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What is Direct-to-Garment(DTG)?

Written by Mokua Brian

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Reading time for 9 min

DTG printing has become popular in the apparel industry for printing high-quality images on textiles such as T-shirts. This new way of garment printing uses inkjet technology to directly apply ink on garments forming high-quality designs in minimal time. 

Currently, the DTG Printing market stands at $861.2 Million and this value is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4%. In the next 10 years, DTG Printing's market value is projected to be $1.32 Billion. 

This guide will dive deep into DTG printing and how it compares to other garment printing options. Keep reading to know everything about DTG printing and the considerations you should keep in mind should you choose to use it.

Quick in
1. DTG Printing Basics 1.1 The DTG Printing Process 1.2 The Main Tools and Materials While DTG Printing 1.3 The Garment Types for DTG Printing 1.4 The Availability and Worthiness of DTG Printing 2. The Difference between DTG Printing and Other Printing 3. Common Issues and Solutions about DTG Printing on T-shirts 3.1 Ink clogging 3.2 Garment misalignment 3.3 Color calibration issues 3.4 Print quality defects

DTG Printing Basics

DTG printing technology is a method of producing custom apparel such as shirts using a unique type of printer. This printer directly applies water-based inks on fabrics without the need to use a screen or paper. 

A DTG printer can print any color on fabrics with high resolution because it uses digital files to obtain the images for printing. DTG printing works best when the apparel material is cotton. This printing method is considered eco-friendly because it relies on water-based inks. 

The advanced technology in DTG printers makes them expensive with prices often surpassing $10,000. The good thing is you don’t need to own a DTG printer to access DTG printing services, this makes it affordable for small businesses to operate.

The DTG Printing Process

The DTG printing process often varies depending on the model of the DTG printer being used. However, there are basic steps that are common during the printing process, they include Pretreating, Printing, and Curing. Now let's explain in detail each step:

Step 1. Pre-treating Your Apparel

Most apparel, especially dark-colored ones, must be pretreated before printing the design. Pre-treating your clothing such as your shirt is an important step in the DTG printing process. DTG inks contain multicolor designs that need to adhere well to the fabric of your garment. 

You can use a sprayer to evenly pre-treat your clothing in a smooth back-and-forth motion. There are also pre-treatment machines that you can purchase and have the process automated. Pre-treating your clothes before the printing process also prevents the washing off of the ink and enhances the vibrancy of your designs.

Step 2. Printing Your Designs with DTG Printers

Once your fabrics have dried after the pre-treatment process, it’s time to start printing your designs with a DTG printer. You place the garment on the DTG printer and the digital printing technology takes care of the rest. 

A digital image of your design will be sent to the printer and the ink injected directly into the fabric. A white underbase will be applied on all non-white fabrics to make sure the design comes out with the right color balance just like the digital design.

Step 3. Curing Your Printed Garment

After the DTG printed garment is taken off the printer, it has to dry properly to cure the ink. This is necessary because it enhances wash resistance. Industrial manufacturers often use a conveyor dryer for the curing process but small businesses can also achieve this through the use of a heat press. 

The Main Tools and Materials While DTG Printing

Now that you have a clue about the DTG printing process, it’s time to know some of the main tools and materials you will interact with when doing DTG printing.

DTG Machine: Printer

  • Compact DTG Printers - These are readily available on the market and very easy to use. They are small enough to be used in a home or small business establishment. An example of a Compact DTG printer is the Ricoh Ri 100 which can print up to 4-color designs and simple texts. It also saves space because it’s stacked on top of a heating unit making the curing process much simpler.
  • Commercial DTG Printers - These are powerful DTG printers made by big companies such as Epson, OmniPrint, Kornit, and ColDesi among others. They are fast with high-resolution capabilities that enable them to print full-color on almost all types of garments. They contain advanced technology that accurately predicts how the color design of the final product will look like. This gives producers room to make adjustments before printing their final products. An example of a commercial DTG printer is the Freejet 330TX Plus made by OmniPrint.
  • Industrial DTG Printers - These are ideal for bulk printing because they can print hundreds of garments per hour at very low costs per garment. They can hold two to three platens with expanded ink sets. They have advanced technology and can detect wrinkles on garments. The Kornit Atlas is a good example of an industrial printer that can print a single shirt in just 30 seconds on dark garments and in just 10 seconds on white garments.
  • Direct-to-Shape Inkjet Print - The demand for these printers is growing exponentially because they satisfy customer expectations during printing. The inkjet printer market has been valued at $3.2 Billion in 2024 and this value is expected to grow as high as $4 Billion come 2034. The inkjet printer market is backed by the growing demand for customized items and products among consumers.

DTG Material: Ink

When dealing with Compact DTG printers, know that they use CMYK inks only which are affordable such as the Epson SureColor F2100. Commercial DTG printers, use CMYK inks plus White. The industrial DTG Printers are often the best because they can use up to 6 colors inks plus white. The additional colors on the inks often depend on the type of design being printed and on which garments.

When choosing your DTG printer, you must consider the following factors:

The quality of the prints

The printing speed

The maximum print area

Consumption and Ink costs

Reliability and maintenance of the printer

The Garment Types for DTG Printing

  • T-Shirts: When dealing with T-shirts, you should go for cotton because of the smooth surface and ink compatibility.

  • Sweatpants & Sweatshirts: For these, go for cotton or cotton-blend fabric. However, for the cotton-blend fabric, you’ll require more pre-treatment for optimal results.

  • Tote Bags: You can also use DTG printers to print designs on accessories such as tote bags.

The Availability and Worthiness of DTG Printing

It is important to understand the worthiness of DTG printing so that you can make informed decisions depending on the scale of your printing. Some of the advantages of DTG printing include:

  1. Quality Printouts - DTG printers guarantee high-quality printouts with vivid colors because of their high resolution which is ideal for intricate designs. DTG inks lets you incorporate a wide range of colors for your designs without having additional expenses.

  2. Best for Small Orders - DTG printers are best for low-volume orders or one-off orders. Therefore, start-ups or small businesses can be able to start or run their business cost-effectively as they penetrate the market.

  3. Eco-friendly - DTG printers use water-based ink which is environmentally friendly compared to other inks used in other printing methods. This gives you quick results without any waste from the printing process.

However, you also need to know that you’ll be limited to the following levels:

  1. Limited Textile - One of the major setbacks of DTG printing is that it doesn't work on all textile materials. The garments you’re using must have at least 50% cotton so that you can have quality prints. However, advances in technology will soon have a breakthrough, and DTG printing will be possible on a polyester textile.

  2. Not Ideal for High-Volume Orders - DTG printing is often slower compared to other printing methods. Therefore, it is not ideal for large volume or print-on-demand orders.

The Difference between DTG Printing and Other Printing

Now that you have known much about DTG printing, it is time to compare it to other alternatives available. The table below summarizes it for you.

Printing Method
 Best for
 Durability
 Color
 Cost Efficiency
DTG Printing
 Low volume production
 Good
 Has full spectrum
 Expensive for high-volume production
Sublimation
 Polyester apparels
 Excellent on polyester
 Has full spectrum
 Economical for polyester but very expensive for cotton
Heat Transfer
 Low-volume production and custom designs
 Moderate
 Has full spectrum
 Expensive per piece but has low set-up costs.
Screen Printing
 Bulk production
 Excellent
 Limited to spot colors
 Economical for bulk production

Common Issues and Solutions about DTG Printing on T-shirts

When using DTG Printing for your T-shirts, there are common issues that you might come across. This guide provides an analysis of these issues and the possible solutions you can consider to achieve your desired outcome.

Ink clogging

Ink clogging is a common issue when dealing with DTG Printers and this can affect the quality of your prints, increase printer downtime, and a lot of wasted materials. Some of the causes of ink clogging include; infrequent use of your printer, bad ink agitation, humidity level, poor ink quality, leaving the white ink in the printer overnight, and using the wrong pre-treatment among others.

Some of the solutions to ink clogging include:

  1. Running print head cleanings and checks on a daily basis.

  2. Controlling your humidity because sudden drops can lead to problems with ink consistency.

  3. Ensuring the garments are properly dried after pretreatment.

Garment misalignment

Misalignment is also a common problem in DTG printing that can lead to flawed printing and material waste. You need to make sure that the print aligns with the garment correctly before printing. Misalignment can occur when the shirt shifts during printing, when you wrongly place the shirt in the printer, when your designs are wrongly aligned, or when your design is wrongly calibrated before printing.

To solve these issues, you can pursue these options:

  1. You need to look for any debris or residue that might affect garment stability during printing leading to garment shifting.

  2. You can use alignment tools like rulers, lasers, or templates to perfectly align the design to the garment accurately.

  3. You also need to avoid stretching the shirt before placing it on the plate.

Color calibration issues

In Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printing, color calibration issues can significantly affect the quality and accuracy of prints, In accurate color shifts, inaccurate color matching and inconsistent prints between jobs are some of the causes of color calibration issues. Here are some common problems and solutions associated with color calibration in DTG printing.

Color calibration issues in DTG Printing can significantly affect the quality of your prints in terms of design accuracy. 

Here are some of the common solutions you can consider when dealing with color calibration issues:

  1. Make sure you have acquired the right color profile for your printer.

  2. You can use tools like colorimeters to calibrate your printer regularly.

  3. Be wary of your humidity and temperature levels.

Print quality defects

Print quality defects are often caused by improper printer settings, type of fabric, or issues with the type of printer’s ink. Print quality defects include blurry prints, white spots, fading, and ink bleeding.

  1. To avoid blurry prints make sure the t-shirt is properly flattened and accurately positioned on the platen.

  2. Emphasize your pretreatment application to ensure proper ink adhesion to avoid white spots on dark garments.

  3. Make sure the t-shirt is fully cured before printing to avoid ink bleeding.

Final Thoughts

The technology in DTG Printing is likely to keep advancing and this will increase aspects such as printing speed, efficiency, and versatility in fabric compatibility. Breakthroughs in ink formulations and the pre-treatment processes will make DTG printing possible on a wider range of materials. DTG Printing is the right printing method for your apparel if you have custom designs with a low volume demand. 

This method lets you express your creativity with multiple colors because of the ability to produce photorealistic complex designs on apparel. For most online apparel printing businesses, it is advisable to use DTG printing on on-demand orders. This will save you the hassle of holding inventory.