By Marco Roos
DTF printing has stormed the apparel decorating industry, revolutionizing the world of transfers. This shake-up, spearheaded by a surge of innovation from China, has sent Western manufacturers scrambling to keep up. In short, DTF is changing the game – not just in T-shirt transfers, but in so many other applications, as well. It’s refreshing to see the tables turn as Chinese manufacturers take significant market share with this tech. And guess what? There’s even more to come.
After working hands-on with several DTF print companies across the US recently, I felt like I was rewinding the clock 21 years to my early days at Color Concepts. (Though the mirror tells a different story!) The challenges are all too familiar: printer and ink issues, supply chain headaches, inconsistent color quality, workflow hurdles, file prep confusion… and let’s not forget the ambitious entrepreneurs burning the midnight oil to figure out the optimal mix of humidity, powders, inks, films, and printer settings.
Seeing all this firsthand has been eye-opening. These shops are up against real technical challenges, but there are already solid solutions for many of them, most of which are adaptations from other parts of the printing world, ready to be adopted by this up-and-coming sector.
There’s enough here to fill a book, but I’ll keep it short and focus on some key technical points: file properties, workflow considerations, and, of course, color management.
The Reign of PNG Files
Most DTF print files are in PNG format, which is quite different from the PDF-heavy standards printers in large-format printing and beyond are used to. There has been a ton of standardization work done in the industry, which resulted in PDF/X standards for different printing processes and applications. This has resulted in an entire PDF/X ecosystem with standards, preflighting, and automation capabilities via JDF/XML workflows, creating serious efficiency and profitability for print shops.
But in DTF, it’s still PNG. Why? Many DTF businesses operate through webshops with “gang sheet makers” (similar to “nests” in large format), the majority of which output to PNG. These webshops receive customer uploads of all kinds (PDF, AI, SVG, JPG, and PNG) and nest them onto a sheet, with pricing based on sheet size. Most DTF printers in the US charge by the square inch.
Most shops operate at a maximum print width of 24 inches, so even in PNG the file sizes are manageable, for now. But vector files, which could stay scalable without rasterizing, offer huge advantages in resolution, white ink generation, and cutting. Unfortunately, few DTF printers have grasped the benefits yet. Development and education in this area are overdue.
Image Resolution Blocks Automation
For shops handling hundreds of DTF jobs daily, automation is a necessary step for continued growth. However, the pervasive use of low resolution print files that goes hand-in-hand with allowing customers to upload PNGs and JPEGs is a serious automation blocker. Because each job needs white ink, sometimes cutting, and order bundling, a proper preflight of the files could help a lot in streamlining the printing process afterwards. For example, while reliably generating white ink is something that can be automated, even with low resolution files, reliably adjusting the bleed settings cannot. Low-res uploads result in half-transparent pixels, which makes the white ink layer look very messy and colors on top even worse.
Vector files provide far better control over white ink generation and detail quality. But some shop owners worry that stricter upload requirements might drive customers away – a concern we heard often 25 years ago! This sector needs educational initiatives alongside smarter gang sheet builders or RIP software with cloud nesting technology like PrintFactory. These tools could fix many current issues.
Color Management Challenges
DTF printers are highly sensitive to changes in humidity and temperature. Creating a DTF transfer is a wild process. The artwork prints mirrored on a transparent film, then gets a layer of white ink. The wet print heads into a powder unit that sprinkles glue powder onto the white ink before an oven melts the glue and cures the inks. After this, it’s ready to transfer onto textiles. For profiling and calibration, we transfer targets onto paper for easier measurement, but the multiple steps require frequent recalibration – daily, if you want reliable color.
Here’s the kicker: most DTF printers have minimal understanding of calibration, profiles, and settings, nor do they have the necessary equipment. The software they use often lacks simple, effective calibration tools. With tools like PrintFactory’s Device-link recalibration and Barbieri’s Spectro Swing qb, any print shop can achieve impressive results without any specialized knowledge and very minimal (remote) training.
A lot of the design files are made in RGB, but a lot of companies convert all those files to CMYK in Adobe Photoshop first, even if they are vector files. Designs that are supposed to go on a T-shirt are supposed to attract the attention of people, and converting all colors to a small (or unknown) CMYK gamut is probably not the best for the quality of the design. Keep in mind that a lot of the canned printer profiles that are shipped with a lot of the imported printers are poor to very poor quality.
There is a lot to gain in this field! It will lead to ink savings, will reduce waste, and will give more consistent output. With the right software and tools, this is much easier to achieve than most think.
Automation: The Next Frontier
As technology continues to advance, it’s likely that AI will play an increasingly important role in color management, bringing benefits such as improved efficiency, consistency, and the ability to handle more complex color demands easily and automatically. However, the pace and extent of these changes will depend on the industry’s readiness to adopt and integrate AI solutions.
It’s taken decades to get where we are today with some pretty advanced color management tools. I wonder how long it will take for AI to be seamlessly integrated into color management in the printing business. Will it be decades….or only days away?
This article was originally published by ColorBase.
Bio: Marco Roos is the founder of Color Concepts, which started as a services business in the digital printing industry. Marco was active as a trainer and consultant in color management in more than 87 countries, but he soon realized that the future is in data, connected ecosystems, and started the development of ColorBase. Today Marco’s role is that of a visionary leader and strategist.
