![\"Brother-GT-782-Perspective\"](\"http:\/\/blog.exprez.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Brother-GT-782-Perspective.gif\" "\\"Brother-GT-782-Perspective\\"")
<\/p>\nDTG or Direct to Garment Printing technology is probably older than 5 years. It is an exciting and emerging field in which we have a deep interest so our ears\u00a0 pop up whenever there is a talk about DTG.\u00a0 The recently concluded Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS) provided some clues on where this technology is heading.<\/p>\n
If anyone is looking for DTG printers, the words of caution would be\u00a0 “be prepared to be confused” –\u00a0 unless you’ve done your homework. That’s true about any technology choices these days. Luckily for us, we had studied the various options so it was easier to spot the trends.<\/p>\n
Generally, people have extreme experiences with DTG.\u00a0 Some\u00a0 have seen their investment of thousands of dollars going down the drain after failing to make these machines work.\u00a0 Others have built solid business around this technology\u00a0 so due diligence will not harm anybody.<\/p>\n
ISS proves one thing loud and clear. DTG technology has come a long way and it is a reliable alternative to conventional Screen printing or heat transfer technologies.\u00a0 Compared to the last year, there are couple of main trends we see at this year’s show.<\/p>\n
First,\u00a0 some DTG brands are conspicuously missing from the show this year. This includes Flexi-jet and T-Jet. Not sure if they are bankrupt or\u00a0 didn’t find it useful to attend the show.<\/p>\n
The brands that are represented in the show include DTG,\u00a0 Anajet,\u00a0 Kornit, and Brother.\u00a0 Most of these vendors have made some technology enhancements but most of them seem to be\u00a0 incremental changes except for the case of Brother. Anajet and DTG – all have better models but the changes from the previous model do not seem that obvious. We believe most of the changes are “bug fixes” than any real feature enhancements.\u00a0 It does make sense to do that since what DTG printers need at this point is not supporting Wi-Fi but rather stability and reliability.<\/p>\n
Looking at the trend, it seems like the next level of innovation would come from the ink.\u00a0 It is hard to even know what kind of ink is used in these printers since they keep that information confidential. Right now,\u00a0 ink is fairly expensive to make it an alternative for\u00a0 screen printing especially for large volume orders.<\/p>\n
The most exciting change in the DTG landscape is Brother’s new DTG printer GT-782.\u00a0 Brother has an older DTG printer(GT541)\u00a0 which is stable but can only print on light garments.<\/p>\n
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With the new printer, Brother seems to have taken two leaps in one step. The new model supports printing on black and light color t-shirts.\u00a0 Also,\u00a0 it can print two t-shirts at a time – a good feature for bulk production. The downside is that GT-782 is too\u00a0 expensive and bulky for small companies.\u00a0 It seems like the target market for this printer is not really small start-ups but medium to large T-shirt production companies.<\/p>\n
This is an interesting development since this type of reliable and high-performing machines will make DTG more popular and will position it as a strong alternative to screen printing.<\/p>\n
The way GT-782 prints on black is fun to watch. It puts a white underlay (or base) on the t-shirt\u00a0 and then print the actual image on top it. The print quality looks really good.\u00a0 See some sample prints below.<\/p>\n
![\"brother_1\"](\"http:\/\/blog.exprez.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/brother_1.jpg\" "\\"brother_1\\"")
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![\"brother_2\"](\"http:\/\/blog.exprez.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/brother_2.JPG\" "\\"brother_2\\"")
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It is clear that the envelope is going to be continually pushed in the\u00a0 DTG space. We will be seeing more efficient DTG printers and advancement in the ink technology in the next few years.\u00a0 We are truly excited to be part of this business revolution and keeping a close eye on any innovations in this area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DTG or Direct to Garment Printing technology is probably older than 5 years. It is an exciting and emerging field in which we have a deep interest so our ears\u00a0 pop up whenever there is a talk about DTG.\u00a0 The recently concluded Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS) provided some clues on where this technology is heading. […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[26,25,27,28],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-watch","tag-brother","tag-dtg","tag-iss","tag-screen-printing"],"yoast_head":"\n