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Direct-To-Garment (DTG) Printing

Need photo-quality prints on cotton tees, even in small numbers? Here's how DTG printing works.

What Is Direct-to-Garment (DTG) Printing?

Ministry of Print offers direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, a fully digital approach to apparel printing in Singapore.

Think of it as an inkjet printer made for fabric: the garment is laid flat and the printer applies water-based ink straight onto it.

There are no screens or transfers, so your artwork prints with its full detail and colour.

Here's a closer look at how it works and when to use it.

1. How DTG Printing Works

The garment is usually pre-treated first, especially dark fabrics, so the ink bonds well.

The printer then lays down a white base where needed, followed by the colours. Unlike embroidery or silkscreen, there's no set-up for each design.

Finally, the print is heat-cured so it holds up to washing.

Water-based DTG inks give a soft feel and work best on cotton and cotton-rich fabrics.

Planning a Custom Order?

Ordering T-Shirts or Corporate Gifts in quantities of 20 pieces or more? Talk to us and we'll take care of the rest.

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A printed Tshirt coming out of a digital printer.

A DTG printer printing straight onto a T-shirt

2. DTG: Strengths and Limits

To help you compare custom t shirt printing singapore options, here's what DTG does well and where it falls short.

DTG is made for garments. If you're after cheap corporate gifts singapore, there are over 1,000 other items you can customise too.

Advantages

  • Prints full-colour artwork with every detail intact.
  • Better value than silkscreen on small quantities of colourful designs.

Disadvantages

  • Price – cheaper than silkscreen for small full-colour runs, but still one of the pricier methods, especially for large A4 or A3 prints.
  • Speed – slower than silkscreen for bulk orders, since each garment is printed one at a time.

3. When We Recommend DTG

DTG is a good fit when you want detailed, full-colour artwork on cotton garments.

It's especially useful for small quantities of those designs.

With DTG, the price per piece stays about the same as quantity grows, because there's little set-up to spread. Embroidery behaves in a similar way, though embroidery prices do ease off at higher quantities.

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