Direct to Film Printing Pros and Cons
It’s essential to understand what Direct to Film Printing is before introducing the advantages and drawbacks of Direct to Film Printing. PET film transfer printing is a process of printing on fabric in which the printing process is completed in two steps. First, the design is printed on a PET polyethene terephthalate paper, and then the paper is heated up to be stamped on the fabric. You might be curious about the quality of the print. To your surprise, the quality is well assured in this printing method.
Now you know what is DTF, you might be wondering what is the pros and cons of DTF printing, let’s see!
Pros of Direct to Film Prinitng:
- Application to a Wide Range of Fabrics
While direct to garment printing works best on 100% cotton, DTF works on many different garment materials: cotton, nylon, treated leather, polyester, 50/50 blends, and both light and dark fabrics. The transfers can even be applied to different types of surfaces like luggage, shoes, and even glass, wood, and metal! You can expand your inventory by applying your designs to a whole variety of merchandise with DTF.
- No need for Pretreatment
If you already own a DTG printer, you are probably quite familiar with the pretreatment process (not to mention the drying time). The hot melt power that is applied to the DTF transfers bonds the print directly to the material, meaning no pretreatment is necessary.
- Easy to Operate
PET film transfer is not quite a complicated process. Its process is really easy to learn. Moreover, there’s no requirement for high maintenance, which make it more convenient.
- Use Less White Ink
DTF requires less white ink – about 40% white versus 200% white for DTG printing. White ink tends to be the most expensive since more of it is used, so reducing the amount of white ink used for your prints can be quite a money saver.
- Environmentally Friendly
Many new contributions are made to make it environment friendly. In some cases, the PET used is made in a way that can recycle.
- Easy Application
Printing onto a film transfer means you can place your design on hard-to-reach or awkward surfaces. If the area can be heated, you can can apply a DTF design to it! Because all it takes is heat to adhere the design, you can even sell your printed transfers directly to your customers and allow them to allay the design to whatever surface or item they choose with no special equipment.
- Good Reassurance
The design is first printed on paper, and then it’s printed on fabric, making it easy for us to reassure the print. Before printing it on fabric, we can check the print before on paper. This reassurance results in fewer printing defects on fabric.
Every coin has two sides. With the advantages come disadvantages too. Despite so many advantages, there is some disadvantages.
Cons of Direct to Film Printing:
- More Expensive If the Printing Area Is Large
PET film transfer is a bit costly compared to direct transfer printers if the printing area is large.
- Time-consuming
Though the transfer process helps in reassurance, it’s still a time-consuming process. It is less effective for businesses with fewer workers but much more demands.
- PET Film can not reuse
The design is first printed on a paper/PET and then transferred to the fabric, resulting in more wastage of paper/ PET. These PET papers are also not reusable.
- Lack of Tenderness
The prints are not much smooth compared to Although its Quality is much higher than DTG, its tenderness and smoothness are much less in its comparison.
Even though there exists disadvantages in DTF printing, DTF printing technology is arguably the best way to start your print operations with virtually any placement on garments and low maintenance.
