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 T-shirt printing has come a long way since the begining of the computer age. Gone are the days of dripping water-based screen printing inks and the old hand-cut stencils. There is no doubt about it, the computer has forever changed the way that t-shirts are printed. The future is direct to garment digital t-shirt printing. Before there was DTG (direct to-garment) digital printing, the computer age has ushered forth many forms of printing to t-shirts before finally getting to the DTG stage.
The first method of computer printing to shirts was through transfer paper and a hot press. Originally this was called Iron-on transfers because you could put them on with a hot iron. In the begining it was only possible to put them on light colours t-shirts, but, transfer paper for dark and coloured shirts soon followed . While the transfer products have improved for digital transfers, and transfer overlays they are not well known for there durability.
Shortly after digital transfers came digitaly plotted cad cut-outs that are tranfered to the t shirt or other garments with the the aid of heat presses, these cut-outs can be made from many different substances. Like Flock, Foil or Vinyl. The numbers on the backs of sports jerseys are usually done using this form of digital transfer overlay. This method is suitable for designs that have gentle curves and basic shapes, as fine details or sharp curves are not possible as the plotter has difficulty with such fine detail. These transfers are fully opaque and can be placed on any coloured t-shirts.
Another form of digital transfer overlay is digital printed dye-cut vinyl transfers. These can be printed in full colour and are transfered to garments with a heat press. This is a very durable application method but can sometimes feel like a bullet-proof vest to wear.
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