What are DTF Transfers?
DTF Transfers, or Direct to Film Transfers, have gained significant popularity in the printing industry. To understand them better, let's first explore DTF Printers. Just a year ago, DTF Printers took center stage at the Printing United Expo in Las Vegas, surpassing the attention previously given to Direct to Garment (DTG) printers. DTF Printers offer enhanced color vibrancy and cost-effectiveness, providing savings for customers.
Historically, the challenge with DTF Printers was their unreliability. Many Chinese companies assembled printers with parts that frequently clogged and performed poorly. Although the printers were impressive, their maintenance needs were often beyond the capacity of small businesses.
Fast forward to 2023, and a major player in the printing industry, Mimaki, has developed two reliable DTF Printers, addressing the previous reliability issues. At Custom Prints Central, we've invested in the Mimaki DTF Printer to offer our customers fast and dependable DTF Transfers. Additionally, Mimaki offers extremely durable and vibrant ink with significant quality control and continuity between prints.
But what exactly are DTF Transfers? Essentially, they involve a large format printer producing prints on specialized film. After printing, the film undergoes a curing process where DTF Powder is applied to the wet ink. The transfer is then baked in an oven for three minutes at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once cured, the transfers are shipped to the customer, who applies them to a garment using a heat press.
The DTF Transfer process allows businesses to produce small quantities at lower costs compared to traditional screen printing. It also enables the creation of vibrant, full-color prints at a reduced expense. Notably, DTF Transfers are much quicker for small businesses, taking only around 30 seconds to complete a shirt, a significant improvement over the time-consuming process of traditional screen printing, which requires preparing multiple screens.