Direct to Garment (DTG) printing is fantastic for full, complex designs of all colours

Great for small to medium quantities

DTG printing is the latest innovation in t-shirt printing. It works much like an extremely advanced inkjet printer, printing your design directly onto the garment, allowing for high speed and great quality prints.

Check out our video of the Storm II, the latest generation of DTG printers in action at our Manchester warehouse.

DTG printer can produce designs of all colours and sizes with a superior quality and detailed finish. It is perfect for small to medium quantities and allows for intricate, complex designs.

The design for printing is uploaded onto computer software, whilst the garment is prepared for printing. It is sprayed with a pre-treatment spray to ensure the ink doesn’t soak into the fabric. If this garment is coloured, a white base layer is applied to ensure the colours of the design remain vibrant and bright. The garment is placed in the printer and the design is printed directly onto the garment. It is then heat pressed or dried to ensure a durable finish.

We use some of the most advanced and state-of-the-art direct-to-garment printers on the market. These machines use Neo-Pigment inks, which are 100% non-hazardous, 100 % toxin-free and are safe for infants and babies. They also enable ink waste reduction thanks to their single ink set, ensuring digital is one step closer to offering a solution to lower the amount of water our industry currently uses.

All our DTG printers print in the RGB spectrum.

Vinyl printing is perfect for producing single colour text, simple logos and numbers

Great for small to medium quantities

Creates a vibrant finish

Vinyl transfer printing works by a machine which cuts out a design onto a single-colour sheet of vinyl. The vinyl design is then heat sealed on to the garment using a heat press.

This creates a vibrant, bold finish that will really stand out.

The design to be printed needs to have an outline added, which is achieved using specialised design software. The digitised design is then ready to be cut and used. It is put through a digital cutter, called a CAD (Computer Aided Design) cutter which electronically cuts the design onto a single colour sheet of vinyl, and then needs to be cut out from the vinyl sheet. This is done manually using a weeder, in a process called weeding. The cut design is then placed on application tape to prepare it to be heat transferred. Next, the design is heat pressed in the correct position on to the garment. The garment must be cooled and then the application tape is taken off.

Vinyl printing is fantastic for single-colour orders as it can do this proficiently for any order size at a better cost than direct-to-garment printing. It is great for lettering and especially for vibrant t-shirts with a personalised message like those you might order for a stag or hen trip, as vinyl is low-cost and great for one-off orders. As the design effectively sits on top of the garment, no vibrancy in the colour of the design is lost.

Versacamm printing is suitable for printing high resolution images such as photos

Great for small to medium quantities

Creates a sharp and glossy finish

Versacamm transfer printing involves printing a coloured design onto vinyl and cuts around the design, which is then heat pressed on to the garment.

The design to be printed needs to have an outline added, which is achieved using specialised design software. The digitised design is then ready to be cut and used. It is put through a Versacamm machine which electronically cuts and prints multi-coloured design onto a sheet of plain vinyl. The design is then cut out manually using a weeder, in a process called weeding. The cut design is then placed on application tape to prepare it to be heat transferred. Next, the design is heat pressed in the correct position on to the garment. The garment must be cooled and then the application tape is taken off.

Versacamm printing is fantastic for low quantities of multi-colour designs as it produces high quality, vibrant designs that effectively sit on top of the garment, and so no brightness in the colour of the design is lost. For this reason it is especially suited to producing photographic images or colour gradations.

Screen transfer printing is suitable for printing complex designs

Great for medium to large quantities

Creates a sharp and glossy finish

Screen transfer printing involves the application of colour with ink directly through a screen onto transfer paper. The design on the transfer paper is then cured, and is transferred to the garment using a heat press.

Screen transfer printing is similar to screen printing, but instead of printing directly onto the garment, the design is firstly printed onto a type of transfer paper using a screen, which is usually a wooden or metal frame with a fine mesh surface. Every colour requires a separate screen consisting of a very fine mesh surface which is produced using light reactive chemicals. Where the chemicals have been exposed to light, they breakdown and are washed off leaving spaces in the mesh which act as a template for the design. The colours are then individually screen printed onto the transfer paper by placing the screen manually or automatically and forcing the printers ink through the relevant screen stencil. The transfer paper is cured and the design can then be heat pressed onto the garment.

Full pantone matching is possible using screen transfer printing.

Example photography coming soon.

Screen printing is great for printing large, multi-colour designs

Need 250 prints or more? Call our sales team on 0161 870 5955

Achieves long-lasting, durable results

Screen printing is one of the most traditional methods of printing and is great for large orders of over 500 pieces. It involves the application of colour with ink directly through a screen onto the garment.

In order to screen print an item the design has to be separate into the component colours on software such as Adobe Illustrator. Every colour requires a separate screen consisting of a very fine mesh surface which is produced using light reactive chemicals. Where the chemicals have been exposed to light, they breakdown and are washed off leaving spaces in the mesh. The ink can then be screen printed onto the garment direct or onto transfer paper which is later applied to garment by a heat press. If the direct printing method is used, the garment is placed on a solid board (platen). The colours are then applied individually by placing the screen manually or automatically on top of the garment and forcing the printers ink through the relevant screen stencil.

Screen printing allows large and complex designs to have a really high quality finish. As the ink is absorbed into the garment, the finished design is smooth and glossy.

Full pantone matching is available when screen printing

Example photography coming soon.