Decoration & finishing
DTF & Heat Transfer Printing
DTF — direct to film — prints a full-colour design onto a film, coats it with adhesive powder, and heat-presses it onto the garment. There is no screen setup and no colour limit, which makes it the practical choice for small runs, photographic artwork and multi-colour designs on light quantities.
Technical specification
- Colour
- Full colour, no limit, no setup cost
- Detail
- Photographic gradients and fine text
- Best on
- Cotton, poly-cotton, polyester
- Economical for
- Small runs, sampling, multi-design orders
- Durability
- Good; feel is slightly firmer than screen print
- Combines with
- Screen print, embroidery, stones
DTF vs screen print — the honest comparison
Screen print wins at volume on unit cost and has a softer hand-feel on large solid areas. DTF wins on setup — there is none — and on colour count. If you have eight designs at 60 pieces each, DTF is the only sensible answer. If you have one design at 2,000 pieces, screen print is.
The feel question
A DTF transfer sits on the fabric with a slight film. On a 240 gsm tee it is barely noticeable; on a fine 140 gsm jersey it is more perceptible. If hand-feel is the priority on a light garment, water-based print is better.
Great for sampling
Because there is no setup, DTF is ideal for producing a small number of decorated samples quickly, which lets you validate artwork and placement before committing to screens.