Apparel
Direct-to-Garment (DTG)
Full-color artwork printed straight into cotton. The right call for detailed designs, photos, and runs from 12 pieces.
Direct-to-garment printing jets water-based ink directly into the fabric with a modified inkjet printer, so the print becomes part of the shirt instead of a layer sitting on it. There are no screens to set up and no per-color fees, which is what makes it the method for full-color, photographic, or gradient artwork and for runs between 12 and about 70 pieces. It is a cotton process: 100% ringspun cotton tees print best, sweatshirts need a 100% cotton face, and polyester, blends, and heathers are out.
Best for
- •Full-color, photographic, or gradient artwork
- •Runs from 12 to about 70 pieces, where screen setup would dominate the cost
- •100% cotton tees and cotton-face fleece, light or dark
- •A soft hand feel: the ink is in the fabric, not on top of it
Not ideal for
- •Polyester, performance fabrics, tri-blends, and heathers (the ink does not bond)
- •Sleeve prints (not offered on DTG)
- •One- or two-color logos at 72 pieces and up, where screen printing costs less per piece
- •Designs that need exact Pantone spot-color matches (DTG is a CMYK process)
Direct-to-garment printing: full color on cotton, from 12 pieces
Direct-to-garment printing removed the two things that made small full-color runs impractical: screen setup and per-color fees. Before DTG, a photographic print meant separating the artwork into color layers, burning a screen for each, and printing enough pieces to pay for all of it. DTG reads the file and prints it in one pass, so a twelve-piece run of a detailed illustration costs close to what a seventy-piece run costs per shirt.
The print goes into the fabric rather than onto it. That is the difference customers feel: no film, no plastic layer, nothing that cracks at the fold. On dark garments the printer lays a white underbase first, then the color on top, and the result still washes as part of the shirt. We moved our full-color work to DTG in September 2026 after too many heat-transfer prints came back with a stiff, plastic hand.
The constraint is fabric. DTG bonds to cotton, so we print it on 100% ringspun cotton tees and on fleece with a 100% cotton face. Polyester, performance fabrics, tri-blends, and heathers do not take the ink reliably, which is why the method only appears on the products where it works. Sleeves are not offered. Sweatshirts carry a small per-print add-on because the fleece needs extra pretreatment.
Above about 72 pieces with a one- or two-color logo, screen printing costs less per piece and we will quote it. For photographic artwork, gradients, or a design with more colors than a screen job can carry, DTG stays the better answer at any quantity we run.
Artwork requirements
File Format
High-res PNG with a transparent background preferred. Vector also accepted.
Color Mode
Full RGB. CMYK conversion handled during production.
Resolution
300 dpi at final print size.
Notes
Set the artwork up at the size you want it printed. Dark garments get a white underbase automatically; clean transparent edges keep it from showing.
Questions about direct-to-garment (dtg) for your order?
We will help you confirm the right method for your artwork and quantity. Reach out and we will give you a straight answer.
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