If you do any kind of garment printing then you should consider a DTG printer

Peter Wright, managing director of Amaya Sales UK, takes a look at why you should consider moving into the direct to garment print market.

Direct to garment printing has been around for approximately 13 years but it’s only in the last few years that it has become a major player in the garment decoration industry.

Now direct to garment printers is the buzz phrase in the garment decoration industry. They are now a must if you want to stay ahead in the business. Customers now demand the soft feel, quality of print and great washability.

Lift your profits

If your business is involved with selling garments with vinyl film applied, then adding a DTG printer to your business could really lift your profits and provide your customers with a different option. You could offer them full colour, photographic quality prints direct on to their garments. Remember also that you will not have any weeding to do.

If you are using transfer paper for transferring designs on to garment then adding a DTG printer will give you another sales point. You will give your customers a product with a soft feel and excellent washability.

If you are a screen printer then why carry on giving away the small order side of your business. Why not create another side to your printing business and offer one offs and small runs. These small runs offer a higher return per garment printed so could add greatly to your bottom line.

When choosing a printer please look for:

• Large print area of 40x62cm – capable of full front or back printing.
• Factory fitted pressurised ink system – gives consistent flow of ink.
• Single pass printing.
• Low print and maintenance costs.
• Robust industrial construction but compact and easy to transport.
• Photo quality print resolution.
• Superb white ink production.
• Excellent wash ability.
• Rip software that’s easy to use, gives various profiles and will create the white layer.
• Make sure that the printer can be left for long periods without use or expensive power cleans.
• Refillable ink cartridges – This allows you to buy ink much more economically.

Direct to garment printers can print on to T shirts, polos, hoodies, bags, jeans, sport shoes etc.

Profit margins

Profit margins are very high because it is a unique printing method and customers are prepared to pay a good price for the high quality product.

The figures below are based on a DTG printer without the screen print mix:

On a white or pale garment you could print a full colour A4 print in around two minutes at an ink cost of about 15p. Say you do one every four minutes that would be 15 shirts produced per hour.  A T shirt costs around £1.50 and could sell for between £10 and £15.

At £15 per shirt that would give you £225 revenue less your costs of £24.75 (15x £1.50 for the T shirts and £2.25 in ink), that’s £200 profit per hour. On dark shirts an A4 full colour print would take around four minutes and cost between 85p and £1.30 in ink. A white layer has to be printed before the colour. You could charge more for a dark or black shirt say from £15 to £20.  So if you print 10 per hour your revenue would be £200 less your costs of £28 (10x £1.50 for the T shirt and £13 in ink) that’s £172 profit per hour.

So you can see that this could add a very profitable extra side to your business.