M2
DTG Direct-to-Garment
A wide-format inkjet that prints straight into the cotton. No screens, no minimum, and the only method that handles a full-colour gradient without simplifying it first.
- Minimum order
- 1 piece
- Colour ceiling
- Full colour
- Maximum size
- 12 x 16 in
- Laundering
- Moderate
Macro detail. The printed shape is an original abstract mark, not a customer design.
What it costs
- Per piece, one position, one colour
- $6.80
- Each additional position
- $5.40
- Setup
- None
There is no setup charge on this method, so a run of one costs the same per piece as a run of one hundred before the band discount. All prices in United States Dollars, before the quantity band discount.
Laundering test
Held colour through 25 home laundry cycles at 30°C, inside out, line dried, in accordance with AATCC 61 1A accelerated laundering. Results on your garment depend on how you wash it.
This describes an accelerated laboratory procedure on a test sample. It is a measured result under stated conditions, not a guarantee about a particular garment. Wash temperature, drying method, detergent and how often the garment is worn all change the outcome.
On press
- Production window
- 3 business days
- Runs on
- 23 of 38 blanks
Production starts after your artwork is approved by a reviewer, which adds one business day, and after pre-press, which adds two. Runs of 100 and above add two more days; runs of 250 and above add four.
What this method cannot do
- Cotton only. The pigment needs cotton fibre to bond to, so polyester, tri-blend and woven shirts are all unavailable.
- One piece minimum, but the per-piece price does not fall much with volume because every garment is printed individually.
- Prints on dark garments need a white underbase, which sits slightly raised and shifts the colour a little cooler.
- Not available on caps, beanies, softshell or woven bodies.
What it is the right answer for
- One-offs and samples
- Photographic or heavily gradient artwork
- Small runs under twelve pieces on cotton bodies
Colour on any method is an approximation. Screens emit light and ink reflects it, so a colour on your monitor and the same colour on a garment will not match exactly. We can work to a nominated reference colour and we will get close, but we do not promise a visual match. How we handle colour
Fabrics this method runs on
| Fabric class | Blanks | Availability | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton knit | 11 | Available | No restriction. |
| Cotton-rich blend knit | 9 | With a caveat | At 80% cotton the pigment bonds well. On a dark body the white underbase reads slightly cooler than the same file printed on 100% cotton. |
| Tri-blend knit | 1 | Not available | Direct-to-garment pigment bonds to cotton fibre. A tri-blend is 25% cotton, so three quarters of the surface has nothing for the ink to hold onto and the print washes out unevenly. |
| Polyester knit | 5 | Not available | Polyester has no cotton fibre for the pigment to bond to. The print would sit on the surface and lift within a few washes. |
| Woven shirting | 3 | Not available | Our direct-to-garment platens are built for knit bodies. A woven shirt will not lie flat enough across a placket and pocket to register a print. |
| Cotton canvas | 3 | With a caveat | Flat panels only. Bag handles and gussets cannot pass under the print head. |
| Structured cap twill | 4 | Not available | A cap will not lie flat on a print platen, and the print head cannot clear a structured crown. |
| Acrylic rib knit | 1 | Not available | Acrylic is a synthetic with no cotton fibre. The pigment has nothing to bond to. |
| Bonded softshell | 1 | Not available | The pigment will not bond to a bonded polyester shell, and the pretreatment fluid stains the water-repellent face. |
Blanks you can run DTG Direct-to-Garment on
23 of 38 styles in the catalogue.
