Guide
How DTF printing works, and how to brief it well
A plain-language walk through direct-to-film printing: what the process is, why it works for small and complex runs, what artwork to send, and how to care for the finished garment. Read it before you fill in the brief and your quote will come back faster.
What DTF printing actually is
Direct-to-film printing starts by printing your design, in reverse, onto a clear film using water-based pigment inks. A second pass adds a fine adhesive powder, which is cured until it fuses with the ink. That film is then placed on the garment and pressed with heat. The ink bonds into the fabric fibres through the adhesive layer rather than sitting on top of a carrier sheet like vinyl, which is why DTF prints stay soft and flexible through repeated washing.
Why it suits small runs and complex artwork
Because there is no screen to burn and no colour separation, a DTF print can carry hundreds of colours, gradients, photographs and fine lines in a single pass. That means a three-shirt order costs the same per print as a thirty-shirt order, and artwork does not need to be simplified down to a handful of spot colours. It is also the reason we can print onto cotton, polyester, blends, canvas totes and even some workwear fabrics without changing the process.
What artwork we need
Print-ready artwork is a vector file (AI, PDF or EPS) or a PNG at 300 dots per inch, sized to the placement you want. Anything with a transparent background keeps its shape on the shirt. If the only file you have is a screenshot, a JPEG pulled from a website, or a photo of a printed logo, we can usually rebuild it, and that is worth mentioning in the artwork step of the brief so the quote includes the redraw time.
Placement, sizing and the details that go wrong
Placement is where most apparel orders get awkward. Front prints usually sit a few inches down from the collar, left chest prints are smaller than people expect, and sleeve prints have to work with the seam and the wearer's arm. Sizes matter as much as placement: a logo that reads well on a medium can look lost on a 3XL, so we adjust the print scale by size when a run has a wide spread. That is why the brief asks for your size breakdown, not just a total.
Caring for a DTF print
Turn the garment inside out, wash cold, and skip the fabric softener. Tumble dry low or hang dry, and do not iron directly on the printed area. Prints made this way routinely survive years of regular washing when they are cared for that way, and heat is the main thing that shortens their life.
Have a design in mind?
Tell us the garment, the quantity and the date, and attach whatever artwork you have. We will come back with a price and any file notes.
Start a brief