Direct-To-Garment: Everything You Need to Know

Everything you need to know about adding DTG products to your store!

Written by Print Your Cause

Updated 4 weeks ago

What is Direct-To-Garment?

Direct-to-garment, or DTG, is a decoration method that sprays water based ink directly onto the garment. The ink then soaks into the fibers of the garment and cures with the assistance of a pretreat. It is similar to printing on paper, but on fabric!

Best For:

Cotton Fabrics: DTG works best on 100% cotton garments. However, some cotton blends are also suitable, depending on the fabric.
Fine Details: DTG does not have line weight minimums, making it ideal for intricate designs with fine details.
Softer Feel: DTG prints have a softer feel compared to DTF

Considerations:

Faded Appearance on Dark Fabrics: DTG prints may appear less vibrant on dark garments and are generally better suited for white or light-colored fabrics

Products Available for DTG:

DTG is available for a variety of cotton and high cotton blend products from t-shirts to jackets to bags and more! Check out our available DTG products here!

All text should be converted to outlines, if uploading a vector file. Live fonts will not be recognized as objects to print. Exporting your file as a PNG will also fix this problem.
All negative spaces need to be a minimum thickness equivalent to 2 points. Negative spaces less than 2 points will not allow enough clearance between printed lines, causing those lines to bleed together.
Solid white prints may need double-layer white turned on. Reach out to us to turn this feature on.
Large shapes printed with solid color may need a printing pause added to the file. This type of prints will create a heavy deposit of ink that may bleed into nearby objects. Reach out to us to turn this feature on.

File Requirements:

Your file should have a minimum resolution of 150 dpi (pixels per inch) scaled at 10 inches.We recommend a resolution of 300 dpi Many of our garments will print at or near 10 inch width. Saving your file at this size will ensure the resolution is maintained as your artwork is scaled for different products.
Your file should be formatted as either a PNG or vector file (.png .svg .ai .eps .pdf .psd, .tif, .tiff).
Your file must have a transparent background. Our decorators will print exactly what is uploaded. If an uploaded file contains a white background, a white background will be printed on your product.

Does your artwork have a transparent background?
If uploading a vector file, has all text been converted to outlines?
Do you need double-layer white turned on?
Do you need a printing pause turned on?
Is your artwork scaled to 10 inches?
Does your artwork meet our minimum resolution of 150 dpi?
Is your file formatted in one of the following formats: .png .svg .ai .eps .pdf .psd, .tif, .tiff

Want to learn more? Read more about our artwork requirements and decoration methods!

Did this answer your question?