DTF transfers for any fabric, in strong colour.
Artwork printed to film with its own white layer, then heat pressed onto the garment. In house on our Tirupur floor, and the one method that treats cotton, polyester and blends the same way.
Direct-to-film printing takes the artwork away from the garment and back again. The design is printed onto a clear film in colour plus a solid white backing layer, a fine adhesive powder is applied and melted, and the finished transfer is heat pressed onto the garment. The film peels away and the print stays.
That indirect route is the whole point. Because the ink never has to bond chemically with the fibre, the fabric underneath stops mattering. Cotton, polyester, poly-cotton, terry, fleece, performance knit: DTF sits on all of them with the same opacity and the same colour.
It also carries no colour-count penalty and no screen setup, which makes it the natural partner to DTG for short runs. DTG for soft cotton tees, DTF for everything DTG cannot take.
Compare all methods →// At a glance
How a DTF transfer is built
Printed to film
Colour goes down first, then a solid white layer behind it. Because that white is part of the transfer rather than something printed onto the shirt, a bright graphic reads exactly as bright on black as it does on white.
Powder and cure
Adhesive powder is applied to the wet ink, then melted so it fuses into the back of the print. This is the step that decides wash durability, so powder coverage and melt temperature are controlled rather than eyeballed.
Heat pressed
The transfer is pressed onto the garment under heat and pressure, and the carrier film is peeled away. Press time, temperature and pressure are set per fabric, because fleece and performance knit take heat differently from jersey.
Fine detail holds
Thin lines, small text and sharp corners survive the transfer better than they survive a halftone screen print on textured fabric. Good for detailed logo lockups and small legal text.
Flexible, not rigid
The cured film stretches and recovers with the fabric instead of splitting, which is why it works on knitwear. It is still a film, so there is a detectable edge where the print ends.
No pre-treatment
Unlike DTG, nothing is applied to the garment before printing, so there is no wicking and no blotching on dark grounds.
// Fabrics it suits
When to choose it
Choose DTF when one graphic has to appear across several different fabrics. A capsule with cotton tees, poly-cotton hoodies and polyester shorts can carry one transfer specification instead of three decoration routes, which keeps the colour identical across the range. That consistency is hard to get any other way.
Choose it for short runs of full-colour artwork on dark garments, where screen printing would need an underbase plus several colours. Choose it when detail matters more than hand-feel.
Do not choose it when you want the print to be invisible to the hand. There is always a film, and on a large solid block you will feel it. For a soft chest print on a premium cotton tee, DTG is better. For all-over polyester graphics, sublimation is better, and for volume runs of flat colour, screen printing wins on unit cost.
- Strong on joggers, shorts and leggings where polyester content is high.
- Strong on hoodies and sweatshirts in blended terry and fleece.
- Good for small sizes or top-up quantities inside a run that is otherwise screen printed.
- Good for corporate and bulk kit where the same logo crosses several garment types.
What to expect, and what to send
Durability
DTF is one of the tougher decorations once it is pressed correctly. The film flexes with the fabric rather than cracking, the colour does not fade quickly because it is sealed under its own layer, and the adhesive holds through normal domestic washing.
Failures come from process, not from the method: too little adhesive powder, an underheated press, or surface finish left on the garment. All three are parameters we control per fabric. Cool wash, inside out, and no ironing directly on the print.
Artwork requirements
Vector artwork or high resolution raster at the intended print size, with a clean transparent background. The white layer is generated from your transparency, so a background that is nearly transparent rather than actually transparent will print as a visible white halo.
Avoid very small isolated dots and hairline strokes floating free of the design, because each one has to survive the peel on its own. Text converted to outlines, please.
Minimums
From 50 pieces per style per colour, sizes split freely within a colourway. There is no setup block, so short runs are efficient rather than penalised. Sample lead time 10 to 22 days, bulk 25 to 55 days depending on the product.
How cost behaves
DTF cost is driven almost entirely by printed area. Film, ink and powder are consumed in proportion to how much of the garment the design covers, so a large back graphic costs several times a small chest logo. Colour count is irrelevant, and so is garment colour, because the white layer is always there.
Cost per piece stays roughly flat as quantity rises: an advantage at 50 pieces, a disadvantage at several thousand where screen printing's one-off setup finally pays off. The crossover depends on your colour count.
Decoration is quoted inside your unit cost once the artwork, placements and quantity are fixed. Nothing on this page is a price.
DTF printing: common questions
DTG prints ink into the garment and needs cotton to bond to, giving a very soft result. DTF prints onto film and presses it on, so it works on any fabric and gives stronger opacity, with a film you can feel. Short answer: cotton and softness means DTG, mixed fabric and punch means DTF.
Yes, and that is its main advantage. Press settings are adjusted per fabric so heat-sensitive polyester is not glazed. For all-over graphics on polyester, sublimation gives a better result with no hand-feel.
Not when the powder coverage and press parameters are right, which is why they are controlled per fabric and checked on the approved sample. Peeling is a symptom of an underpressed transfer, not of the method.
Yes, there is a film with a detectable edge. On a small logo it is barely noticeable. On a large solid block it is clearly there. If a soft hand is the priority on a cotton garment, DTG is the better choice.
At low quantities and high colour counts, usually yes, because there is nothing to set up. At high quantities with one or two colours, no, because screen printing spreads its setup across the whole run. Send the artwork and the quantity and we will price both routes.
From 50 pieces per style per colour, sizes split freely. See how low MOQ production works, or request a quote with your artwork attached.
One graphic, every fabric in your range.
Send the artwork and the garment list, and we will confirm whether DTF is the cleanest route for it.