If you are thinking about starting the business of a direct-to-film inkjet printer and don’t know how to prepare for it? Don’t let it stall you from jumping in!
It is rather important for you to get a full DTF printer set up at the beginning. And you may not experience the situation of the DTF printer without an essential part. I also know that you don’t want to overbuy something you don’t need if you are on a tight budget when making this small business investment!
I create a getting starting list for you for DTF printing which will help you to know everything you need for DTF printing. For at-home DTF printing, I recommend our DTF-W3002 because it can print with a high speed and in a smaller size. I suppose this will be a great choice for beginners.
What should we need for the DTF printer for t-shirts besides the printer?
It’s important to know that the printer does include RIP software, but it does not include any ink, film, or powder-something-all essentials you’ll need to get started in your business.
The details are as follows:
The equipment:
We need to mention that ordinary sublimation is not suitable for a direct-to-film Inkjet Printer.
Oven
During the printing process, we need to spray hot-melt powder, and this powder needs a high temperature to heat and melt for transfer. So we need to prepare an oven.
Heat press machine
After we print the pics on the film, we need another heat press machine for DTF film. Maybe you can use the machine prepared for sublimation at home without any additional purchase.
Consumables
Just as we talked, we need consumables mainly including DTF transfer film, DTF ink, and DTF hot melt powder.
DTF film
The DTF film is a kind of special material used in the thermal transfer process. The pattern printed on the pet thermal transfer film is transferred to the garment by way of a hot melt powder adhered to the surface of the pattern as a transfer medium.
So after the pattern is printed on the DTF transfer film, we don’t bother to cut the transfers.
DTF powder
It’s a kind of special melt powder during printing. We use it to cover the print before the process of pressing begins.
DTF ink
DTF pigment ink is a kind of water-based pigment ink applied for direct inkjet printing on polyester and cotton fabrics.
The difference between DTF ink and other inks is that DTF ink has white ink. This is also why DTF technology does not pick the color of the fabric. And when using DTF ink, the following points need to pay attention to. 1. No contact with sweat and oil stains. 2. No contact with mouth and eyes. 3 keep the ink bottle upright and mouth sealed.
