Digital Heat Transfer Printing

What is Digital Heat Transfer Printing?

Have you ever heard of printing real life images or complex designs on t-shirts without the hefty price tag of silk screen printing of 8-10 colors?

An example of a Digital Heat Transfer Printing

T-Shirt Printing Singapore price does not need to be expensive because of this method of print, Digital Heat Transfer Printing. It also has the capability to print full-colored designs.

As the method of print suggests, this is best used when you have a full-colored designs or images to print on apparels at smaller quantities.

Not only that, if you have gradient coloring for your designs, this method will print exactly the same as your photo-image!

Sounds too good? And the best thing is that it doesn’t cost as much as DTG Printing. Woohoo!

You are at the right place! We specialize in Digital Heat Transfer printing services in Singapore as well as custom T-Shirt printing & apparel printing.

We know that you would have a lot of questions about Heat Transfer Printing, especially if you’re new to this.

⚡ To bring you up to speed, we’ll address the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Digital Heat Transfer Printing services in Singapore.

👕 Which Products Can You Choose to Heat Transfer On?

Heat Transfer is suitable for most types of products that we carry in our catalogue.

Really? Yes! You can browse our all 1,000+ products in our catalogue here.

Heat transfer printing is a method of heat pressing a layer of design onto the product surface.

Hence, heat transfer is suitable for almost any products. We will explain in further details later on in this page.

Fret not, you can always speak to our dedicated team of sales crew and they’ll provide you the best assistance to get your customised products.

⏳ How Long is the Lead Time for Heat Transfer Printing?

This is our most frequently asked question that we receive on a daily basis.

In the simplest way, Heat Transfer printing involves the printing of your design onto a heat transfer paper. This paper will then be placed onto the product you wish to customize.

Using a heat press machine, we’ll heat press the design under high temperature onto the product, hence the design is printed!

At Meowprint, our lead-time for Heat Transfer printing services is about 5 working days from the start of processing of our orders.

We believe this is the sweet spot for timeline to allow our experts enough time to provide you the best quality for Heat Transfer printing (which we’ll show you in a bit!) as well as a great experience for you.

If you require express T-Shirt printing Singapore, do get in touch with and we’ll let you know on the feasibility of your project!

💪 How Durable or Long-Lasting is Digital Heat Transfer Printing?

This will be a tricky question!

Heat transfer printing Singapore can last from only 50+ washes all the way up to 100+ washes or even more! 

Wait, why so much discrepancies?

Heat transfer printing is a method of printing your design onto a heat transfer paper before being heat pressed onto your T-Shirts or Apparels under high temperature so make them stick onto the T-Shirts.

Generally, they will not be able to last as long compared to Silkscreen printing or Logo embroidery, due to the nature of printing.

However, we can sustain and play a part in making the prints more durable by taking care of it. A simple way is to definitely avoid the clothes dryer!

Another useful method is to handwash the clothes to be gentle on the prints.

🤔 Why Choose Us? Aren’t All Heat Transfer Printing services the Same in Singapore?

This is what most people would like to believe. Are you ready for the Truth?

In fact, it’s been the industry secret that there are different tier grades of custom heat transfer services in Singapore.

You heard it first from us at Meowprint! Yes, do not be surprised!

However, when it comes to heat transfer printing method, it is not as simple as pointing out just 1 factor contributing to the quality of print. It is slightly more complicated than that, for such a simple printing method. We will break it down as simple as we can for you!

1. Heat Transfer Paper

• There are different quality grades of heat transfer paper specially from countries like Italy, Korea, China and others.
• The difference in pricing is significantly huge amongst the heat transfer paper depending where they are made.
• How big of a price difference? Well it could be up to $5/pc difference when you customize your T-Shirts with us.
• Is it worth it? Well most T-Shirts customized with us via heat transfer printing are for events and seldom used, so most of our customers prefer to get the best for value printing, not necessarily the best quality.

2. Printing Procedures

• Even if you get the top quality grade heat transfer paper, but the workmanship quality is poor due to inexperience in handling the heat transfer process, the quality will turn out just as bad as the heat transfer paper quality.
• On the other hand, if you have a considerable good quality heat transfer paper, with experienced heat transfer printer, then the quality will turn out good!
• So why choose us? We know the best value for dollar when it comes to Heat transfer printing which is a win-win situation both for us and you!

💵 Do We Provide the Cheapest Price for Heat Transfer Printing Services in Singapore?

Since Day 1 of operation, it has always been our mission to keep our heat transfer printing pricing affordable and competitive in the heat transfer prints market.

As mentioned earlier, we know what’s the best combination of heat transfer paper and printing method to make sure you and other customers receive the most bang for your buck – value for dollar heat transfer printing services!

For example, if you require 30 pieces of our bestseller, Basic Cotton Round Neck T-Shirts with 1x Full Color Logo, Heat Transfer Print (A4 size), it’ll only be $10.32/pc ! Refer to the picture below for example!

An example of a 1x Full Color Logo, Heat Transfer print (within A4 size)
30 pieces of this will be $10.32/pc !

Super affordable! It’s a great start to making your very own customised T-Shirt with full colored designs on a tight budget!

If you come across any other vendors that can provide cheaper option than us, do be sure to do your due diligence to check the quality of heat transfer printing services that you’re getting.

If you’re really tight for budget, we recommend changing your logo into solid colors and reduce the number of colors as long as you can, so that we can print them using silkscreen printing!

You should be brought up to speed by now! Do let us know how else we can assist to get your started on your custom printing project!

Our heat transfer printing service process is a simple step-by-step process to ensure that you receive your desired end-product.

• We will optimize your image to ensure all the detailings and correct cutting are used.
• We will then print out the design onto the heat transfer paper.
• Once the design is placed onto the T-Shirt, we will use a heat press machine to press the design onto the T-Shirt at high temperature!

💡 Other Types of Heat Transfer Printing Customisations You Can Explore

Another use of heat transfer printing is the Vinyl Heat Transfer printing done with the custom design being printed onto a special vinyl paper.

An example of a Vinyl Heat Transfer Digital Printing for individual names and numbers like jersey printing.

The design is then cut and weeded (and place atop the t-shirt).

What happens next is then as the name suggests, heat is applied in order to transfer the image from the vinyl paper onto the t-shirt.

This method is also mainly used by vinyl heat transfer printing method. 

The common use of vinyl heat transfer will be customization of Individual Names and Individual Numbers just like you see on Sports team jerseys!

You should be brought up to speed by now! Do let us know how else we can assist to get your started on your heat transfer printing project!

If you’re passionate about heat transfer printing, let’s explore further into heat transfer, its origins and the processes involved.

1. How did Digital Heat Transfer printing come about?

It wasn’t too long ago before heat transfer printing was discovered by using a heat press machine. We are looking at during the 1980s, when a company, Stahl’s, created heat transfer materials.

The key player in the process of heat transfer printing involves the heat press machines. As machines were not advanced at that point of time, many things can go wrong each step of the way. On a bright side, advanced technologies have come a long way since then.

Many different companies have spent money on Research & Development to create better heat press machines which solved problems such as uneven pressure, temperature & timers.

Today, we have very high quality heat press machines which can let us focus on being efficient and making more profits, than to solve problems that occurred in the past.

It is ever changing, and the method of print will remain an important printing method in the future.

2. What are Heat Press machines?

Today, there are many kinds of heat press machines that are available.

There are manual ones that are still in the market, and also the more advanced automatic ones as well. Even a hybrid version exists as well, with features of both manual and automatic.

New technology of heat press machines have capabilities of providing even pressure and temperature across the entire platen. We will look further at each step of heat transfer printing later on in this article.

There are many uses of heat press machines for different method of prints, such as Vinyl Transfer Printing and Sublimation printing, but we are looking at specifically, inkjet digital heat transfer printing.

Hotronix – Leader in Heat Press Machine

The heat press machines most commonly used for inkjet heat transfer printing is the one that uses a flat platen to apply heat and pressure to the substrate (commonly known as the Heat Transfer Paper).

A common term would be the “Flatbed” Heat Press machines. There are various designs of this heat press machines. We will briefly take a look how different types of machines work.

They are also known as the Clam Heat Press and Swing Motion Heat Press. In the clam design, upon completion of the printing process, the upper element of the machine will open just like a clam releasing its pearls.

On the other hand, the swing motion machine, as the name suggests, will have the upper element to have a swing motion away from the surface when the printing process is done.

In these scenarios, the air pressure forces the top and bottom elements of the heat presses machine to separate, thus releasing the end product.

As we have learned thus far, the basis of heat transfer printing involves 2 surfaces coming into contact applying pressure and temperature onto the substrate to be applied on the products such as t-shirts or polo t-shirts.

The top element usually consists of aluminium material that can withstand high temperatures. This will then be used to apply sufficient pressure and heat onto the substrates (inkjet transfer papers) onto the products.

3. Process of Digital Heat Transfer Printing (Step-by-step)

We have mentioned earlier that heat press machines have various uses for different kinds of printing.

In this article, where we focus on inkjet heat transfer printing, we will look how the use of inkjet transfer papers create amazing designs on products such as t-shirts, without losing any detailing.

i) Setting up the heat transfer paper

• First, we have to choose a suitable transfer paper. Do note that this is the substrate that is going to be in contact with your apparel / product. We strongly recommend inkjet transfer papers as they are translucent and easy to print using an inkjet printer.
• Now that we have the perfect transfer paper, we can print our image or design onto the paper. An important step is to ensure that the image is printed on the film side of the transfer paper.
• By using this method of printing, we have a border around our image also called the “bleeding” line. To reduce this bleeding line, we trim down our transfer paper, only leaving the design file and the bleeding line. Transfer paper preparation is done at this phase.

ii) Setting up the heat press machine

• Next, we will prepare the heat press machine by lifting the handle to open up the heat press machine. As mentioned earlier, the heat and pressure that is used in this printing method is the most important factor!
• Most common settings to use is 350 to 375°F (177 to 191°C) and medium to high pressure.
• As we recommend inkjet transfer papers, if you’re using it too, do remember to set a timer of 14-18 seconds for the heat press. Any shorter or longer may cause a disruption in the outcome of the print.

iii) Setting up the t-shirts

• The final step of the printing process is placing the product in the correct position. We commonly print on t-shirts, therefore, we will use it as an example.
• Fit the t-shirt properly on the bottom platen as you would on a skin of the drum, well fitted and stretched.
• Place the inkjet heat transfer papers (prepared in phase i) on top of the t-shirts face down. Do remember to cover it with a thin layer of protection, such as handkerchief or towel, if required.
• Pull the top element of the heat press down, “claming” the press together. Once completed, press the start button. Let the machine does it magic in an instant!
• Open the heat press machine quickly and remove the transfer paper as soon as possible. The image should be printed on the t-shirts by now.
• Repeat the process for more prints.
• If you are printing on the back of the t-shirt, do remember to adjust the height of the plates as well as placing a cardboard inside the t-shirt. This is to prevent reheating of the first image on the other side of the t-shirt.

We hope you have gained insights to how digital heat transfer printing is done! If you are a visual learner, check out the video below for reference!

4. Process of Vinyl Heat Transfer Printing (Step-by-step)

The process of vinyl heat transfer is a fairly straightforward one. As briefly mentioned earlier, it involves the pressing of a design onto a t-shirt using a special vinyl paper.

This method allows for each names or numbers to be printed without the use of any blocks, such as those used in silkscreen printing. To simplify it for you, these are the steps in the process of vinyl heat transfer:

1. Create your design.
2. Printing the design onto vinyl paper.
3. Do the necessary cutting and weeding for any bits of the design that you do not wish to have on the t-shirt.
4. Place vinyl paper on top of the t-shirt.
5. With the use of a heat press, apply heat and pressure to transfer the design from vinyl paper onto the t-shirt.
6. Voila! You have your customized t-shirt!

Creating and printing your design

The first step to any t-shirt printing is without a doubt, creating your design. This can be done on programs like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw. Generally speaking, the artwork format produced using these programs is a vector format.

Vectors are designed in lines. Compared to pixels that you find in a jpeg image, vectors are much clearer and sharper. For example, if you zoomed in on a jpeg picture, it may appear pixelated. On the other hand, vectors remain clear and sharp!

An important part of creating the design is also plotting the areas that need to be cut by the cutter. The idea is that the design that is going to be printed on the vinyl needs to be cut out. This is to ensure that unnecessary background vinyl is not also printed on the t-shirt. Once the areas are carefully plotted, the design can be sent for printing.

Weeding/Cutting

For more specific designs, or for designs with finer details, excess vinyl may need to be weeded by hand. This can often be a time-consuming process. And of course, this is also a crucial reason why vinyl printing is more often than not, used for letting and simple designs.

Once the printing and weeding are done, peel the rest of the excess vinyl off and leaving only the design left.

Pressing the Design

Now that the design is ready, the next step is simply to use a heat press to transfer the design from the vinyl paper onto the t-shirt.

• First, make sure that the side you want printed is facing up.
• Next, the design should be placed face-down on top of the t-shirt.
• Cover the design with either a Teflon sheet or another comparable layer.
• This is so as to ensure that heat is evenly distributed throughout the design. More importantly, it is also used to avoid any vinyl sticking to the press.
• Put the necessary settings on for the heat press. Depending on the vinyl material, the time, temperature and pressure settings for the heat press will vary.
• Once the heat press is applied for the relevant time, open the heat press and the design should be done and beautifully transferred onto the t-shirt.

If you’d like to learn more or visualize how vinyl heat transfer printing works, check out the video below!

5. Advantages & Disadvantages of Digital Heat Transfer Printing

To help you make a better choice when deciding on the type of T-shirt printing services, we have also come up with some advantages and disadvantages of digital heat transfer printing.

Heat transfer printing is also used to customize gifts for designs that has multiple colors, or if silkscreen printing is not suitable. If you need ideas such as corporate gifts singapore for employees, we also offer a wide range of over 1,000 unique gifts for you to customise!

Advantages

• Unlimited Color Printing – Flexibility on customizing any kinds of images with unlimited colors on the apparels or products. No color restrictions.
• Price – If you are planning to print a complex full-colored designs at lower quantities, it will be cheaper than silk screen printing.
• Durability – Many have been worried that it will not be a durable method of print. There are no perfect method to printing complex designs, but technology advancement has come a long way for heat transfer method to last at least 50 washes (subjected to the method of washing).
• Allows customization of each apparel with individual names and numbers.
• Comfortable and durable – when properly applied, heat transfer vinyl may outlast life of the t-shirt.
• Soft finish.

Disadvantages

• Price – Despite being cheaper than silk screen printing at lower quantities, it is relatively a more costly method of printing especially for bigger sizes like A4 or A3 sized design.
• Bleeding Line – As mentioned during the preparation phase, there will be a bleeding line around the designs. This is inevitable. On the bright side, the bleeding line is usually similar color to the t-shirt, hence may be “invisible”.
• Plastic feel – We used the heat transfer paper as a medium to transfer the design or image onto our t-shirts. Hence, there is a plastic feel of the design on the t-shirts. It can get very heavy if a large image is printed onto the t-shirt.

6. Heat Transfer Printing can be used for the following Products from our catalogue.

T-Shirts & Apparels

1. ✅ All T-Shirts
2. ✅ All Polo T-Shirts
3. ✅ All Jackets & Hoodies 
4. ✅ All Singlets
5. ✅ All Caps & Hats
6. ✅ All Workwear
7. ✅ All Corporate Uniforms
8. ✅ All Shorts & Pants

Corporate Gifts

1. ✅ All Lanyards
2. ✅ All Custom Patches
3. ✅ All Pins & Badges
4. ✅ All Umbrellas
5. ✅ All Towels
6. ✅ All Small Promo Gifts
7. ✅ All Wearables
8. ✅ All Drinkware
9. ✅ All Lifestyle Products
10. ✅ All Office Supplies
11. ✅ All Customised Pens
12. ✅ All Custom Bags
13. ✅ All Electronic Gadgets
14. ✅ All Custom USB Flash Drive
15. ✅ All Mobile Accessories
16. ✅ All Travel Accessories
17. ✅ All Personal Care

7. Recommendations for Digital Heat Transfer Printing by MeowPrint

i) Digital Heat Transfer printing is recommended for customers who have full-colored designs which they wish to customize on the apparels at small quantities.

Silk Screen printing is cost effective at bulk quantities, but for low quantities, Digital Heat Transfer printing is the choice.

For this method of print, we strongly recommend it for printing on our reversible windbreakers.

This is because we cannot embroider on reversible windbreakers because the backing can be clearly seen on the reversible side. Since embroidery is not possible, we recommend vinyl transfer printing or digital heat transfer printing, both utilizing the important heat press machine.

If you need custom-made services to create a full customization of your apparel, check out our custom-made services!

ii) Vinyl Heat Transfer printing is recommended for a group customization who are looking to print individual names or numbers on the apparels. For example, a sports team who needs individual players name and numbers at the back for their team jersey.

You can create custom team jersey by using our custom-made services or sublimation printing.

Still have no idea how heat transfer printing looks like? Refer to our recent projects below!