Many people think that Direct-to-Garment is becoming a technology for the few, due to the extremely high cost of the machinery and the arrival of new, innovative techniques like DTF printing. Nonetheless, DTG printing still represents one of the industry standards in the personalized apparel printing industry. Here's everything you need to know about it.
Birth of DTG Printing
The birth of Direct-To-Garment, or printing directly onto fabric , is commonly traced back to the second half of the 1990s. More precisely, the time frame for its birth can be identified as the four-year period from 1996 (the year the first DTG printer hit the market) to 2000 (the year the U.S. Department of Commerce issued the first patent on the subject).
Thus we arrived at the end of 2004, the year in which the first industrial-level DTG printers made their appearance at an important trade fair in Minneapolis, in what was still a market almost entirely dominated by screen printing.
The very first printers, with the exception of the Kornit Storm model (an industrial DTG printer costing $200,000), didn't support white ink. Therefore, they encountered some difficulties when printing on dark fabrics.
The Numbers of Success in DTG Printing
Although some have raised doubts about the future prospects of direct-to-textile printing (especially in relation to the arrival on the market of its smaller sister, DTF printing ), market research highlights how this technique is experiencing a real golden moment .
The DTG printing market value in 2022 was estimated to be around $800 million. The same market value in a decade, in 2032, is estimated to reach $1.8 billion. This growth of over 100% (with Europe leading the way, with a 49% market share) is rooted in specific dynamics , such as:
- The ever-increasing demand for garment customization as a tool for brand differentiation
- Greater attention towards those techniques (such as DTG printing) that use low environmental impact inks
- Explosion of e-commerce and its potential and flexibility regarding customization possibilities
How Does DTG Printing Work?
The way DTG machines work is already suggested by the name, Direct-To-Garment, meaning directly onto the fabric. Special printers configured for four-color, six-color, or seven-color printing print the customized design or motif onto a garment, which is held in place on special flat supports .
Although the direct printing process may be slightly different depending on whether you are printing on a light or dark fabric, we can identify 3 main phases in both cases:
- Pretreatment
- Press
- Post-treatment and Care
Pretreatment
This is a typical phase of direct printing : the fact that the ink is applied directly onto the fabric means that the latter must present certain conditions for the final print to be optimal.
The pre-treatment phase can be broken down into several sub-phases :
- Preparing the garment using heat presses to dry any residual moisture stored in the fabric and iron the fabric fibers. This phase lasts just a few seconds.
- Preparing the area of the garment to be printed : a solution is applied evenly to the specific area to be personalized. This solution ensures optimal ink absorption without soaking the fabric fibers.
- Further treatment of the garment with a heat press : in order to ensure correct drying of the applied solution, the fabric is once again placed in a special press and treated for approximately thirty seconds at temperatures that can reach 160-170° C.
Note: The steps above apply to all brand printers that use wet-on-dry printing (Aeoon, Brother, DTG digital, etc.), meaning ink is applied to a dry garment. Unlike all other brands, Kornit uses a pretreatment technique directly on the machine, allowing for one-step wet-on-wet printing. This means the ink is applied to the garment after it has been soaked in pretreatment.
Press
Once the pre-treatment phase is complete, the garment is fixed on the appropriate printer bed . Depending on the DTG printer model used, there may be multiple support beds , thus allowing the printing of multiple pieces at once.
When printing on dark-colored garments, most printers on the market first apply a white layer, followed by the application of all the remaining colors that make up the design. However, much will depend on the type of printer and the printing mode chosen.
Post-treatment and Care
A necessary step for the ink to dry optimally . The inks used are water-based. This requires a phase in which the water contained in the solvent evaporates, allowing the colored pigments to attach to the fabric fibers.
Post-treatment can still be done using a heat press, or using special tunnel ovens in which the garment is left to dry.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct-To-Garment
Direct-to-fabric printing is a technique that's now nearly 20 years old. Over these two decades, its pros and cons have been clearly identified.
Among the advantages , we can certainly include:
- Print quality . Depending on the printer used, even very small details can be reproduced.
- Flexibility in the number of printable pieces . The fact that printing occurs directly on the fabric means that even just a few pieces can be customized, not just large volumes. In extreme cases, even a single piece can be printed.
Among the disadvantages , however, one cannot fail to mention:
- The limited variety of fabrics that DTG printing can best work with. Unlike techniques like DTF printing, Direct-To-Garment is typically used to customize cotton garments made from other natural fibers, such as cotton, hemp, and bamboo.
- The difficulty of customizing specific areas of the garment
- The high cost it can have if we are talking about large volumes of printed pieces
- The relative length of the entire process compared to other printing techniques, such as DTF printing, or especially, screen printing
How to Interpret the Pros and Cons
Obviously when we talk about advantages or disadvantages (of DTG printing in this case, but as with any other technique ) it is inevitable that this happens in relation to other printing techniques.
Indeed, it's rare to discuss pros and cons in absolute terms. It's therefore important to always compare the characteristics of a specific printing technique with others. In this case, comparisons between DTG printing and screen printing , or between Direct-To-Garment and Direct-To-Film, are essential.
