Digital Passion

Credit: Tumblr

Good advice from the blog of Lara Warmwinter, at Digital Art: 

  "If the T-shirt design related to your colors and photorealistic images, then digital printing should be your primary choice [sic]."

Digital direct to garment printing is the best way to get high quality images, and a high quality feel with gradients. Not to mention the fact that digital DTG is fast. People that have tried DTG are passionate about it. I remember when I was younger and I wanted to get a couple of custom t-shirts made. I had the ideas, but when I went to my friend who owned a t-shirt printing shop to ask about getting them done, I was disappointed. He told me that in order to be affordable on a per shirt basis, I would have to order a large quantity of shirts. The time he would have to invest in making screens, just to do four colors, would be cost prohibitive for only two or three shirts. That was 16 years ago. Today, I can walk in to many shops, and walk out that same day with a custom printed, high quality shirt with gradients, and thousands of colors. And, all for around $20. There are also many online custom DTG printing shops. I can design a shirt from the comfort of my living room, and have it sent to me. When people finally realize the awesome power they have with DTG, the clothing industry is going to be radically changed. Big name corporate clothing designers, meet the Indy artists of the world.

A Digital Artist Finds DTG

A reader recently posted:

"bless my stars I found your blog in the sources section on the Wikipedia page for DTG printing, if you'd be so kind as to answer a question that's really troubling me I would be grateful.

I'm an illustrator I create high resolution digital paintings on photoshop and someone recently told me I should look into printing and selling some of these designs on t-shirts so I've been looking into t-shirt printing and what is the best method for me to get my paintings onto t-shirts with high quality prints, I'm planning to have low quantities and high pricing, so a high printing cost for a high quality print on 100% cotton can be absorbed. so could you please help me out with this? Thank You Sir"

People are becoming aware of DTG! This is great. Now we must educate. Here is the response I gave:

"Great question. There are several options for getting your images on to clothing. Heat transfers will get your print on to the shirt, but this method does not attain the high quality you are going for. Based on your comments, you will want to go with a process that can attain not just high quality look, but also a high quality feel. The best way to do this is digital direct-to-garment. Another consideration is whether the company you purchase your machine from is able to ship their product to your country, and give the support needed to help you get up and running. If you are based in the United States, you will have many companies to choose from. Pricing can vary greatly from company to company. Things you will want to consider are machine cost, ink cost, maintenance cost, and head replacement cost. Some companies also offer financing options, and this can be very helpful if you need to keep your cash flow free. Be very careful about used or homemade printers, as they probably won't come with a warranty, and you need to make sure that you can get support for your product. I recommend checking out the forums too. Here are a couple of addresses:

https://plus.google.com/b/117973706207801271116/communities/101204742741581995959

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/

DTG printing is a great way to profit from your art! I hope it goes well for you!"

Another one comes to the light of DTG, and a dream has been born. When will you make your Mona Lisa?

DTG, That's What I Meme

Do you frequently find yourself in the midst of a conversation where you bring up DTG, and your friends look at you like you are from Mars? That is because they are not yet aware of the wonders of Direct-to-Garment technology. What you should do in these situations:

1. Make fun of them.
2. Facebook bomb them with memes, like these:

Direct-to-Garment Extravaganza

I had an interesting conversation with someone today about all of the things that a Direct-to-Garment printer can print on. DTG is for more than T-Shirts. Don't get me wrong, t-shirts give you the most surface to play with, and to say with. When your whole upper body is wearing the canvas, you can get a lot of art seen. But sometimes, you may want to change it up.

Ever seen 30 Rock?

Trucker cap enthusiasm unchecked. Say what you want, on the hat you want... everyday if you want. Yep, you can do it with DTG.


Say it on a sweatband.

If your team is looking for something to make you stand out, or if you just want to keep the sweat out of your eyes in style, you can get your image or logo printed on sweatbands with DTG.

Other things you can print on:
Socks
Canvas bags

Wood

Glass

Leather

Jeans

Towels

Cotton koozies (no rubber lining)

Pre-stretched canvas for pictures

There are so many possibilities! Are you starting to become aware yet?

Without DTG, You Might Be Naked.

Raising DTG awareness is everybody's job. When people don't talk about DTG, other people won't know that they can put anything they want on a garment. If people don't know that they can put anything they want on a garment, they might not be able to find the right clothes for the occasion. If they can't find the right clothes, they might get so frustrated, they just decide to wear nothing.
This is just a guess, but I'm going to say that approximately 42.05683% of nudists are just people who couldn't find the right clothes. Direct-to-Garment can help. So, when your friend suddenly decides to become a nudist, ask yourself, "are they aware of Direct-to-Garment?" Then, ask them the same question.

DTG Made Me a Man

Some people think that it doesn't matter what you put on your t-shirt, until you hear about a story like this. It comes to us from a "DTG Awareness" reader in Fort Worth, Texas.

"DTG Made Me a Man"

Dear DTG Awareness,
I am sure you hear stories like this all of the time, but after reading your first post, I felt compelled to share my story about my experience with undecorated apparel. It was July 4th, of 2011 and my entire family was at my brother-in-laws house for a barbeque. I had worn a plain white t-shirt that day, as I did every day, because up until that point, I saw no advantage to wearing any particular saying or picture on my chest. Soon after we arrived at the party, the food was served and I began sinking my teeth into the delicious barbeque ribs my brother-law-had prepared. Suddenly, a flying object struck me in the back of the head! "What the bottle rocket?" I queried. It turns out, it was a bottle rocket. One of the neighbors had been launching fireworks, but had apparently failed to properly set the correct coordinates for the exploding craft, which caused it to blast my cabeça, instead of innocently exploding in midair. I turned and ran toward the neighbor's house to warn them not to set off another, for fear they may strike a less resilient person than I. As I closed in on my unwitting assailants, I could not help but notice the lack of fluidity with which my body moved. It was at this moment that it dawned in my imagination that if I had a t-shirt with a muscular chest printed on it, I could appear much more intimidating, as, from a certain distance, one could perhaps mistake the printed muscles for my real muscles, which, in these sort of situations carries a certain gravitas.
Minus the printed muscular shirt, I was left to acknowledge that my muscles, though impressive in their power to move heavy objects, do not hold their shape in a way that relates the type of strength they contain. So, while inside I felt like I should boldly demand that the neighbors continue their 4th of July celebration in another location far from our cook-out, I was instead forced to resort to the same tactic I had used so many other times in my life, which it turns out, is not quite as manly as I had imagined I would be in my muscle shirt. When I neared the neighbors', half smiling, I sheepishly stated, "you guys hit me in the head. Huh, huh!" The guys looked at each other, laughed, said "sorry man", and set off another bottle rocket, which whizzed past my face. 
I determined that if I could ever find a way to make my own shirts, I would have one made with muscles. Not only that, but I would also have ones made with cool and tough sayings. Sayings, that I have had in my head, that I know would be awesome and intimidating. DTG awareness has come to my life, and now I walk around with confidence. My wife loves me more, my kids respect me, and those neighbors... well let's just say there will be no bottle rockets hitting anybody in the head on that block for a long, long time.

-Phil S. 
 Fort Worth, TX

First Post- DTG is Real

Why do so many people go around today wearing boring, plain shirts? In a time when everyone personalizes their music playlists, their cell phone apps, and their computer wallpaper, why would people still go around with a plain white t-shirt everyday? For that matter, why do people continue to walk into stores, day after day, and buy shirts that have the exact same print on them as the ones next to them? I mean, how many times have you walked into a room and thought, "dang, that loser is wearing the same shirt as me." Why in the digital age that has brought us "social networking", where people record every single action they take from going to Disneyland to scratching their nose, and grown men post their thoughts about baseball and Justin Beiber all in the same day, would people continue to wear shirts that have the words and thoughts of others? Are we not INDIVIDUALS? Do we not have SOULS? Are not DIGITALLY PRINTED THOUGHTS available for our clothes?
The answer I have found is DTG, or Direct-to-Garment printing. BelQuette, Inc makes the Mod1, with the Edge Pretreament system. I just wish more shops had them. The next time a thought comes to your head, don't just put it on Facebook,  Google+, or Twitter. Put it on a shirt. Contact your local screen printer, and ask if they have a Mod1 DTG printer. Think about it, what if you put that thought  on a shirt, how many more "friends" could you get? Maybe other people like Key Lime Pie just as much as you! What a great conversation starter! But it won't happen if we don't put our thoughts on our shirts people! DTG is real, so let's put that social network to good use and get the word out!
Direct-to-Garment Awareness on Facebook