DTF Printing vs Other Custom Shirt Printing Methods

Direct-to-Film (DTF) printing is a method of decorating apparel. Artwork is printed onto a special film, prepared with adhesive powder, and transferred onto a suitable garment using heat and pressure. The result is a printed design applied to the garment without requiring a traditional screen for each design colour.

First, your artwork is printed onto a specialised transfer film. The film is prepared with adhesive powder and cured. The prepared transfer is then applied to a suitable garment using a calibrated heat press. The finished garment displays your transferred design in full colour.

High-resolution PNG, JPG, PDF, or SVG files work well. DTF reproduces detailed, multicolour artwork — including gradients, fine lines, and small text — without per-colour setup. The cleaner your artwork, the sharper the finished print.

DTF supports full-colour designs, which makes it well suited for logos, illustrations, and photographic-style artwork. Suitability depends on the garment, fabric, and intended application — for example, a heavyweight cotton tee and a performance poly blend behave differently. We confirm these details during the quotation process.

DTF works on a range of suitable cotton and polyester fabrics and fleece. From heavyweight Gildan tees to hoodies, crewnecks, and polos, the catalogue offers garments suited to DTF decoration. We'll recommend the right blank for your design and use case.

Different printing methods have different strengths. DTF's advantage is full-colour, detailed reproduction without per-colour screens. Screen printing, for example, is economical for very large runs of simple, few-colour designs but requires a screen per colour. Get A Custom currently offers DTF printing only — so we focus on what it does well and quote your design on a suitable garment.

Browse the catalogue, choose a garment, and submit a quote request with your artwork, quantity, sizes, colours, and placement — or call (647) 799-3559. We review your design and provide an itemized quote before production.