With a whopping 54% of the Direct to Digital Textile Printing market, DTF has taken the print business by storm! Custom Print Businesses love DTF for its ability to print multiple art images onto a film roll and store the film to be pressed onto objects later. So, why is DTF all the rage, and what does the DTF process include? And more importantly – how can DTF businesses leverage our flagship PrintShop plugin to bolster their workflow?

The New Tech on the Block

DTF (Direct to Film) printing involves the process of printing artwork onto a release film, powdering the film with an adhesive and then heat pressing the film onto flat/3D objects. Printers love DTF for the versatility of print jobs and the quality of the print work onto fabric. DTF eliminates having to place a t-shirt under the printer head, while allowing the print of multiple art images onto the film release roll.

The DTF Print Process

• The CYMK colors & white ink are printed onto the transfer film via the DTF printer
  • (The colors are printed in reverse, and the colors are coated with white ink)
• Adhesive powder is dispersed onto the ink on the film
• The powder is beaten off the film, and the film is run through a drier
• The finished film sheet is placed on the t-shirt and pressed using high pressure 
• The film sheet is peeled off of the t-shirt

Acumatica X PrintShop for DTF

PrintShop is InfoSourcing’s flagship plugin built for print businesses, integrated with the Acumatica xRP platform. PrintShop handles all of the standard workflow processes of a print business, from quote to cash. PrintShop offers dashboards to view Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are customizable for businesses. The Job Card is a feature of PrintShop used to record the details of the print job. Here’s what a Job Card could look like for DTF:

The PrintShop Job Card records all the details of the print job. The Digital Job Card allows you to upload and save multiple artworks, plus flag the art for approval. PrintShop with Acumatica records details such as the shipping date, in-hands date, etc.

The type of fabric you’re printing on can be recorded as an attribute on the Job Card. Custom fields on the Job Card can be used to record additional information for the job, such as the temperature/pressure, or the type of adhesive used. Additionally, we can create multiple Job Cards of different types, and attach their codes to line items on a Sales Order.

If your print business handles Direct to Film (DTF) or Direct to Garment (DTG) and you are looking at scaling your business in the cloud, or expanding the remote aspects of your work – talk to our print experts, and we can put together a solution for your future years to come! Reach out to our print experts today!