Printing on T-shirts at home. How to make a print on a T-shirt with your own hands? How to Print Prints on T-Shirts

With the onset of warmer weather, warm down jackets and jackets are replaced by light T-shirts. Today we’ll talk about how to apply a print on a T-shirt with your own hands. The techniques described in the article require accuracy and certain skills, but if everything is done carefully, you will get a truly unique product. Is it difficult to create a print on a T-shirt for a guy? It’s worth trying, especially since today handmade is at the peak of fashion. So, let's get to work!

Thermal transfer paper

This option is the most common. The technology itself is somewhat reminiscent of children's decals. If you do everything very carefully and without unnecessary haste, you are guaranteed a good result.

What will you need for the job?

A good mood and a desire to do something with your own hands are a must. In addition, prepare:

• A T-shirt, preferably white.
• Thermal transfer paper.
• Iron.

Important! You will also need a color inkjet printer. Special paper is sold in electronics stores. It's not difficult to find it if you want.

The requirements for the T-shirt itself are quite strict, because the quality of the applied pattern depends on this:

1. The product must be plain, without prints, logos or images.
2. The cotton content in the material is at least 85%. This is very important because otherwise the image will not stick to the fabric.

Important! Why is white desirable? White thermal transfer paper is easier to find. Colored paper is also available for sale, but it is more difficult to find and is not cheap.

DIY print on a T-shirt - preparation for work:

1. First, decide what design you will put on the T-shirt. It could be text, a logo, or just a cartoon character or fantastic creature.
2. Before you print the design, be sure to turn it in a mirror direction. This is important because when applied to fabric, you will not get a mirror image, but a correct image. This is especially important for text labels.
3. Check the dimensions of the future image, and only then print it onto thermal transfer paper.

Drawing process

This is the most crucial and serious moment if you are going to make a print on a T-shirt with your own hands:

• Lay the T-shirt on the surface of the ironing board. The surface must be perfectly flat.
• Take paper with a pattern printed on it, cut out the image strictly along the contour.
• Place the paper pattern side down on the fabric.

Important! If you want the print to be located exactly in the middle, use a regular school ruler or measuring tape.

• Turn on the iron at its highest power. After it heats up, iron the paper for 4-5 minutes. Paper and fabric can withstand heat well, so there is no need to worry.
• Leave the product for 5-10 minutes to cool. Now you can remove the paper from the T-shirt - it is no longer needed. Do this carefully and slowly. In this case, the image on the surface of the fabric will be of good quality.

Of course, over time, such a print will lose its presentable appearance. But there's nothing you can do about it. Even branded products wear out. And there is nothing difficult about making a print on a T-shirt yourself. Now you have become the owner of a truly unique item that you can show off to your friends and acquaintances.

Use of dyes

Here is another interesting technology that will allow you to make a unique thing - beautiful, elegant and non-standard.

What will you need?

First of all, of course, a T-shirt. It is desirable that it be one hundred percent cotton. A completely acceptable option is 50% cotton and synthetics (polyester). In addition, you need to purchase:

• Dye for clothes. The number of colors and the colors themselves are a matter of your taste.
• Rubber gloves (to protect hands).
• Pharmacy gum.
• Soda ash.
• Urea.
• Plastic bottles for applying paint to the surface of the fabric.
• A plastic bag equipped with a jet-type lock.

In addition, you will need:

• Wooden stick.
• A glass with divisions.
• A basin or other large container.
• Paper towels. You will need them so as not to stain the furniture with dye.

Important! It is advisable to purchase a ready-made coloring composition. All you have to do is dilute it in warm (in no case, not hot!) water. If ready-made dye is not available for sale, buy dry paint and prepare it for work in accordance with the instructions.

Preparing the fabric for dyeing:

• To ensure that the paint adheres firmly to the fabric, dissolve soda ash in water.
• Place the T-shirt in the resulting solution for 10 minutes.
• It’s a good idea to add 1-2 tbsp. l salt. This will improve the dyeing efficiency.

Important! Wear protective gloves. Soda ash is slightly caustic, so contact with it may cause some discomfort.

• Make sure the salt and soda ash are completely dissolved before dipping your T-shirt into the solution. The water temperature is approximately 37 degrees.
• After 10 minutes have passed, remove the product and squeeze well. You can use the spin function in the washing machine.

Important! If the product is completely new, it is advisable to wash it before dyeing.

• Lay the T-shirt face down on a flat, level surface. In this case, the print on the T-shirt will be brighter and more colorful in front. Place a stick in the center of the product. By rotating it clockwise, you gradually twist the T-shirt into a “snail” shape. Make sure that the product does not rise up.
• Carefully remove the stick so that the resulting shape is preserved.

• Lay the shirt out on a surface lined with paper towels.

Now begins the most interesting stage - the actual coloring. You can only use 3 primary colors: blue, yellow and red. When mixing paints, other colors are obtained, so you are guaranteed a “rainbow” coloring:

• Apply each of the three colors to a third of the piece, from the center to the edges.

Important! Keep the bottle of dye as close to the product as possible - this way there is less risk that you will drip onto furniture, the floor or your own clothes.

In order to make a custom print on a T-shirt Today there are several options. The first way to order a T-shirt with an inscription or design is in an online store or in a regular offline store that does textile printing.

Today I will tell you about an independent method of applying any prints to T-shirts, which you can use at home.

To create your first T-shirt print you will need:

• Lomond thermal transfer paper
• inkjet printer for printing
• scissors
• any T-shirt for thermal transfer

Thermal Transfer PaperLomond.

Today, there are several manufacturers of thermal transfer paper for creating images using thermal transfer on fabric. I chose the company's paper Lomond. It is found in almost every store selling products from this company. It can also be found in stores that sell org. technology.

To create the T-shirt print, I chose Lomond series paper for light fabrics.

About the inkjet printer.

An inkjet printer is required to print on thermal transfer paper. I have a laser printer at home, so my friend was happy to help me print the image.

In the print settings you need to set the following values:

• printing on plain paper (or thermal transfer if there is such an option)
• high quality printing.

About images for thermal transfer.

To print on A4 paper, you need high quality images. If the design is low resolution, it will be noticeable on the T-shirt.

I'm a fan vector format, these images are m Can be enlarged to any size without loss of quality.

You can find vector images for creating a print on a T-shirt on the Internet (although there is a danger of catching viruses on unverified sites), and high-quality vector images can be downloaded for money from various stocks.

Go to the section, there you can download high-quality vector clipart for printing of any size. There are free and paid options.

About a thermal transfer T-shirt.

For thermal transfer using Lomond thermal transfer paper, any cotton fabric.

There is no need to buy a special T-shirt with a sublimation coating applied.

All you need to do is select the appropriate paper for light or dark fabrics.

A step-by-step guide to creating a T-shirt print.

1. On a table or ironing board, prepare a T-shirt for thermal transfer of the image. If you placed it on a table, it is recommended to place the fabric under the T-shirt.

2. Trim all excess along the contour of the design, with a gap of no more than 5mm.

3. Attach the design as in the photo, position it on the T-shirt.

4. Carefully iron for about 90 seconds (A4 format), so that the center of the iron passes along all edges of the paper

Do not use steam

5. Let the paper cool

6. Carefully remove the protective checkered backing.

7. Your print is ready!

Pros and cons of print on a T-shirt.

— The disadvantage of this method is the small size of the printed image, but now there is such thermal transfer paper and A3 format, it is enough for a T-shirt of any size.

— The paper manufacturer guarantees that the image transferred to the T-shirt will withstand 20 washes, and this is quite a lot. Next is the effect of an aged image.

— At cost, you will be at a big advantage, if you make the image on a T-shirt yourself, one package of 10 sheets of thermal transfer paper will be enough for your entire wardrobe.

— Another big advantage is that you can create an original drawing or inscription and show your individuality.

Conclusion.

It’s not difficult to make a T-shirt print yourself at home, you will need some free time, no more than half an hour, 350 rubles onto thermal transfer paper, a cotton T-shirt and that's it.

In the comments, I look forward to your feedback on whether you succeeded in making a print on a T-shirt, and what problems you encountered.

Good luck in expressing yourself!!!

Of all the options for applying prints to fabric, the most popular is printing on T-shirts. Branded items are used as:

• casual clothes;
• element of corporate style;
• souvenirs;
• presentation/handout material for various events.

Printing technologies

T-shirts are printed using different technologies. Let's write briefly about the most popular ones.

Digital

Direct digital printing is a progressive technology for transferring a design quickly and without intermediate steps. Suitable for working with small runs and single items.

Advantages:

• high quality, gradient fills, detailed detailing;
• no restrictions on the choice of fabric;
• Print resistance to washing/ultraviolet radiation.

Flaws:

• T-shirt/fabric hand wash only;
• not suitable for large print runs;
• pre-press preparation required.

With digital printing there are no restrictions on colors and shades

Sublimation

Another name is direct screen printing. Suitable for circulations of 50-100,000 copies or more. The drawings are clear. When producing batches of 200 pieces or more, the cost is reduced.

Two types of paints are used: plastisol and water-based. They come with different effects:

• designs with sparkles - glitters;
• image on dark fabric - etched paints;
• volumetric patterns - foam;
• gloss effect, gilding, silvering - metallized.

The technology of sublimation printing on T-shirts is only suitable for light-colored synthetics. The design is transferred onto special paper and then onto the material using a heat press. At high temperatures, ink evaporates and penetrates into the fibers of the fabric, coloring it.

A high-quality print will be obtained on fabric with a synthetic content of about 65%. The higher the proportion of cotton, the faster the print fades when washed.

The sublimation process requires the following equipment:

• heat press - with its help, paint is converted into gas and transferred to the material, giving it a given color;
• computer/laptop - for searching, editing, printing images;
• printer - inkjet models are suitable, for example, 4- or 6-color Epson;
• paint - sublimation ink, absorbed into fabric fibers under the influence of temperature;
• CISS - ensure continuous supply of ink to the printer;
• paper is an intermediate carrier with a loose surface; when heated, the pores expand, absorb the dye, then the paper cools, the pores close and hold the color inside.

Raster (RGB/CMYK, with a resolution of 200 dpi) or vector images (CMYK, mesh filling or replacement with bitmap are not allowed) are suitable as images.

Industrial sublimation printer FT-1904X

Advantages:

• no restrictions on image resolution/colors;
• durability of the pattern (at least 50 washes), protection from UV - the paint penetrates into the fabric,
• becomes part of the fiber;
• practicality of the product - the T-shirt can be ironed, the pattern will not be damaged;
• low cost.

Flaws:

• fabric restrictions - only synthetic;
• high price;
• duration of the manufacturing process.

Sublimation technology for printing on T-shirts is one of the most affordable in terms of the price of the finished product. The average price range is from 10 (one-color printing, batch of 50,000 pieces) to 200 rubles (full-color patterns, small edition).

Silkscreen printing

Performed both in a printing house and at home. To work you will need a mesh stretched over a frame, ink, and a stencil. The pattern is obtained by pressing. Silk-screen printing is used when printing on T-shirts with various effects on fabric is required:

• fluorescent patterns;
• designs in gold and silver;
• volumetric ornaments;
• printing reflective images/inscriptions on a T-shirt; 3D, glitters.

The average circulation is from 50 to several thousand units. The larger the circulation, the lower the price.

Silk-screened photos of Homer and Margery

Advantages:

• low cost;
• high speed;
• image durability;
• the ability to create various special effects;
• compactness of the equipment used.

Flaws:

• difficulty in printing photographs;
• duration of preparation;
• application of identical patterns throughout the entire batch of products.

Silk-screen printing is suitable for applying inscriptions, logos and pictures in small quantities. Specially processed vector and raster files are used.

Thermal decal

The colored film is cut on a plotter and assembled into a single pattern, similar to appliqué. The carrier is fixed to the T-shirt using a heat press. The technology is optimal for applying small inscriptions/logos.

Advantages:

• a wide selection of films of different colors and textures;
• printing on T-shirts of any color - the shade of the fabric does not reduce the saturation of the image.

Flaws:

• long term;
• the complexity of the procedure.

The drawing is voluminous and clear

Thermal transfer technology

Modern indirect printing method. Special transfer paper is used. The pattern is transferred to the fabric using a heat press, or less often, an iron. High-resolution vector and raster files are suitable as source images.

You can print on transfer paper using silk-screen printing or, less commonly, offset.

Advantages:

• multicolor pattern;
• duration of storage of transfers;
• high speed;
• minimal restrictions on the choice of fabric.

Flaws:

• lengthy preparation/setup of equipment;
• impossibility of printing different images within the circulation.

T-shirt printing equipment

The choice of equipment depends on the technology. For sublimation you will need a printer:

• manual - easy to use, inexpensive, suitable for home use/small runs, cost - from 35,000 rubles;
• semi-automatic - the possibility of drying the T-shirt during the intermediate stage of the process is provided, cost - from 60,000 rubles;
• automatic - labor costs are minimal, all processes are debugged, printing speed is high, cost - from 150,000 rubles.

For iron-on you will need a digital/inkjet printer and a heat press. At home, it can be replaced with an iron.

Thermal transfer uses:

• PC/laptop with graphic editor;
• printer and scanner;
• sublimation press - vertically folding (inexpensive, easy to operate) or rotary.

Direct digital printing requires an inkjet printer.

Digital printer for printing on fabrics

You can see how digital printing on T-shirts works in this video:

Results

• Each printing technology has its own advantages. Choose based on your goals/circulation.
• Sublimation and silk-screen printing are suitable for printing pictures with a circulation of over 1,000 pieces. For single orders, the cost will increase significantly.
• For batches up to 50 units - thermal transfer technology. It is also suitable for applying a pattern where direct printing on a T-shirt is not possible.
• For urgent printing - printer transfer. The resulting image will not be very durable.
• Images are prepared taking into account the requirements of a specific printing technology.
• The type of equipment also depends on the specific technology.

The same in large quantities, then in most cases the silk-screen printing method is used. Silk-screen printing is printing using , and a bright and clear pattern appears. Silk-screen printing gives the most saturated color, since a large layer of paint is applied to it.

When particularly high quality is required, and the volumes are expected to be small, heat transfer is the best way to apply a design to a T-shirt. A thin vinyl film with a pattern is transferred to the fabric. Under the influence of high temperature (about 200 degrees Celsius), the film is embedded in the fabric, so the image is high-quality and durable.

The highest quality printing on a T-shirt is achieved using the sublimation method. True, sublimation has an important drawback. Using this method, you can print designs only on light-colored fabrics. The quality of the transferred drawing leaves no doubt - when applying it, two influences are used at once, firstly, temperature (over 160 degrees Celsius), and secondly, chemical - special sublimation paints react. This image does not disappear either after washing or after long use. In fact, the lifespan of a printed image is equal to the lifespan of the product itself.

Helpful advice

If you need to get a large batch of T-shirts with high-quality designs at a relatively low price, choose the silk-screen printing method. This is excellent quality, quick results, low cost. If, on the other hand, you only need to make one or two T-shirts, then it would be best to use the heat transfer method. Sublimation is a method that will ensure the highest quality and durability of the design.

Sources:

• printing on T-shirts
• do it yourself t-shirt printing

T-shirts are always in high demand. This is what attracts more and more entrepreneurs to this market segment. Moreover, the business of selling T-shirts allows you to get a good income at minimal cost.

There are a number of things you need to consider before opening a T-shirt store.

Selecting a target segment

At the preliminary stage, it is important to clearly understand the future concept of the store and decide on the target segment. The choice of business direction should be based on marketing research and identification of the most promising niches in the market. For example, a store may be focused on selling children's T-shirts, youth T-shirts with bright prints, sports T-shirts, T-shirts for overweight people, T-shirts made from natural materials, etc. The success of the business will largely depend on knowing the needs and interests of target consumers. Marketing promotion of the store will have to be built on this basis.

Store assortment

In a T-shirt store, you can resell ready-made T-shirts from third-party brands, as well as sell products with your own prints. But it is worth considering that the popularity of the store will depend on the originality and creativity of the assortment. And selling standard products produced in huge quantities in China will lead to the fact that your store will simply get lost among hundreds of others.

To bring the idea of ​​​​creating your own T-shirts to life, you must have graphic design skills, or transfer the function of developing images to a freelance specialist for a separate fee. You can make your own catalog of images and apply them to order from a specific client. If you are planning to create your own T-shirt store with designer prints, then you need to find a supplier of plain T-shirts of various colors and sizes, on which the design will be applied in a high-quality manner.

It is worth noting that only T-shirts are rarely sold in the store; as a rule, this is one of the products in the assortment of clothing outlets. But if you focus on selling T-shirts, then they should include a wide range of models and sizes (the most popular sizes should always be in stock).

Choosing a store format

You can sell T-shirts through a regular retail store or online. You can also combine work in both of these formats.

The success factors of a retail store include its location, as well as the presence of qualified personnel. The interior of the store is also important, which should meet the interests of the target audience. When opening a retail store, the key criterion for choosing a location to open is the foot traffic of the outlet. The disadvantage of a retail outlet is the high costs of rent, renovation of the premises and payment for the work of sellers.

The advantage of selling via the Internet is the opportunity to expand the geography of sales, as well as reducing the cost of renting retail space. To organize online sales, you can create your own online store, or sell T-shirts through free electronic platforms (auctions, bulletin boards, catalogues).

Screen printing and silk-screen printing

The industry standard for printing on T-shirts and fabric in general. If you want to get a decent result (full color, for example), then you need to invest well in both equipment and training. Very profitable for medium and large print runs of 100 pcs. to infinity.

Special printers

Now special printers for printing on fabric have appeared on the market. In principle, this is quite a promising direction, the only thing stopping us is the price of the printer, starting from 9,000 euros. Although there are exceptions here, it is still a rather expensive technique, which is interesting for large volumes of short runs.

Thermal transfer

Thermal transfer is the transfer of an image to various surfaces under the influence of temperature and pressure. Thermal transfer means that you have a heat press. The price of a heat press ranges from 15,000 to 50,000 rubles, depending on the manufacturer (Chinese noname or a well-known American company) and the type of press - rotary or folding.
If you plan to seriously engage in thermal transfer, then you need a press; if this is just a hobby or a tryout, then an iron will do.

Thermal transfer happens:

— Laser

— Stencil

- Using film

— Jet

Jet transfer

Involves printing on inkjet printers. Moreover, if this is a household inkjet printer with regular ink, then the printing is done on special paper, which has a coating into which the ink is embedded, then the paper, if necessary, is cut out along the contour of the design, applied to the fabric with the image down and ironed. There is even paper for dark fabrics.

The advantages of this method include accessibility and low cost. All other indicators are complete shortcomings. The image turns out to be unstable, the colors quickly fade and are washed out. The pattern is rough and rubbery to the touch.

Sublimation (the second method of printing with an inkjet printer)

Sublimation is the process of transition of a substance from a solid state to a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid phase. There are different sublimation inks that are poured into an inkjet printer in CISS or refillable cartridges, and the printer must be an EPSON brand due to the design of its print heads.

After which the mirror image is printed on paper, dried and using a press - an iron is unlikely to help here - it is transferred to an object with a polymer (synthetic) content of more than 70%. The paper can be ordinary, but when transferring about 30% of the ink will not transfer, and the image will turn out dull; it is best to take special paper for sublimation or, in extreme cases, any matte photo paper.

As for printing on T-shirts with sublimation, you don’t even have to try to transfer the sublimation to cotton fabric - even if it transfers, it won’t stick.
For natural fabrics, as well as for dark fabrics, there are special films that you first weld onto the fabric, as if getting a substrate, and then you do sublimation on it.

This transfer method is perhaps the most wash-resistant. Advantages – high image durability, relative low cost of “starting up”. Disadvantages - you need a separate printer, it is impossible to print on dark fabrics without using films, you need a heat press, insufficient light resistance.
Area of ​​application: production of flags, sportswear for men and women. Production of metal plates (special metal, recommended for indoor use), plates (special plate, need a special press) and mugs (need a special coated mug, mug press).

Transfer from a laser printer

It has a lot of advantages. For laser transfer, you need a color laser printer (b/w is unlikely to work due to the high temperature of the oven) and special transfer paper.

Papers are usually divided by printer brand and purpose.

Paper for light fabric - suitable for light cotton and synthetic fabric, the latter is better to hold on to. The image is printed “in the mirror”.

Paper for dark fabric - the image is printed directly, after which the paper is divided into 2 parts - a substrate, which is discarded, and a thin white film with a printed image, after which it is welded in a press or with an iron.

Backing for dark fabric - here the situation is similar to sublimation - first we transfer to a special backing, and then we transfer everything together onto the fabric. The backing has an interesting velvet finish, but feels rougher to the touch. Also suitable for sublimation.

Hard surface transfer paper - an amazing laser transfer option - transferring images to ceramics, wood, metal, glass, plastic, etc. Moreover, these materials can be without special coatings, although to some detriment to the durability of the image.
Here you definitely need a press and a special mat, which is placed on top and ensures uniform crimping of the product. By the way, this method is often used to make ritual ovals on monuments, but the durability of the image is about a year in the sun.

A very interesting “cold decal” paper - used to be such transfers that were dipped in water and then transferred, say, to the refrigerator? Well, this is practically the same thing, only printed on a laser printer! As you understand, a press is not needed.
This is how many people transfer pictures onto candles, plates, mugs and any other objects. Paper is available for both light and dark surfaces.
If you need to achieve image durability, then bake the product in the oven for 15 minutes at 180C.

Advantages of transferring from a laser printer: firstly, there are a lot of options, secondly, we use a “regular” color laser printer on which you can earn good money on operational printing, and thirdly, you can almost always get by with an iron at the initial stage.

And of course, the availability of ready-made media - mouse pads, puzzles, watches and more. Disadvantages - we get a souvenir item, which is still not intended for long-term use.

For an image transferred to a light fabric, about 40 hand washes at 40C are stated. For dark fabrics, durability is higher, but paper is also noticeably more expensive. For example, an A4 sheet for a light fabric costs about 18 rubles, and for a dark one of the same format it costs more than 100 rubles. “cold decal”, regardless of the color of the backing - about 80 rubles. for a similar sheet.
With all this, profitability remains very good, the main thing is to set up the process correctly.

Stencil transfer

The image is printed using the same screen process, with the same inks, but in a mirror order and on special paper. When needed, it is transferred to the fabric.
It seems that everything is simple, but what do we get - since we print on paper and not on fabric, we can use cheap manual single-color machines, even homemade ones. In the event of a defect during printing, we only lose paper (about 1 euro per sheet of 70x100 cm), and not fabric.

We can print “in reserve” and transfer it if necessary.
We can finally print cool creative pictures and then sell them, or vice versa, buy ready-made ones and do only transfer (there are a lot of examples of such business, from clothing manufacturers, especially children’s, to salons for transferring pictures onto a T-shirt of the client’s choice).
The durability of the image with this transfer method is identical to direct screen printing!

Films

Everything is simple here - we have a film with an adhesive layer, which melts in the press and sticks to the fabric.
If everything is done correctly and the correct film option is selected, the bond is extremely strong and can be boiled, dry cleaned, rubbed and wrinkled. Films can be welded on top of each other in different colors, obtaining simple color images.
Films can be smooth or velvet (flock).

The color range can be quite extensive, including fluorescent colors, metallics and reflective films.
Film is often divided into regular and more expensive, for fabrics with water-repellent impregnation (umbrellas, raincoats, bags, etc.)