What is DTG printing, and when is it the right choice?
Direct-to-garment prints ink straight into the fabric like a giant inkjet. It gives the softest full-colour finish there is — on the right fabric, at the right quantity. Here is where those limits fall, what it costs, and how it compares.
- 50
- Piece minimum, mixed sizes
- 7–10
- Days at our fastest
- Lahore
- Our own factory, one roof
- 97
- Countries we ship to
How DTG printing works
A DTG printer holds the garment flat on a platen and prints your artwork directly onto it with water-based textile inks, in the same way a desktop inkjet prints onto paper. For dark garments the fabric is first sprayed with a pre-treatment solution, then a white ink layer goes down, then the colours print over it. The garment is then heat-cured for the ink to bond with the cotton fibres.
Because the ink soaks into the fabric rather than sitting on top of it, a DTG print has almost no hand-feel. On white cotton the design looks and feels like part of the shirt. That is the reason to choose it, and it is the finish premium streetwear brands ask for by name.
It is a one-at-a-time process. Each garment is loaded, printed and cured individually, so the time per piece stays roughly constant however many you order — which is why DTG stops making sense above a few hundred pieces, where screen printing's per-piece time collapses.
Where DTG is the best method
Photographic and painterly artwork on cotton. Photographs, illustrations with soft edges, watercolour effects and detailed full-colour designs reproduce with the widest colour range of any method we run.
Small runs and samples. With no screens and no film, a single sample prints at the same unit cost as fifty, so DTG is our default for pre-production samples of multi-colour designs and for a new brand's first 50-piece drop.
Light-coloured 100% cotton. On white, natural, heather grey and pastel cotton the print needs no white underbase, which keeps it soft, bright and quick to produce.
Where we steer you away from DTG
Polyester and blends. DTG ink is made for cotton fibre. On polyester it sits on the surface, prints dull and washes out fast. On a 50/50 blend the result is patchy. If your garment is a polyester performance tee, use sublimation or DTF instead.
Dark garments in quantity. Pre-treatment plus a white underbase doubles the ink and the time. The result on black cotton is good, but it costs more than DTF for the same look and DTF is more consistent across a run of 200.
Simple artwork in volume. A one-colour logo on 300 tees is a screen-print job. DTG would be three to four times the per-piece cost for a print that is no better.
DTG versus DTF — the decision in one table
| DTG | DTF | |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | 100% cotton only | Cotton, poly, blends, nylon |
| Finish | Ink in the fibre, softest | Thin film on the surface |
| Light garments | Best | Good |
| Dark garments | Good, pre-treatment needed | Excellent, no surcharge |
| Photographic detail | Excellent | Excellent |
| Sweet spot | 1–100 pieces, white cotton | 50–200 pieces, any fabric |
| Durability | Life of the garment | 50+ washes |
What DTG printing costs
Like DTF, DTG is priced on print area and quantity, not on colour count. From our current rate sheet, a small chest print adds roughly $1.50 per garment at 50 pieces, a full-front print around $4.10. There is no setup fee. Dark garments carry a small surcharge for pre-treatment and the white underbase.
Put onto a 200 gsm classic cotton tee at the 50-piece minimum, a full-front DTG print lands around $15 per piece before labels and packaging. On a 270 gsm heavyweight tee it is nearer $17. The calculator gives the live figure for your combination.
DTG printing in Lahore, Pakistan
We print DTG in our own unit in Lahore, on our own blanks and on garments we cut and sew from scratch. Because every method is under one roof, a quote for a DTG job is a quote against the alternatives too — if screen print or DTF would serve you better for the quantity, we say so before you commit.
Minimum order 50 pieces across sizes; as fast as 7–10 days; shipped from Lahore to Pakistan, the US, the UK, the Gulf, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Common questions
- Is DTG printing durable?
- On 100% cotton, cured correctly, a DTG print lasts the life of the garment. Wash inside out at 30°C. Expect it to soften slightly over the first few washes, as the ink is in the fibre — that is the look people choose it for.
- Can you DTG print on hoodies?
- Yes, on cotton or cotton-rich fleece. The thicker fabric takes ink well. Polyester-heavy fleece does not.
- What is the minimum order for DTG?
- 50 pieces, mixed sizes. Single pre-production samples are available as part of a quoted order.
- DTG or DTF — which should I choose?
- Cotton, soft finish, light garment: DTG. Anything else — blends, polyester, dark garments in quantity, or several designs across one order: DTF. If you send the artwork and garment, we will tell you which.
- What file format do you need for DTG?
- PNG with transparent background at 300 dpi at print size is ideal. Vector files work too. We prepare artwork as part of the job if what you have is not print-ready.
- Does DTG work on black shirts?
- Yes, with pre-treatment and a white underbase. The result is good but costs more and takes longer than on white; for dark garments in quantity we usually recommend DTF.
- Is DTG good for a small clothing brand's first order?
- Yes — it is the method we recommend most for a first 50-piece run of full-colour artwork on cotton. No setup, no minimum colour count, and a finish that reads as premium.
- Can DTG print white ink?
- Yes, white is printed as an underbase on dark garments and can be used as a design colour. It is what makes DTG possible on black cotton.
Where this applies
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