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There are several types of screen printed transfers. Following are the different types. As for the pressing time and temps., I suggest you start with the instructions that come with them. you may have to vary your setting slightly. IF you have any problems, contact the place you purchased them from before wasting a lot of transfers and messing up a lot of shirts. These are just basic guidelines.

Puff transfers use an additive in the inks that cause it to "puff" up (rise) when the paper is peeled off. Most of these can be used for light or dark color garments depending on the type paper they are printed on. The web site or catalog will let you know which.. They are sometimes used to highlight certain parts of a regular screen printed transfer

Hot split transfers are just that. You peel them as soon as you lift the heat platen. With a hot split, most of the ink stays on the shirt and some stays on the paper. Even though the transfer looks like it can be used again, DON'T try to reuse it. You will just mess up a shirt. It is best to crumple the paper and throw it away as soon as you peel it so it won't be mistaken for a good one. The hot split has the softest hand of any transfer other than Dye sublimation which will be discussed farther down.

The cold peel transfer is made primarily for dark colored shirts and sports (soccer, football, etc.) shirts although you can use them for light colored shirts too. When you press it, you let it cool down before peeling it. Most instructions say to rub it with an eraser or T-shirt to speed up the cooling process. You can also move it from the press to a table or some other place to help speed the cooling. I suggest you peel it slowly to eliminate the lifting of any fine details in the image. A cold peel leaves all of the ink on the shirt and none on the paper. You may see a stain of the image on the paper but that should be all.

NOTE: On a cold peel if you see a spot that looks like all the ink didn't transfer, especially on the edge, it was probably caused by the "vacuum" caused by the upper platen when lifting it and making that spot of the image "hot split". The way to prevent this is to lay a piece of bed sheet, blank newsprint, Teflon, etc. large enough to cover the transfer (preferably to hang down on either side), press and lift the upper platen slowly. Then remove the "covering" by sliding it off the transfer and proceed with the cooling process.

I know you can buy these from certain companies but they are very expensive. I have never pressed one but have seen them and they do look great if done correctly. Again, follow the distributors instructions.

You can purchase special foils that you can place over the image after it is transferred and it will only adhere to the image and not the shirt. You can use one single piece or multiple pieces of different colors overlapping each other, crumple the foil, then straighten it out, (leaving it wrinkled) to create an antique look, etc. There are a number of things you can do with foil. NOTE: These are usually done for special occasions and won't last as long as the images without the foil since the foil will start breaking down after a number of washes.

CLC is Color Laser Copier and CLP is Color Laser Printer. Both of these are from the computer to the CLC or CLP. Most people who want these purchase them from a company that will print them from your artwork in qtys. as small as 12 (or less if you want to pay even more for them) at a reasonable price. You can buy the printers or copiers if you have an extremely large quantity to do per week. These are the most expensive machines to do digital prints with for small runs. If your going to be doing 400 to 500 a month, then I would suggest you look into this type of machine.

Here is where a lot of controversy arises. There are a lot of different papers and inks on the market for inkjet printers. Not all are equal. The dye based OEM inks that I know of will not do good for T-shirt transfers. If it is a hobby for the family, then they will be ok but be advised that they will bleed and fade bad.

The inks you will need to use if you are going to be selling to the public are Pigmented/Archival inks. These are not all made the same either. Some are made more for photography and some are aimed at textiles and some claim to do both. Everybody has their preferences. Before buying any of them, I would strongly suggest you get a sample from someone and wash test them before buying. Following are some of the things to consider:

PRINTERS: The only printers I know of that will work with the Pigmented/Archival inks for textiles are the Epsons and some of them work better than others but that is another story. Most inkjet, bubble jet etc. printers use heat to disperse the inks and heat will cause the pigmented type inks to clog the nozzles. Epson is the only desktop printer that I know of that disperses the inks without heat.

INKS: Be sure they are not only Pigmented/Archival but that they will work for fabric transfers without bleeding or fading. Get samples and test them before investing in them. Some of these have color profiles and some don't.

Dye Sublimation transfers are a totally different transfer process. They get their name from the inks dying the fabric or other materials treated to accept the inks. They will work on Synthetic (like Polyester) material only and will not adhere to cotton, denim etc. Some have tried sprays. Some say they make the inks hold to cotton and some say they don't. I'm NOT promoting the sprays at all. Just passing on what I have heard. The Dye Sub inks will work on mugs, plates, tiles, caps, shirts, wood, Jewelry, and just about anything coated to accept them.

When done on 100% polyester, it leaves nothing but the inks and no "carrier". You have to get the heat to 400� for them to work. The fabric opens and the dyes penetrate them and will last as long as the fabric. The biggest drawback is the shirts cost about $4.50 and up per shirt wholesale. each manufacture has it's own color profiles for the inks.

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TRANSFER TYPES

by Don Ford