with Canva and access to DTF transfers are taking over school orders.... I think your customer base is going to dictate a lot about the future. I know our base doesn't know or care how it's made. They want it NOW and CHEAP, the old Amazon effect.. I need to either change my customer base or adjust to the demands. So far, stacking shelves at Home Depot sounds like the better option 

Agreed. I've applied countless times to Costco. Part timers get full benefits and the pay aint bad lol. I'd rather screen print part time for the 10 clients that I actually like and split my time at a regular job that has health insurance at this point lol.

[Dottonedan]

Agreed. I've applied countless times to Costco. Part timers get full benefits and the pay ain't bad lol. I'd rather screen print part time for the 10 clients that I actually like and split my time at a regular job that has health insurance at this point lol.

This is a big part of why I haven't just started my own print shop and have always kept a day job and my freelance.  I did at one time start a small shop in a brick n motor in FL after being laid off at Disney. I loved working for my own business there, but it also gave me a clear look into the headaches and pit falls of starting out. I was getting in deep and just hit the slow slumps of the winter season when my wife's father passed away.  We ended up feeling the need to move closer to my In-Laws but that move was kind of convenient at the time. I was able to close that business and take a day job. That enabled me to make a fresh start...and took that job with M&R.

Combined, I've always made as much $ as some shop owners take home without all of that headache and less in debt. I'm very comfortable working my own hours for my evening business. At the same time, working for a place in the day that provides good health benefits. I feel I've always had it pretty good this way.  I do realize that (doing it this way), for my own personal income, I will never get so far out there in business to where I'm taking home 250k a year or more. The sep business (as an individual, can only take you so far. You can only output so much. Not like a printing business where you can upscale unless I were to hire a staff of artist and train them. But there is a bunch of headaches that comes with that also.  It's all in what you put into it, I guess. My business is capped more like an employee with limitless overtime. LOL.

My wife on the other hand, is trying her hand at running her business. Doing pretty good at the moment with about 300% increase over last year. As a supplier to those crafters (Cricut moms and DTF Ball team customers) previously mentioned. She's growing there and DTF is about 65% of her sales. I do about 2-3 jpg clean ups for her per night LOL.

[Admiral]

New advanced heat presses will be coming out. Take a look at this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y-ZLQRRFW8&t=307s

Just ordered one!.... ah just kidding! LOL

I saw it at the show, they said it wasn't really for sale / had an issue or two I believe.  I think it would be great for doing large runs of tote bags or something like that, but not t-shirts, due to positioning, larger transfer size, etc.

[Rob Coleman]

Interesting read here. One thing that I didn’t see mentioned with all the comparisons of DTF to DTG is the content of the substrate. Very limited in DTG; wide open for DTF. I see this as a huge deal - controlling color across a multitude of fabrics without worrying about dye sublimation or migration.

As a distributor for M&R, I can tell you the Quatro platform has been very successful since product launch in early Q4 last year. Shameless  plug but important in the world of cheap ink issues - all Quatro inks are manufactured for M&R by Nazdar at our facility in Kansas. The ability to be close to M&R physically and work with them constantly on the OEM inks is a huge advantage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[farmboygraphics]

Just pressed a sample from the Quatro that my M&R rep left. I'm pretty impressed by the hand. Anyone else tried prints off it?

[blue moon]

Just pressed a sample from the Quatro that my M&R rep left. I'm pretty impressed by the hand. Anyone else tried prints off it?

can you describe it please?

thanx,

pj

[zanegun08]

The way a DTF feels is an ambigram of how of it's named.

F = Fabric
T = To
D = Diaper

Feels like putting a diaper on your apparel, it's plastic and cheap feeling.

I've started to notice people on instagram say "stay away from DTF" and the public consensus seems to be starting to shift back to back to screen print is king and DTG being perceived as better quality due to the hand feel.

The only reason people like DTF is because it's "Cheap" and Easy (Lazy?) it is, and that it gets the job done, but it's not actually that great of quality unless you like wearing a sticker on your shirt.  I've been selling more DTG and only reserve transfers for totes and truckers, or small / light coverage images, neck labels.  The challenge I have now is that DTF can hold much higher detail than DTG but at the sacrifice of hand feel.

If you think it's a replacement for screen printing I think you are going to be disappointed, just another tool that should be used in a limited amount of situations.  I'll bet in 15-20 years all DTF prints will be in the landfill, and screen printed from the same tees will still be sold in vintage shops.  The D in DTF = Disposable Transfer Facsimile

[Frog]

I have jumped into and use a lot of DTF, and every one of the jobs has been well recieved. That said, because of its hand, it is better suited for fleece and heavier garments, and with designs containing a generous amount of empty space. If I have a hand in creating or tweaking the art for a DTF job, I try to follow Colin Chapman's philosophy “Simplify, then add lightness.”