Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is one of the most popular decoration methods in the industry. Educate your clients on why it’s beneficial to secure more of these orders. With this handy guide, you’ll be able to answer any DTG questions you or your clients have.

WHAT IS DTG PRINTING?

In its simplest form, DTG is when artwork is printed directly onto fabric using a printer – hence the name “direct to garment.” These printers are very similar to the ones you have in your home or at work, making it an easy decoration method to get started with.

Artwork selection is a piece of cake too: With DTG you can print on any color shirt using any ink color. Best of all, images only need to be 300dpi or better to print. That means no more back and forth with your clients for higher quality or vector graphics. Even pictures taken with a smartphone will be good enough to print.

CMYK VS. CMYK + WHITE – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

You may come across two different printing methods when looking into DTG printing: CMYK and CMYK+White. While similar, there is one important difference between the two. Both use cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, but CMYK+White, as the name indicates, includes white. The white ink is used as a base layer for the other inks, which keeps colors vibrant and prevents them from blending in with dark fabric. However, with light fabrics, white ink may not be needed, and some decorators opt to not use a white layer at all to achieve a more muted, vintage look. What’s right for you will depend on your clients’ needs. Talk to your customers to find out which printing method is best for them.

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