A T-shirt, or graphic T-Shirt, is made of woven cotton, polyester, or other fabric, with a printed design, word, or message. You can also personalize t-shirts with a name, message or slogan. It is one of the most popular garments in the world. You can use t-shirts for many purposes, including promoting a business, fundraising, attracting customers or advertising a particular product.
Types of T-Shirt Printing
You can personalize t-shirts by transferring an image, picture or any other symbol onto them using T-shirt printing techniques. Various kinds of printed shirts now exist. These include sweatshirts, T-shirts, hoodies, etc. Most people wear them for daily use. You can use various kinds of transfers on these T-shirts to make them more appealing to the eyes of the onlookers and give them a unique appearance.
Heat transfer printing
Heat transfer is undoubtedly the best printing technique used to print T-shirts. The fabric is placed on a heated metal plate that transfers the design or text onto the fabric with direct heat. This is the traditional method and also the most common method.
One of the significant advantages of this T-Shirt printing technique is that it is very economical. Heat transfer printing is simple and easy to understand. The most important thing is that the colors do not fade even after the process is over.
However, it has its disadvantages. This method requires lots of work and patience to prepare the material. Another major drawback is that the images cannot be very complex. There is always a chance of color distortion when using this technique. In addition to that, there is also the problem of having a very small image on the material. It isn’t easy to get a smooth look on all areas of the T-Shirt.
Screen printing
Screen printing is another T-Shirt printing method that uses thick inks to produce large photographic-quality images on the T-Shirt material. This is widely used for the mass production of T-Shirts. This is an inexpensive method, and the images can be rather complex.
However, the colors tend to fade with time. There is also the problem of having too many colors on the material. Though it is more expensive than T-Shirt printing with inkjet and sublimation, it offers more benefits in terms of high-quality and unique graphic design.
Heat transfer printing offers several advantages over screen printing. First, it allows one to have various colours on the same T-Shirt. Second, the process does not require any dyeing or screen printing, which means that the colours will be printed on the same surface as the T-Shirt. Also, the process allows one to get photographic-quality finishes on the T-Shirt. The colours do not fade or wash away with time, and there is no fading involved in the graphics or artwork. This is ideal for individuals who want to have photographic-quality T-Shirts made with simple designs, pictures of animals and different drawings.
Inkjet Printer
This printing process is best suited for low-resolution graphics and images. Because the T-Shirts are printed with an inkjet printer, they must have smooth surfaces, and they are best suited for photographic printouts and not for other kinds of screen-printing processes. The final results are usually of good quality, and the colours do not fade with time. The final cost of the T-Shirts depends on the materials used and the number of colours that are being printed.