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G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 6 9 professional decoration. Transfers for this market are priced inexpensively and the quality is reflected in the price. ey're not meant to be anything more than sim- ple amusement. ey are also not the only type of heat transfer out there. For a professional shop, heat transfers offer a different option. ese are profes- sionally made transfers, which are created with quality and attention and care. e transfers are more expensive, but they're also designed to have greater washfastness and colorfastness and to convey a profes- sional and expert appearance. The old saying "you get what you pay for" applies here. You will pay more for these types of transfers, but the quality is well worth the price. So, if you're a decoration shop and look- ing to buy heat transfers, what sort of transfers might you be able to buy? Almost any decoration technique you can name has a heat transfer option. ere are plas- tisol transfers for screen printing. Vinyl transfers can come in handy for sports jerseys when you need to add names and numbers. Heat transfer vinyl also has a lot of uses. Inkjet and laser transfers, or sublimation transfers, can be useful when you don't have a printer in your shop. If you want to bring the bling, rhinestone transfers are an option for adding a little sparkle. Heat seal patches are another dec- oration option — one that allows you to bring printing or embroidery to your dec- orated items. Patches are not technically considered heat transfers, but they work on roughly the same principle. DTF trans- fers, full-color, are a more recent option in the heat transfer world. e next question, I suppose, is why would a shop use transfers? ere are sev- eral reasons. For some shops, transfers allow them to take smaller orders and get them done quickly, without interrupting the production flow they have set up to handle bigger orders. Heat transfers can also be a great way to test out the viabil- ity of a new market, and its size, before investing in equipment and supplies for that decoration technique. For those shops that are just starting out or have limited budgets, heat transfers can be a way to offer additional decoration tech- niques at a lesser expense than outfitting the shop with equipment. Transfers can (Image courtesy Scrappy Dappy Doo) (Images courtesy Fat Dad Custom Designs) (Images courtesy 605 Customize)