When in comes to printing techniques, digital or Direct-To-Garment (DTG) is a relatively new process. A majority of the printing Indigo Clothing does for clients is screen printing but from time to time certain multicolour designs are better suited to using the digital printing method which involves a very specialist inkjet printer.

When to use digital printing?

• One-off samples for client meetings or press events
• Multicolored logos, CMYK or photographic designs that need to be produced in small (less than 100 pcs) quantities.

Normally, Indigo will take a look at your design and tell you which print technique will produce the best results. We end up recommending digital if we think the cost of doing simulated process work via screen printing is going to be simply too cost prohibitive.

Indigo uses the best digital printing machines

There are many suppliers of digital printing machines and the cost and quality of the machines makes a big difference to the print quality. Prices for machines start at approx. £10,000 going up to £100,000. Indigo went along to the major industry trade show called FESPA, Berlin (2007), to check out the quality of all the machines side-by-side. We went away deciding that the cheap machines were fine for your shopping mall businesses who put photos of your dog onto a white t-shirt but when it comes to top quality prints, especially onto dark garments, which traditionally cheaper machines haven't been good at, then it had to be the most expensive technology for our customers.

Kornit, an Israeli manufacturer, is the maker of these top end machines and, at the time of writing, there are only three in the UK. One of Indigo's embroidery suppliers was one of the first places to adopt these outstanding machines and Indigo outsource all our digital orders to this supplier meaning that our customers get the best possible print.

If you are interested in the Kornit machines and want to see the digital print process in action, check out this promotional video from Kornit:

How digital printing works

Put simply, DTG printers are bigger versions of your desktop inkjet printer, but instead of taking paper, they can take t-shirts, or other garments, as the print media.

Manufacturers vary in the number and colours of ink carried, but the best machines will carry CMYK inks as well as a white ink. The white is important because it allows the design to be printed onto black or dark garments.

Artwork is sent to the printer via a USB cable, the t-shirt goes into the machine, the print heads move left and right and in under a minute the t-shirt comes out again with a bright, vibrant, soft to feel print.

Are digital prints durable?

DTG prints will suffer from fatigue quicker than screen printed garments though the technology has come a long way in recent years. Digital prints are fully wash and colour fast to 40ºc in all popular washing products, can be dry cleaned and even tumble dried at low temperature.

Digital Print Prices

When you place an order for screen printed clothing there are two charges:

Setup

The first is a setup charge which covers the cost of having the design made ready for digital printing. This charge is 'one off' as it is stored for future use. Therefore, if you wanted to place another order in the future with the same design there would be no setup charge.

Direct-to-Garment print setup is charged at £30 per location (ex VAT).

Per item charge

The second charge is a 'per item' charge which applies to each item that is customised. This charge basically covers the cost of labour, materials and our other manufacturing overheads. The per item charge is based on the size of the design AND whether the base garment is light or dark.

Dark Garments

Breast (11 x 11cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 5.85 25+ items: £ 3.45 50+ items: £ 2.93 100+ items: £ 2.18 200+ items: £ 1.80 400+ items: £ 1.65 600+ items: £ 1.49 750+ items: £ 1.41 1000+ items: £ 1.35 2000+ items: call or email	A5 (18 x 18cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 6.93 25+ items: £ 4.13 50+ items: £ 3.45 100+ items: £ 2.55 200+ items: £ 2.40 400+ items: £ 2.15 600+ items: £ 1.95 750+ items: £ 1.76 1000+ items: £ 1.61 2000+ items: call or email	A4 (30 x 21cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 7.80 25+ items: £ 4.88 50+ items: £ 4.13 100+ items: £ 3.08 200+ items: £ 2.78 400+ items: £ 2.55 600+ items: £ 2.34 750+ items: £ 2.15 1000+ items: £ 1.76 2000+ items: call or email
Light Garments
Breast (11 x 11cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 4.50 25+ items: £ 2.63 50+ items: £ 2.25 100+ items: £ 1.65 200+ items: £ 1.35 400+ items: £ 1.28 600+ items: £ 1.14 750+ items: £ 1.08 1000+ items: £ 1.02 2000+ items: call or email	A5 (18 x 18cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 5.25 25+ items: £ 3.15 50+ items: £ 2.63 100+ items: £ 1.95 200+ items: £ 1.80 400+ items: £ 1.65 600+ items: £ 1.50 750+ items: £ 1.35 1000+ items: £ 1.23 2000+ items: call or email	A4 (30 x 21cm): (ex VAT) 11+ items: £ 6.00 25+ items: £ 3.75 50+ items: £ 3.15 100+ items: £ 2.33 200+ items: £ 2.10 400+ items: £ 1.95 600+ items: £ 1.80 750+ items: £ 1.65 1000+ items: £ 1.35 2000+ items: call or email

N.B. Discounts available if lead time of approx. 2-3 weeks chosen. These discounts are more significant on 500+ runs. Standard lead time is approx. 7 to 10 working days. Call or email for long lead time pricing. Prices last modified 9th July 2008. High volume prices (500+) are sometimes negotiable. Prices correct at time of publishing.