Direct to garment (DTG) printing is an effective production method that businesses can use to their advantage – providing that they use it correctly, of course. If you’re looking to create popping, vivid and detailed designs that stand out from the rest of the competition, DTG will definitely help you achieve this.
There are various benefits that DTG can present to businesses. From its flexibility and quick turnaround times to unrivalled quality and environmentally friendliness – to mention a few. If you’re looking to find out more about the extensive list of benefits, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve compiled a list of seven key benefits that DTG can bring to your business and aid your production line – let’s jump into it!
We’ll cover:
- Short Preparation Time
- Straightforward Printing Process
- Vibrant and Popping Detailed Designs
- Unrivalled Quality
- Flexible with Different Styles
- Quick Turnaround Times
- Environmentally Friendly
Short Preparation Time
DTG is the ideal printing method for small and one-off jobs due to the little preparation work that’s necessary for quality printing. Whereas, rival methods, such as screen printing, require a lot of equipment, planning and large volume orders. That way, they’re making it worthwhile going to all that effort for a job.
With DTG, it doesn’t matter whether you have one garment to print or 20! It’s perfect for small-batch jobs and all you need is the garment, the printer and enough ink for the job. It couldn’t be much simpler – and that’s why there’s a lot of appeal with the printing method. It’s not very often that you don’t have to put a lot of effort in and return a quality product, is it?
Short preparation time allows great leeway for your production line. Therefore, time isn’t wasted constantly setting things up and you can set about your printing right away.
Straightforward Printing Process
With an industry-leading DTG machine, the printing process is incredibly straightforward. Right away, this is appealing to businesses as each team member can easily learn how to operate the machine and run jobs. Therefore, you’re not reliant on a selection of team members to be on-site for your DTG production.
DTG machines work similarly to your everyday printer – so, if you can operate one of them, you can easily manage DTG printing. The only difference is that you’re printing straight onto garments rather than paper, of course. All garments should be pre-treated with a special liquid to ensure that the ink bonds correctly.
Once your design has been printed, hold it between a heat press for 90 seconds and you’re all set.
Vibrant and Popping Detailed Designs
DTG is famed for its potential to create amazing designs. Other printing methods, such as screen printing, aren’t the most suitable to enhance intricate and finicky designs. Whereas, DTG will help make these designs pop and stand out from the crowd. People won’t be willing to spend their hard-earned money on designs that lack the correct detail, will they?
Clothing garment production is competitive. Think about it, there are thousands of businesses within various industries who produce clothing. So, how are you going to make your products stand out? And are they going to stand out if your design is lacklustre and not very detailed? Probably not. Or, maybe for the wrong reasons.
If you’re looking for designs to jump out of your garments and turn heads, DTG is the way to go.
Unrivalled Quality
Not only is it a quick printing method but a quality one too! DTG works best with garments such as t-shirts and polo shirts – with that in mind, there are various industries that it can be utilised in. Some of these industries are more reliant on top quality than others. For example, professional work uniforms and business personalisation.
If you’re printing intricate logos and fancy typography for personalised uniforms, the quality of print must be top-level, or it’s not going to be well received. Work uniforms should be worn proudly as they’re an advert for the business that they’re working for. Nobody will want to promote their business if the personalisation is low quality.
DTG ensures that high-quality printing is always carried out. Therefore, you can wear your work uniforms with pride and show your audience that you’re a professional and well-established outlet. Not the opposite that poor uniforms will make you out to be.
Flexible with Different Styles
As we’ve mentioned, there are plenty of industries that DTG can lend its hand to. This is perfect for your business as it means that there are a lot of different markets to explore, which in turn, gives you a broad audience to reach out to. From novelty fashion dress to everyday fashion – and everything in between – DTG can broaden your product offerings.
It might not be the main printing method that you lead with for your business but it’s a great addition to your services. Personalised t-shirts and other garments are always popular. Whether it’s for stag or hen parties, birthdays or any celebrations, there’s always a demand for them. DTG allows you to welcome these orders to assist your main production efforts.
Appealing to a broad audience is a great way to expand your business. DTG can allow you to turn your hand at everything! Tread carefully though, don’t try and go too broad with your offerings and lose your core values as a brand.
Quick Turnaround Times
DTG jobs should only be carried out in small batches – anything over 20 is too large of an order, in our opinion. One of the main advantages is that you can turnaround orders quickly with small DTG orders. Due to the short preparation time and smooth printing process, you can delight your customers with a quick service that doesn’t compromise on quality.
As buyers, we’re impatient, aren’t we? Think about it, when we’re online shopping, we always want next-day delivery, don’t we? And we always want things to arrive as quickly as possible. Your audience will be no different. Therefore, if you can’t meet demand and are promising below-average turnaround times, you’ll likely miss out on the custom and they’ll look elsewhere.
Quick turnaround times allow you to improve your productivity rates too. The quicker you can create products, the more orders that you can churn through, right? Improving your team’s productivity is never a bad thing.
Environmentally Friendly
We should always be conscious of what impact our work is having on the environment. With that in mind, DTG is a lot more environmentally friendly than some of the other printing methods out there. As you print directly onto the garments, it’s very rare that there’s ever mass wastage – reducing your wastage as a business should be a main priority.
The whole printing process is automated too. Therefore, it doesn’t use any unnecessary ink. So, while you’re not wasting ink, DTG also proves to be a more cost-efficient printing method too. You maximise the use of the resources that you buy. Again, this will help reduce wastage levels and you’re doing your bit for the environment, for sure.
Equip Yourself Properly for Amazing Direct to Garment Printing Results!
For direct to garment printing to take full effect, you must have the right equipment in place. After all, you can’t expect groundbreaking results from a bog-standard machine, can you? Having the right machine is super important and ensures that your production line is always firing on all cylinders and creating top-quality products.
With that in mind, we’ve created a free guide that allows you to explore all things direct to garment printing! From what it is, how it works and how you can use it to your advantage, it’s all in there. Plus, we’ve included machine recommendations – which also includes tips on improving your wider equipment inventory, for example, your industrial embroidery machine.