5 Things You Want to Know Before Buying a DTG Printer

Maintenance – The Cost: Time & Money

No matter which DTG printer you chose to purchase they all require daily or weekly maintenance that will not only consume time but resources as well. Each vendor will have their own procedures that are very similar. Some of these tasks will include regular nozzle checks, head cleanings and print head cleanings to ensure no ink becomes clogged in the machine and you maintain a smooth print process.

Failure to maintain your DTG printer could lead to ink clogging the line(s) or other components of your printer and then parts will need to be replaced at a cost to you if you are no longer under warranty. Print heads and other components for these machines can get very expensive so it’s important to familiarize yourself with what maintenance your machine requires and stay on top of it unless you want to be stuck paying a bill for several thousand dollars for a tech visit.

Some consumables will be required for cleaning and maintaining your DTG printer, but this will vary depending on what machine you purchase. For example, the Epson F2100 that I own requires not only a cleaning kit that consists of a cleaning solution & various different swab sizes for cleaning internal components but also periodically the head cleaning unit will need to be replaced. Always remember to include the cost of maintenance (and parts) in your calculations for what you should be charging clients to not shortchange yourself.

Stay Away from the Discount Machines!

With most entry level DTG printers that can handle both light & dark garments starting usually in the $15,000 & up range it may be tempting to investigate some lower cost options. It’s no surprise that you can jump on Aliexpress and probably find yourself a DTG printer for $4,000-$5,000 shipped right to you – a third of the cost of buying what one would consider one of the industry leading machines. The caveat to buying one of these machines is that there is typically no warranty included and support from the manufacturer is likely to be very minimal or non-existent.

Although tech visits are expensive it’s nice to know that if you hit a bind with your DTG printer from Epson or Brother for example that support is only a phone call away to getting the issue resolved. When you are operating a business, downtime costs you money and the quicker you can get issues fixed and get back to printing at full capacity the better off you are. Before deciding what machine you want to purchase, some of the questions you should probably ask yourself include: “How long has this company been in the DTG space?” and “What warranty period is included?”

Tackling an entirely new business venture and printing method is going to be stressful enough learning the ropes – the last thing you need on top of that is to be stressing over whether your equipment is ready for the task or not. Always invest in quality equipment whenever possible.

High Ink Costs

Regardless of which commercial DTG printer you purchase you are going to quickly find out that OEM inks can be very expensive. For example, the Epson F2100 DTG printer that I have a single white cartridge (and mind you; the system requires 2 of these anytime you re-fill) is around $250. So every time you need white ink it’s going to set you back a good chunk of change. The same goes for other commercial printers from companies like Brother or Ricoh.

You might think to yourself – “well, there’s always 3^rd party inks!” and while you are correct, I would be very wary of any ink that is not directly from the manufacturer. Call me a sucker if you will but from firsthand experience I can tell you that when I briefly flirted with the idea of using 3^rd party ink my nozzle checks on my printer were a lot dodgier than they were using OEM ink. It didn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence and instead of risking it and a $2,000+ printhead I decided to flush the 3^rd party stuff out of my printer and go back to the OEM ink.

Sure, it’s expensive but if you use the cost monitor built into tools like Garment Creator you can effectively track what it costs you to print each respective design (or job) and bill your customer accordingly. You just have to build that high cost of white ink into your pricing model and then remove the thought from your head. Letting it distract you from landing new clients or the actual workload itself would be an injustice to yourself.

Heat Press is Required, Two Will Speed Up the Process

In order to “cure” (in other words – dry your ink) on your DTG printed shirts you will require a heat press. Some larger operations will utilize either a tunnel dryer system similar to a screen printing facility and there’s even modern cabinet drawer heating solutions specifically designed for DTG. But both of those options are for when you’re a big shot down the road. You are best off starting out with an affordable but keyword reliable heat press.

Some people will jump right to Amazon and add to cart the first thing that pops up for “heat press” and while that may (or may not) do the job it’s not going to be the most effective or consistent. One major recommendation I can make when it comes to choosing a heat press is to ensure that it is 16 x 20 inches in size and not a smaller version. You want to be able to print on the largest platen available for your printer and be able to cure those prints so anything smaller and you might regret it later. Another thing you can look for in a heat press is the “auto-open” feature. This feature comes in handy tremendously when you are multitasking so that you don’t potentially scorch or burn any garment leaving it too long under heat and pressure.

There are cheaper options available for a heat press from sites like Alibaba that will admittedly work fine but they will not match the build quality of some of the more well known brands like Stahls and GeoKnight. For someone just starting out you could always start with a cheaper option like a used heat press from the marketplace and then as your business grows you can set your sights on something more feature rich with a better build quality. At least that’s what I would do.

Learning Curve Will Take Time & Money

Like anything in life when you are just starting out there is without a doubt going to be a learning curve and it will cost you both time and money. Just be prepared for that reality getting into it and have a certain budget set aside specifically for you to test things and dial in your work process. Grab some of the cheapest blank garments you can from a supplier or somewhere like the local thrift shop and practice on those. Even if you mess up a print on one of these test garments just keep it handy so that you can print on it in other locations and further perfect your process and print settings.

With DTG printing and pre-treatment being a requirement for all dark garments it’s going to take you some trial & error to see just how much pre-treat you should be using to get ideal print results. This is perfectly normal and just part of the learning curve. Too much pre-treat and your prints could wash off too soon in the washing machine for your customer. Too little pre-treat and the prints might not be nearly as vibrant as they could be.

And just like with pre-treatment the print settings you utilize in your RIP Software like Garment Creator for each respective job is going to differ depending on what kind of garment you are printing on (t-shirt, hoodie, etc) and what the fabric is composed of. While printing on 100% cotton garments is recommended you certainly can print on other compositions just fine but that’s where different settings and more trial and error come into play. Just be patient with the process and make sure as you land on settings that you are comfortable with that you record your findings. Keep a log of what works best and what doesn’t so you don’t forget or in the future can easily teach someone else the process should you need to hire help in the future as your operation scales.

Now that might sound like a lot of information to digest but overall the process of learning to use your DTG printer will be a rewarding experience. There are a wealth of resources at your disposal these days to assist you in every step of the process. Some of those include: YouTube videos, Facebook groups, training programs with dealers and that’s just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg really. Direct to Garment printing is becoming more and more commonplace each year not only for home users looking to empower themselves and make an income with their machine but also with many larger brands and corporate clients making the switch from screen printing & holding inventory to producing items on-demand with DTG printers. It really is the future of apparel in many respects because it reduces cost, waste, and even space required to operate a brand with a large range of different design options.

Before you dive in just make sure that you are ready for the workload and the time (and money) it is going to cost you to learn the craft because there’s nothing worse than purchasing what could amount to a $20,000 paperweight. These commercial DTG printers are an investment that can pay for themselves quite easily if you can learn the ins & outs effectively and market your services. Just know that there’s no magic bullet. You must put the work in.