Digital textile printing: unlimited colours and small runs

Digital printing reproduces your artwork directly from the file, without breaking it down into separate colours. On a garment, it often takes the form of a digital transfer: the artwork is first printed, then heat-applied to the textile, within the marking area provided for the product. To the touch, the surface is smooth and faithful to the original design.

The fundamental difference from screen printing lies in the number of colours. In screen printing, each shade requires its own pass, hence a maximum, generally from one to four colours depending on the area. Digital printing does not work like that: the number of colours is unlimited, and a multi-colour logo does not cost an extra pass per shade. It also reproduces very detailed artwork, where thread or a screen would require simplification.

There is no dedicated page for this process in our marking techniques: it is presented there together with sublimation, and this guide details its use on textiles.

This is the point that causes the most misunderstandings. Because it accepts all colours, digital printing is often equated with four-colour (CMYK) printing, and people expect to see the gradients of their logo. Yet it lays down solid colours: each area receives a uniform shade. A gradient becomes a succession of visible bands, more or less marked depending on the original transition.

The same goes for effects that look flattering on screen: drop shadows, transparencies, glows or reflections. They all become flat colours; the analysis of your file warns you well before production. You then have two options:

• prepare a flat version of your logo, where each colour is sharp and distinct, which often gives a cleaner result on fabric;
• change process if the gradient is essential to your identity: sublimation is the only process in the catalogue that renders a continuous transition, and therefore gradients and photos.

In practice, most company logos are designed in solid colours and go through without any retouching. The question arises mainly for illustrations and event artwork.

For screen printing or embroidery, you are asked for one Pantone reference per colour. In digital printing, this is not necessary: the colours are reproduced from your file. That is a real convenience when your brand guidelines do not specify references, or when the artwork contains too many shades to list one by one.

Bear in mind a physical reality, however: a screen emits light, ink reflects it. The shade you see on your monitor will never be exactly that of the textile, and the colour of the garment itself influences perception. If a brand colour must be matched as closely as possible on a single solid area, ink applied from a physical reference remains safer; our guide to the Pantone colour of a logo explains how to find it.

Contrast also deserves your attention. Dark artwork on a dark T-shirt fully passes the automatic checks, and yet is almost invisible once worn. Choose the colour of the garment at the same time as the artwork, not afterwards.

Digital printing is one of the rare processes that accepts a raster image, a JPG or a PNG, on one condition: reaching 300 dpi at the actual print size. Dpi counts the dots per inch on the marked product, not in absolute terms. An image 1,000 pixels wide is excellent printed at 8 cm, insufficient at 30 cm.

To estimate it yourself, divide the width of the area in millimetres by 25.4, then divide the width of your image in pixels by that result. There is no need to get your calculator out, though: we know the exact dimensions of each marking area, and the configurator calculates the real dpi of your artwork, then alerts you if it is too low. It never relies on the value written in the file, which is often wrong.

• Start from the largest file you have, never a copy taken from a website or an e-mail signature.
• If your logo exists in a vector version, provide it: it adapts to any size.
• Check the legibility of small text at actual size, not just on screen.

Details on formats and resolution are covered in our FAQ.

Digital printing is made for small runs and complex artwork. It comes into its own for a few custom T-shirts for a launch, for sweatshirts for a small team, for an illustration with many colours or for a first test run before a larger order.

It is not the answer to everything. For a large volume of the same artwork in solid colours, screen printing remains the benchmark. For a garment worn and washed very often, embroidery offers superior durability. For a velvety feel, flocking. Our comparison of embroidery, flocking or screen printing helps you choose between these three processes. The simplest approach remains to start from your artwork and your quantity: on each product page, only the processes actually available on the chosen area are offered to you, with the proof to approve before any production.