Thermal transfer printing is the name of any type of printing that uses heat to bind a design to a fabric. The design is printed on a material coated with a thermally reactive adhesive, called transfer paper or sublimation paper. When Stenter is applied to transfer paper, the adhesive reacts with heat and sticks to the surface of the underlying fabric to form a printed fabric.
Thermal transfer printing is simple and cost-effective, so it is very suitable for small batches of personalized printing. It can also be used to transfer detailed photo designs that cannot be achieved by screen printing. Digital transfer printing can also be used to achieve excellent results on items such as bags, hats or shoes, which are difficult to screen print due to their clumsy shape.
It is also possible to combine the heat transfer process with digital technology to achieve the best of both worlds. Through digital thermal transfer printing, the design is created using computer software and printed on white transfer paper. The design is then cut using a machine called a plotter, which follows the digital contours to obtain accurate results. The completed transfer is placed in the desired location on the garment or accessory, and then heat treated to bond it to the fabric.
If there is one disadvantage of thermal transfer, it is that the quality may vary greatly depending on the materials used, and some printers that use inferior materials and inferior technologies have given it a bad reputation in recent years. However, as long as you use good transfer materials and carefully apply the design, the final garment will be a high-quality, durable work. All of our digital printing garments are made of high-quality, soft-touch transfer materials, and are applied with the most advanced Flat Screen Printer and plotter, so we are confident to provide the best digital printing on the market.