DTF printing for full-colour garment designs

Your design is printed in colour onto a special film, coated with adhesive powder, cured, and then heat-pressed onto the garment. The result is a flexible print with a soft feel and strong colour, including whites on dark garments.

Because there is no screen per colour, even designs with many colours and gradients are straightforward.

DTF shines when a design has many colours or fine detail, when you need different designs in one order, or when quantities are modest. It works on cotton, polyester and blends. For very large runs of simple one-colour designs, screen printing may be the better value. For cotton-only detailed prints in tiny quantities consider DTG. Our T-shirt printing page compares all methods.

T-shirts, hoodies, jackets, tote bags, aprons, caps and uniforms are typical items, as long as the surface can handle the heat of the press. Seams, zips and thick textures can limit placement, so we check suitability when quoting. Transfers can also be supplied for you to apply yourself, if quoted that way.

Vector artwork or a high-resolution transparent PNG at print size gives the best result. Avoid very thin lines and tiny text. Colour on screen and on film may differ slightly. See our artwork guidelines and tell us the garment colour.

DTF can be quick for suitable jobs, but timing depends on capacity, job size, approved artwork, payment, garment availability and a confirmed deadline, and we confirm it on the quote. Collect from Rivonia once ready, or ask for delivery to be quoted. Wash inside out, cool, and iron on the reverse to help the print last.