Is Direct-to-Film printing right for your business?
This is the million-dollar question. Like any printing process, it has its pros and cons, as we explained in one of our previous articles that you can read HERE. With all of the research that we have done on DTF, it has its place in the market. But does that align with your business?
Where DTF can shine for your business is on the commercial level. If you have the money to invest in commercial-level DTF equipment and have a client base ready to keep your machine pumping out transfers, DTF can be a great addition to your operation.
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Why Commercial-Grade Direct-To-Film Equipment Is Superior
Why is a commercial-grade piece of DTF equipment the way to go? Speed.
Speed and quality are two of the most important aspects of your business. You want to produce high-quality printed garments for your clients and you want to do them as fast as you can.
From a quality standpoint, printing DTF transfers is more than satisfactory. It’s extremely durable. It doesn’t crack and peel like a DTG printed shirt will over time. Color-wise, it might not pop quite as well as a DTG print would, but it’s not that far behind.
Commercial-Grade Direct-To-Film Equipment Prints Fast
Speed, on the other hand, is where DTF can really outshine and out-perform DTG when you have commercial-grade equipment.
For example, by purchasing a 24-inch role-to-role DTF printer that includes the powder applicator, the shaker, dryer, and ventilator, you will be able to print hundreds of transfers in mere minutes.
All you will need to do after that is heat-press your transfer onto the garment, which can be done at any time. That is game-changing stuff that you would not be able to do using a DTG printer.
If you’ve researched anything on DTF, you’ve probably heard of the businesses that sell transfers. That could also be you. Not only could you use one of these commercial-grade machines to fill large T-Shirt orders for your clients, but you could also make money selling transfers.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to do something on a much smaller scale, DTF probably isn’t right for you. One-off pieces and small runs are usually best done by DTG printing.
Commercial-grade equipment of any kind is expensive and DTF equipment is no exception. For a high-quality piece of equipment that will include everything we talked about above, you’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $19,000.
But with what it’s capable of doing, it could be a great investment for your business. It all depends on how big of an operation you are running, or plan to run.
DTF printing is awesome stuff and it’s only going to get better. Just look at how much better DTG has gotten since it was first introduced back in the early 2000s. DTF is here to stay. How big it gets over the next few years will be very interesting to see.
