DTG Printing Services

No hard minimum — we can print a single shirt, a dozen, or hundreds. DTG has no screens to burn, so small runs are economical. Every shirt still needs pretreatment and curing, so very small orders (1–5 pieces) take about the same setup time as a moderate batch.

Pretreatment is a clear chemical spray applied to the shirt before printing, which helps the white ink stick to the fabric and makes colours pop. It’s required for any DTG print on dark or coloured shirts, and for any colour print on cotton. We apply and cure pretreatment in-house as part of the job.

DTG works best on 100% ringspun cotton. It’s acceptable on cotton-heavy blends (50/50, 60/40 cotton-poly) but colour vibrancy drops as polyester content rises. Performance synthetics, nylon, and polyester-only fabrics aren’t a fit — pick DTF or sublimation instead. If your blank is under 50% cotton, we’ll recommend a method change.

DTG on light/white shirts is a single CMYK pass — fast, bright, and soft-hand. DTG on dark shirts requires a white-ink underbase printed first, then a CMYK colour pass on top. Dark-shirt prints take longer, use more ink, and have a slightly thicker feel. Quality is still excellent — it’s just a different process.

A properly pretreated and cured DTG print survives 30–50+ wash cycles without cracking or peeling when washed inside-out in cold water and tumble-dried on low. Some fading over many washes is normal — DTG inks are water-based and sit in the fibres, so they age with the shirt rather than flaking off like a transfer.

This is DTG’s biggest strength. Because it’s a digital inkjet process, DTG reproduces photo-quality images, gradients, tiny type (as small as 4–6pt), and unlimited colour counts — all in a single pass. Screen printing charges per colour and can’t handle gradients cleanly; DTG prints a 100-colour photo as easily as a 1-colour logo.

Yes — DTG has the softest hand of any method on cotton. The ink absorbs into the fibres rather than sitting on top, so you feel the shirt, not the print. DTF has a noticeable film layer; screen prints range from soft (water-based) to plasticy (plastisol); heat transfers feel the stiffest. If “feels like a dyed-in print” matters, DTG wins.

DTG works on any flat, cotton-heavy item that fits in our platen — t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, cotton tote bags, canvas bags, and aprons all work. Pockets, seams, and curved areas are tricky and sometimes print-impossible. Hats, cinch bags, and structured items usually aren’t a fit — we’d point you to embroidery or DTF.

Choose DTG when you need: full-colour photo or gradient artwork, very small quantities with no setup fees, the softest possible hand on 100% cotton, or fine detail/small text that screen printing can’t hold. Screen printing wins at larger runs with bold spot colours. DTF wins on synthetic fabrics, stretchy garments, or mixed-substrate orders.

Skip DTG if: your blank is polyester/performance fabric (use DTF or sublimation), you need exact Pantone brand colours (use screen printing), you’re printing on hats/bags/structured items (use embroidery or DTF), or you want all-over prints wrapping around the garment (use sublimation on white poly). DTG is the best method for cotton, but it’s not the most versatile.