Wholesale DTF printing for resellers and print shops.
DTF is the tool for the jobs screen printing was never built for: short runs, photographic art, personalization, and poly fabrics. We print and heat-press it in-house on the same floor as our three automatics and 25 embroidery heads — so you quote one shop for the whole program and every piece ships blind under your label.
What DTF does that a press can't.
Short runs, no minimum penalty
No screens means 12 pieces cost the same per piece as 40. The tool for jobs under our 24-piece screen printing minimum, and for topping off a size run.
Full-color art, free
Photographs, gradients, fine text, unlimited colors — the things that make screen printing expensive make no difference to DTF.
Mixed garments, one job
Cotton tees, poly performance wear, nylon, canvas, denim — one artwork presses across all of them without ink-system changes or dye-migration risk.
Per-piece personalization
Names, numbers, and design variants inside one run — economics no press can match.
Speed on small jobs
No screen prep. When the customer needed 30 shirts yesterday, DTF is usually how they get them.
Pressed here, finished here
Printed and heat-pressed onto your garments in-house, with the same finishing bench as our press runs: fold, bag, tags, blind ship.
Pricing: quoted per job, answered in 24 hours.
How DTF is priced (and why there\'s no tier table on this page)
DTF is billed by printed film area and quantity, not by color count — a small left-chest costs less than a full front, and a photograph costs the same as a one-color logo at the same size. That makes a universal price table misleading in both directions, so we quote it per job instead: send the art, sizes, and quantity, and you’ll have a number within 24 hours on weekdays, usually same-day. As an honest anchor, most DTF jobs here land between $4 and $7 per print, with volume and artwork size deciding where in that range yours falls.
One honest rule of thumb from our own floor: above roughly 48 pieces with 1–6 colors, screen printing usually beats DTF on per-piece cost — the full math is on our screen printing vs DTF guide. We run both, so we’ll tell you which is cheaper for your job, not which one we felt like selling.
How a DTF order runs.
Send art, garments, and quantity
Any clean file works for DTF — high-res PNG with transparency is ideal; vector always welcome. Tell us garment types and the size you want the print. Under 24 pieces is fine; that’s what this service is for.
Approve the proof
Placement and dimensions confirmed on a digital proof before anything prints. Mixing DTF pieces into a screen print or embroidery PO? One proof cycle covers the lot.
We print, press, and finish
Printed on our DTF line and heat-pressed onto your garments in-house — correct temperature, pressure, and dwell, which is where DTF durability is actually decided. Fold, bag, and tag on request.
Blind ship, files on record
Plain boxes, your label, drop ship or bulk — and your art stays on file, so restocks and size top-offs are one email.
Five jobs resellers route to our DTF line.
- The under-minimum job you keep declining. A 15-piece order isn’t worth a screen setup anywhere. It is worth a DTF run — stop sending those customers away.
- Names and numbers on a team or staff order. Screen print the 200 matching backs at contract rates; DTF the personalized fronts. One PO, one shipment.
- Photo-real merch under 250 pieces. Below the quantity where simulated process pays for itself, DTF delivers the photograph without the 7+ color rate.
- Poly and performance fabrics. Where plastisol risks dye migration on sublimated polyester, DTF presses clean.
- Sample and pre-sale runs. Sell 20 first, then move the design to press at volume rates once the reorder proves out — same art file, both processes, one shop.
DTF questions, answered straight.
Is there a minimum order for DTF?
No hard minimum — DTF exists precisely for the jobs under our 24-piece screen printing floor. Very small runs carry a small-job handling reality in the per-piece price, which the quote shows plainly.
Do you sell transfers by themselves, or only pressed on garments?
Our standard service is print-and-press: your art printed on our DTF line and heat-pressed onto your garments in-house, so durability is on us, not on your heat press settings. If you want transfer sheets to press yourself, ask — we’ll quote it.
How durable is DTF really?
Pressed correctly, it survives normal consumer washing for the life of the garment — comparable to vinyl or better. The failure mode is almost always a bad press: too cool, too short, wrong pressure. That’s why we press in-house rather than shipping film and hoping. For industrial laundering, we’ll steer you to screen printing instead.
What art files work?
High-res PNG with a transparent background is the DTF sweet spot; vector (AI, EPS, PDF) always works. No color separations needed — what you send is what prints, gradients and all. We flag low-resolution art before it prints, not after.
Can I mix DTF with screen printing or embroidery in one order?
Yes, and that’s the point of running everything under one roof: press the volume pieces, DTF the short-run or personalized pieces, embroider the caps — one PO, one proof cycle, one blind shipment.
When should I choose screen printing instead?
Above roughly 48 pieces with 1–6 colors, screen printing usually wins on cost and hand feel — and it keeps winning harder as quantity grows. The full comparison with real rates is in our vs guide; the screen printing tiers are on the pricing page.
Send the art. We'll tell you if DTF is even the right call.
Email art, garments, and quantity to info@customprintedshirts.com — or call or text (954) 997-2268. If screen printing is cheaper for your job, the quote says so.