If you are currently in the DTG printing industry (or are considering a change of career), you may be interested in the price of DTG Printer. At the same time, the high price may be a high financial burden for many SMEs. The problem about can I find DTG printer under $1000 has become a heated topic in some T-shirt printing forums.
To get a better idea of the benefits of e-printing, we will look at two of the most popular forms of garment design: ready-to-wear (DTG) printing and color sublimation (or simply sublimation). Although similar in some areas, they are very different in others.
In most cases, DTG printing machines print the image directly onto the surface area of the garment using a horizontally moving inkjet print head mounted on a platen that gradually feeds the garment directly into the device below the print head. Special fast-drying inks – usually 100% cotton – are used to print the fabric.
Unlike screen printing, the ink tones are constantly applied to a single surface rather than being sequentially layered. Although the inks dry out during use, they must be cured using some kind of post-print home heating tool (such as a heat press or clothes dryer).
The DTG print sublimation procedure uses an inkjet printer equipped with sublimation dyes to print the image onto sublimation transfer paper. The printed transfer paper is followed by a blank substrate using a warm press.
A mixture of heat and pressure converts the sublimation ink into a gas, obtained from the open polymer of the substrate. As the product cools, the sublimation dye is wrapped around the inside of the surface (rather than the top). In the case of the garment, sublimation does not fade and this is also true after repeated washing.
The limitation of sublimation is that it only applies to polymer-based surfaces, which when it comes to clothing, indicates some form of polyester. However, with the increased demand for polyester efficient garments, sublimation is the perfect process for this product.
This is a general summary of these two electronic processes, but how do DTG and sublimation actually measure up? Let’s go deeper.
Both technologies use inkjet print heads to produce printed photographs or graphics. With DTG, the printer is either built from scratch for a specific surface area print target or produced by modifying an existing printer system. It is important to note that the printers used for sublimation have not been modified in any way; they are ready to use out of the box.
Inkjet printing systems create photo shadows by mixing base colors created by solutions developed by graphic software. Unlike screen printing and needlework using pre-colored decorative products (inks and lines), e-printing allows you to develop hundreds of custom shade mixtures without the limitations of the printing terminal or the needle.
Heat sublimation printers are available in four, six, and eight color designs, which describe the number of primary colors available for mixing, rather than the variety of shades that can be output. More primary colors produce more precise color detail, such as reasonable facial skin tones when controlling the image. DTG printers are four-color units and these features are also suitable for most graphic applications – especially apparel.