Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1425980
18 graphics-pro.com S T A R T H E R E 2 0 2 1 By Brian Walker D irect-to-garment (DTG) … It used to be a fringe edge of the decorating industry. One of the new fads that would never replace screen printing because it was too slow, the inks too expensive, and wash durability just wasn't there, said some. That is not the case today. Everything about DTG has matured into a vibrant, growing, and vital part of many decorating businesses. If you have not looked into DTG as an addition to your business, you might want to reconsider. DTG Past To Present It the early days, direct-to-garment printing was limited, and the printers were notoriously slow. Printing with only CMYK DTG Explosion Direct-to-garment is thriving; has your shop considered it? Brian Walker got started in the garment decorating industry in the mid-1980s when he learned screen printing while in high school. Over the years, he has started several direct-to-garment-related businesses, including I-Group Technologies that makes the Viper pretreatment machines, Image Armor (pretreatments and inks), as well as RTP Apparel, which produces ready-to-print garments that require no pretreatment to be printed. THE Direct-to-Garment From a single printer in a bedroom to full production shops with hundreds of DTG printers printing tens of thousands of shirts per day, direct- to-garment has found its place in the apparel decorating industry. (Image courtesy OmniPrint International)