You’ve learned about the POD industry and the design terminology, but now you need to print your design. Here are the key words and concepts to know before you create your next product.
Dye Sublimation
Dye Sublimation is our most common printing technique. The design is printed on a sublimation paper with a special kind of ink. It is then transferred using heat and pressure.
In this method, the color becomes part of the fiber itself as opposed to merely sitting on the top of the fabric.
Direct to garment (dtg) printing
A printing technique where the image gets printed directly onto the fabric.
In this method, the type of substrate (or material) greatly affects the outcome of the print.
Substrates
Substrates are the base materials underneath a design, such as paper, canvas, fabric, film or glass.
Refer to the images below to see how different fabric blends affect t-shirt designs. Click the images to read our fabric print guide.
Pre-treat
A glue-like substance that helps bind ink to fabric. Pre-treat is used with color ink to make the print color more vibrant and sharpen detail. Pre-treat prevents the fabric from absorbing the ink.
UV printing
Digital printing that uses UV light to cure the ink. We use this type of printing on glass ornaments and phone cases.
