merch printing

What is DTF printing?

DTF (Direct-to-Film) printing is a cutting-edge technology that’s reshaping the custom apparel and promotional products industry. Unlike traditional methods such as screen printing or heat transfer vinyl, DTF printing offers superior versatility, vibrant color quality, and long-lasting durability. Whether you’re a small business looking for cost-effective custom printing solutions or a larger operation seeking to diversify your product range, DTF printing presents an ideal balance of quality and efficiency. In this guide, we’ll dive deep into how DTF printing works, its key advantages, and why it's becoming the preferred choice for businesses worldwide.

What is DTF Printing? Understanding the Basics

Direct-to-Film (DTF) printing is a technique that allows businesses to print high-quality, full-color designs onto a variety of surfaces by using a transfer film. Unlike other printing technologies, DTF uses specialized PET films and hot-melt adhesives to create vibrant prints that can be applied to fabrics such as cotton, polyester, and blends. The ability to transfer prints onto both light and dark fabrics without needing pretreatment is a significant advantage for businesses focused on speed and efficiency.

  • No Pretreatment Required: Unlike DTG printing, DTF doesn't require treating the fabric beforehand, saving time in the production process.

  • Works on a Wide Range of Materials: DTF can transfer designs onto materials beyond just fabric, including leather, wood, and plastic, making it a versatile option for promotional products.

In essence, DTF printing offers a flexible, high-quality printing solution that streamlines the custom printing process, allowing for more creative freedom and product diversity.


How Does DTF Printing Work? A Step-by-Step Guide

DTF printing involves several stages that collectively ensure the creation of high-quality designs that can be transferred onto almost any fabric or surface. Below is a step-by-step guide to how the process works:

  1. Design Creation: The first step involves creating a digital design using graphic software. This digital design is printed in reverse onto a PET film using special inks.

  2. Film Printing: After the design is created, it's printed directly onto a PET film. A white ink layer is applied underneath the design to ensure the colors stay vibrant, especially on darker fabrics.

  3. Adhesive Application: After printing, a hot-melt adhesive powder is applied to the printed design on the film. The powder adheres only to the inked parts of the design.

  4. Curing: The film is then placed in a curing oven to dry the adhesive, preparing it for transfer.

  5. Heat Press Transfer: The cured film is positioned on the fabric or material, and a heat press is used to transfer the design. The adhesive melts and binds the ink to the material.

  6. Peel the Film: Once cooled, the film is peeled away, leaving the vibrant design on the surface.

This process is not only efficient but also enables businesses to print on-demand, saving on costs and reducing waste.


The Advantages of DTF Printing Over Other Methods

DTF printing offers distinct advantages compared to traditional printing techniques such as screen printing and Direct-to-Garment (DTG). These benefits make it an increasingly popular choice for businesses looking to expand their custom printing capabilities:

  • Versatility: DTF printing can be used on a variety of materials including cotton, polyester, leather, and even wood or plastic. This makes it more versatile than DTG, which is limited mainly to cotton.

  • No Pretreatment: One of the standout advantages of DTF printing is that it doesn’t require pretreatment of the garment, unlike DTG printing, which can be labor-intensive when working with dark fabrics.

  • Vibrant Colors: DTF printing produces bright, eye-catching designs, even on dark fabrics, thanks to the white ink layer that’s applied underneath the design. This makes it ideal for creating vivid, multi-color prints.

Additionally, DTF is ideal for small-scale or on-demand printing, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses that deal with custom orders or smaller batch production.

Read more: How To Decide if DTF is Right For You

What Materials Can Be Used with DTF Printing?

One of the biggest reasons why businesses are switching to DTF printing is its versatility in material compatibility. Unlike other printing methods that might be limited to specific fabrics, DTF printing allows for the customization of a broad range of materials:

  • Cotton and Polyester: DTF is perfect for printing on both cotton and polyester, making it a great option for T-shirts, hoodies, and activewear.

  • Blended Fabrics: Fabrics that blend natural and synthetic fibers, like cotton-poly blends, are also compatible with DTF printing, offering flexibility for brands that work with multiple fabric types.

  • Non-Textile Materials: DTF can print on non-fabric materials like leather, wood, and even plastic, making it an excellent option for producing promotional items such as tote bags, hats, or even novelty items like phone cases or wood plaques.

This versatility not only allows for a wide array of products but also opens up possibilities for businesses in various industries, from fashion to home décor and beyond.

DTF Printing for Small Businesses: A Cost-Effective Solution

For small businesses that need high-quality printing without high upfront costs, DTF printing is a practical and budget-friendly option. Here's why:

  • Lower Setup Costs: Unlike screen printing, which requires a new screen for each design or color change, DTF printing doesn’t involve high setup costs. This makes it more accessible to small businesses or startups with limited capital.

  • On-Demand Printing: DTF enables businesses to print small batches or even single items on demand. This is particularly useful for companies that offer personalized products or custom designs.

  • Inventory Management: Since designs are printed on-demand, there's no need to maintain a large inventory of pre-printed items, which helps reduce storage costs and waste.

By reducing the need for bulk production, DTF helps small businesses operate more efficiently while still offering high-quality, customized products.

How to Care for DTF Prints: Durability and Maintenance Tips

DTF prints are known for their durability, but to maintain their vibrant appearance and extend their lifespan, proper care is essential. Here are some tips on how to care for garments printed using the DTF method:

  • Washing: Always turn garments inside out before washing to protect the design. Use cold water and a gentle cycle to prevent the print from cracking or fading.

  • Drying: Air-drying is recommended, but if using a dryer, select a low-heat setting to avoid damaging the print. High heat can cause the adhesive to weaken over time.

  • Ironing: Avoid ironing directly over the DTF print. If ironing is necessary, place a cloth over the design to protect it from the heat.

Following these care tips will ensure that DTF-printed garments remain vibrant and intact for a long time, providing value to both the business and the customer.

Conclusion: Why DTF Printing is the Future of Custom Apparel

As the demand for customizable products continues to grow, DTF printing offers an innovative and cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes. Its versatility in material compatibility, ease of use, and ability to produce high-quality, vibrant designs make it an attractive option for small and large businesses alike. With the right care and maintenance, DTF prints can last for years, providing customers with durable, eye-catching custom apparel and products. Whether you’re a small business looking to expand your offerings or a large company aiming to enhance your printing capabilities, DTF printing is the future of custom printing.

By embracing this technology, businesses can stay ahead of the competition while offering unique, high-quality products that stand out in the market.



5 Influencer Merch Ideas To Help Launch Your Store

As an influencer you’re constantly selling other brands’ products, however, when it comes to selling yourself, we think there is a lot of missed opportunities; especially when you have a large following that is active in engaging with your content. So how do you get started? We’ll take you through some ideas to help you launch your own merch store.


Why Do Influencers Need Merch?

Merch is a great way to earn money without damaging your image. While major brands are always looking for influencers with a large and dedicated following, it's likely that you will only have so many opportunities to partner with them on sponsored posts or ads. With merch, however, you have another five or ten ways to earn money without ever having to discuss any subject matter that may not resonate with your audience. If you're considering expanding your earnings as an influencer, this could be the perfect solution.

But merch isn't just another way to make extra money—it's also a great way to get additional exposure on social media. Influencers who create and sell their own products can use their channels to promote them in new and interesting ways.

For example, they might post pictures of themselves wearing the product in various locations around the world; they might even host giveaways for fans who purchase it! And when influencers take advantage of opportunities like this one (which is often given away at conferences), it results in lots more likes and comments on Instagram. In fact, some studies show that each new product sold through social media gets its creator about $5 worth of free advertising—not bad considering they don't even have spend any money upfront!

Check Out The State of Influencer Marketing 2022: Benchmark Report

Brand Awareness

While influencer merchandise is a product, it’s also a conversation starter. As an influencer, you can use your commercial products to connect with your audience and share who you are outside of the confines of social media.

For example, you can use the notes section on your Shopify store to chat directly with customers and offer them inside information about the brand. Similarly, fans can share their own story by posting pictures of themselves using or wearing your merch.

The result: Influencers have built communities around their unique brands and stories, but their merchandise is more than just another way to audiences to show support. It gives fans the opportunity to interact in meaningful ways outside of the digital world while continuing to build strong connections and leads to loyalty and sales down the line.

Read More 9 Instagram Growth Strategies to Grow Your Following

Loyalty

Here’s a scenario: You post on social media telling your followers all the placed they can buy merch, and it would be nice to see photos of them wearing their new purchases. In addition to getting your followers excited about the products you’re selling, this exercised will get them more involved with you and your brand. These interactions will strengthen your relationship with your audience and lead to more people wanting to buy merch from you down the road.

Read More How Promotional Merch Cultivates Brand Loyalty

Gather User Data

Influencer merch will help you gather vita user data by giving you a crucial contact and payment information. This gives brands opportunities to upsell.

Influencer merch is a relatively new space in e-commerce that allows influencers to create custom products for their followers. These product can be designed and sold directly through the influencer’s social pages and websites, using merch print shops such as Family Industries.

Collecting data can help you determine who your users are and what they want from your brand. Use this information to better target products for your niche audience. It doesn’t matter how much data you collect if you don’t use it properly.

Active Revenue Stream

Merch is a great way to earn money without damaging your image. While major brands are always looking for influencers with a large and dedicated following, it's likely that you will only have so many opportunities to partner with them on sponsored posts or ads. With merch, however, you have another five or ten ways to earn money without ever having to discuss any subject matter that may not resonate with your audience. If you're considering expanding your earnings as an influencer, this could be the perfect solution.


Influencer Marketing Industry is set to grow to approximately $16.4 Billion in 2022
— The State of Influencer Marketing 2022: Benchmark Report

5 Influencer Merch Ideas

Before you establish a line of merch item, make sure you have a logo, a font, and brand colors established. Some logos may not work with certain items so it’s important you have a good idea of what you want your branding to look like whether it’s your name or your Instagram handle make sure you have the right dimensions and file type.

Check Out MERCH IDEAS FOR STREAMERS AND YOUTUBERS

  1. Apparel

Avani 'YOUISBEBE' Tie Dye Sweatpants

Anything that can be worn is a staple in every merch store. T-shirts, and sweatshirts or hoodies are essential and a great way to promote yourself or a project.

To ensure success, it’s best to not only use your name or social medial handle but include some type of graphic, like a logo. If you don’t have a distinctive logo or graphic, we suggest to work with your merch agency or a graphic designer to develop one that best represents you.

Printed sweat pants have now become a popular item for most merch stores in 2022 as well as sweat shorts with the same graphics. You can have sweats screen printed with your logo and other designs. Be creative!

2. Hats

Middle Kid logo bucket hat

Once again, hats are a staple for merch stores - however, beanies may sell best during the winter and other hats like bucket hats sell better in the summer.

Seasonality is something you should consider with merch that is wearable. This way, if you plan accordingly you’re always ahead and you avoid overstock of certain items.

3. Bags & Backpacks

Jake Paul Backpack


Bags not only serve a purpose, but can be the best canvas for your logo and other branding attributes. The possibilities of what you can print on a bag such as a tote bag or backpack provides an opportunity to get very creative.

Using a lot of colors and fun graphics is recommended, you want to have your bag stand out.





4. Tech / Lifestyle

Addison Ray iPhone Case

Phone cases are affordable merch items and one of the most popular items among the Gen Z audience. If your demographics fall within the ages of 14 through 25, a phone case is a great option.

Tech accessories are also less hassle to sell as there are no sizing requirements and returns tend to be low for items like this.




5. Accessories

As a content creator, it’s important to have a merch item that directly speaks to your audience and correlates with the type of content you are creating.

For example, if you’re a fitness influencer, a cool yoga mat or stretch bands with your logo would be ideal. Sport merch items such as balls are good if you’re a sports content creator.

Lifestyle creators have a bigger list of merch items to choose from especially when it comes to accessories. For lifestyle brands you can go anywhere from drinkware to loungewear, making it easier to build a solid merch line that covers all aspects of everyday life.

Author: Irene Floridia - Content Creator


Looking for The Best Influencer Merch printer?

send us an e-mail at quotes@familyindustriesla.com, or give us a call at 323.227.1547 and we'd be happy to help.

Our showroom at 2755 Fruitdale Street, Los Angeles, CA 90039 is open by appointment only from 10 am - 4 pm Monday through Friday.


Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

For FAQ, check out our site!

For any inquiries, send us a message!

OR

send us an e-mail at quotes@familyindustriesla.com

Merch For an Entertainment Brand or Agency

Working in the entertainment world whether you are an artist, a content creator, or a marketing agency, having merch that reflects your brand can be a challenging task. Nevertheless, having merch can only help you further reach your target audience and provide a way for your fan base to support you to continue making content. In this article we will show you the ways you can brainstorm to achieve the best merch line that will result in sales or brand recognition.


Merch For Entertainers

Artists, Bands, and content creators are in a unique position. They are one of the few entities that can create revenue directly from branding themselves. Very similar to professional sports teams, musical artists, and entertainers can sell merchandise that bears their name and likeness that will in turn create awareness and provide revenue for their brand. That brand being their name, logo, music, social media, podcast, & YouTube channel.

As entertainers, most of the revenue comes from selling tangible things. This is especially true for musicians as touring can be expensive and venues do not pay well unless you’re a recognized artistist. Selling band merch can be your way to not only advertise your music but also help you sustain a lifestyle of travel to get your music out there.

With the rise of TikTok, original content creation has become the lifeline for social media. Without original content, these apps would not have the success they are experiencing now.

While apps like TikToK and sites like YouTube will pay for content contributions, unless every video gets millions of views and comments, you’re not making enough to sustain a balanced lifestyle. This is why we believe that offering merch is a necessary step to maintain a steady stream of income.

Check Out Merch Ideas For Streamers and YouTubers

Podcast Merch

Sword & Scale Glow in the dark Skull Tee

Generally, podcasts will focus on specific topics and follow a theme such as true crime, comedy, storytelling, and relationship advise. Most successful podcasts will have a merch store comprised of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and maybe a travel mug.

What can you do to mix up it up? Well, this will depend on what your podcast is about. For example, Sword & Scale podcast has a glow in the dark skull t-shirt, which correlates with their true crime theme. They also sell shot glasses with a mug shot of different serial killers. This is a way to capitalize from your core content.

Additionally, knowing your audience will need to be a focus when creating merch. Sword & Scale knows that their demographic is primarily female, this is why they offer options for a lady’s cut tees and other more “female” centered designs, where as other podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience has mostly unisex cut t-shirts and other items that primarily target a male audience.

Pro Tip: You don’t have to just use your podcast name. Get creative and use a tag line or a quote from your show.

Youtuber Merch

Zack King card deck

A good YouTube channel has a specific theme. Honing into what content gets the most views and and figuring out your style will help you come up with merch that fits into the overall message of your channel. Your subscribers will want to see the general merch such as t-shirts, hoodies, & drinkware but we believe that in order to really push your merch, you will need unique merch items.

You may recognize Zach King as the new-age YouTube magician and optical illusions mastermind, Zach has become YouTube legend and unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen his videos.

Zack King has developed a brand for himself with his wildly entertaining video content - and with so much success it’s only logical that his merch will reflect his brand. Zack King’s merch includes a magician playing card deck, which lines up perfectly with his content and overall branding.

Check Out The Best Eco Friendly Merch

Entertainment Agency Merch

Family Industries Event Screen Printing

Unlike YouTubers and Podcast hosts, entertainment agencies don’t have a face or a specific voice, they mostly rely on live events such as festivals which attract a variety of people depending on the type of event. For an agency, having a specific understanding of their demographic can be challenging.

Live merch printing has been a great way to develop revenue based on the type of event as it can always be adjusted to fit the specific demographics of the crowd.

A good merch agency can help an entertainment agency develop and expand on different merch items that can be customized on site such as with live screen printing, live embroidery, live sublimation, and much more!

By adding a customization option on site, can excite event goers to get their names or initials printed unto an events shirt, or tote bag. These are very simple ways to get the crowd involved and it can create a stream of revenue.

Author: Irene Floridia - Content Creator


Looking for The Best Merch printer?

send us an e-mail at quotes@familyindustriesla.com, or give us a call at 323.227.1547 and we'd be happy to help.

Our showroom at 2755 Fruitdale Street, Los Angeles, CA 90039 is open by appointment only from 10 am - 4 pm Monday through Friday.


Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

For FAQ, check out our site!

For any inquiries, send us a message!

OR

send us an e-mail at quotes@familyindustriesla.com