Impressions - April 2024 - 37

into their business? Are there any common
mistakes you see a lot of decorators regularly
making early on? Are there best practices in
terms of ordering, applying or marketing that
newcomers to the business should be aware of?
M:Th e best advice I can give decorators looking
to use DTF to supplement their business is
pretty simple: do it. Th e DTF transfers industry
has simplifi ed everything, because it works
on every color, every material and with almost
any design. Th ere are virtually no limitations.
No longer do they have to be concerned about
ordering the wrong transfer for the job or the
number of ink colors involved. We can legitimately
make the right DTF transfer with the
perfect formulation for every apparel or bag
product you can press on.
As far as best practices, we provide everything
you need to know about how to press
and how to troubleshoot a bad press to ensure
you get the perfect press on every garment.
Once you get the hang of it, it'll be smooth
sailing from there.
Th at being said, the biggest mistake I see is
decorators going out and buying an expensive
printer, which can be a pain to maintain if you
don't dedicate enough time to learning it. It's
best to start with transfers and grow into your
own printer setup once you're sure it has become
a part of your business. When starting
out, focus on getting orders pressed up and
out the door, not on cost effi ciency.
AC: What are the limits in terms of the amount
of business a company can expect to be able to
generate decorating hats, T-shirts and other
types of apparel or merch using outsourced
custom transfers of the kind produced by
companies like Ninja Transfers? When does
it make sense for shops to consider bringing
the actual production of the transfers they use
in-house, as opposed to outsourcing them? I'm
thinking you're in a great position to speak
on this topic given how Ninja Transfers supplies
consumables like ink, fi lm and powders
in addition to actual transfers.
M: In the custom apparel business, the sky is
the limit, especially with the advent of DTF.
Never before in apparel customization has there
been a technology where the print works on
everything. If you can sell it, then between
screen printing and DTF transfers, you can
execute profi tably on the order.
Every business is diff erent, so there's no exact
set of parameters to follow when deciding
to switch over to doing production in-house.
Th e barrier to entry in terms of cost and eff ort
can be $20k to $40k, so having demand and
learning how often you can use DTF is a must
for those looking to make that leap. We've
had customers start out buying our transfers
and then purchasing our consumables as their
business has grown so they can provide close
to the same high-quality transfers. We always
support them whether they use us or not as
they make the transition to printing on their
own. We're happy for them, in fact!
AC: Finally, thoughts on the future of DTF
and the use of custom transfers both for individual
decorators and the industry as a whole?
M: If a business isn't including DTF in its
printing arsenal, then it's likely they're missing
out on potential revenue and/or cost savings.
Custom transfers allow customers to
never have to say, no, to any job, regardless
of quantities or color count.
Th ere are so many scenarios where DTF
is a great way to go. If it's a 25 to 200-piece
order, and it's a full-color design that a screenprint
shop does not want to spend the press
time on, they can order DTF transfers and
have a junior person press it on a heat press
rather than have their best printer use valuable
screen-press time. Once you get fast at
pressing or add more heat presses to your
shop, you can take on even larger orders. We
have customers printing 1,000-piece orders
with our DTF transfers. Th e uses are endless.
Another example would be for small orders.
If you don't have a DTG machine in your
shop and you get a lot of requests for one to
fi ve-piece orders, you're not going to screen
print those. However, you could accept them,
put them on a gang sheet and make $10 to
$15 on each garment instead of having to say,
no. Even if you have a DTG printer, they're
really only good for cotton garments, while
with DTF works on everything, whether it
be cotton, polyester, nylon, spandex, high visibility,
hats, you name it.
Yet another example would be the use of
DTF for all orders where a customer says
they are missing a few pieces. In these cases,
you can simply resolve the issue with DTF
transfers rather than resetting the job on a
screen-printing press or waiting for your
printer to print the new pieces for you. You
simply resolve the issue with a heat press. 
To learn more about Ninja Transfers and its
complete line of custom patches, blank apparel
and DTF consumables in addition to its transfers, go
to ninjatransfers.com.
A ganged sheet with multiple heat transfers
unspools from one of a battery of DTF printers
at the Ninja Transfers production facility. Photo
courtesy of Ninja Transfers
April 2024
P.37
http://www.ninjatransfers.com
Impressions - April 2024

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