Impressions - February 2019 - 29

(high quality on a dark garment) and productivity?"
2. Score a printer with a large print gap.
A larger gap lets you print on the greatest breadth of products, including T-shirts,
sweat shirts with zippers, jackets with pockets,
headwear and coasters, along with virtually
any substrate that accepts water-based ink.
Question to ask: "What are the most unusual, out-of-the-box items I can print and
wow my customers?"
3. Put recirculating white print heads on
your musts list. Recirculating heads keep
your white ink flowing and avoids the need
to replace print heads.
Question to ask: "Does this DTG printer
have recirculating white print heads?"
4. Learn to love low maintenance. Look
at it this way: The more maintenance time
your printer requires, the less time you have
to print, lowering your shop's productivity
and profits.
Question to ask: "What's a realistic cleaning
and maintenance schedule for this printer?"
5. The ink's the thing. Try the ink's durability and washability your shortlisted
printer uses before you buy. Another thing
to note is while some screen-printing inks
may contain PVC, phthalates or other
chemicals, many DTG manufacturers have
become OEKO-TEX 100 certified. That
means the water-based inks, cleaning
solutions and overall processes are environmentally (and people and animal) safe.
Question to ask: "What can I expect for
T-shirt printing costs, including ink, pretreatment and other supplies?"
6. It's all about the accessories and
add-ons. The wider variety of platens and
accessories a printer offers, the more flexibility in print sizes (the larger, the better) and
items you can offer your customers.
Question to ask: "What different accessories do you have available?"
7. Experience matters when it comes
to your vendor. When you're evaluating
vendors, look for a company that entered
the DTG arena early, as the team will have
more knowledge of what it takes to build
a quality printer, in addition to experience
navigating the learning curve and growing
pains of the process.
Question to ask: "What kind of warranty,
training and support will you give me with
my DTG printer?"
8. Financing. A DTG printer is an investment, so remember to evaluate your financing
options - whether leasing or buying - to
determine which best matches your needs.
DTG printing today can be extremely
profitable. If you print a realistic six-dozen
garments per week, you'll get a phenomenal
one-year return in investment.

That means printing as few as 15 garments
per week is all you need to cover most lease
payments. Plus, consider that many DIY
printing sites will charge $20 or more for a
T-shirt. So if your cost to produce a similar
garment is $1 for light-colored and $3 for
dark-colored, your profits will range from
$10-$15 per shirt.
Question to ask: "What's your best financing plan for my specific needs?"
With a DTG printer, you can offer customized products in a wide variety of materials
and expand your design locations with ease.

Zippers, seams and pockets aren't a problem
anymore. That opens the door to offering
existing customers a whole new world of
possibilities as you diversify your offerings
and increase your bottom line. 
Ed Levy has more than 25 years of appareldecorating experience. Levy, who's director of
software technologies for Hirsch Solutions, is an
in-demand speaker at trade shows and a regular
contributor to industry magazines. For more information or to comment on this article, email Ed
at Ed@hsi.us.

With DTG printing,
you have access to
unlimited color options
and precise design
reproduction.

A printer with a larger gap
lets you print on the greatest
breadth of products, including
T-shirts, sweat shirts with
zippers and headwear.
FEBRUARY 2019

P.29

Impressions - February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - February 2019