Screen print heat transfers have been around since the 1970s. The printing process is similar to direct screen-printing. However, instead of printing directly onto a garment, special ink is printed onto a release paper, which can later be heat-applied onto a wide variety of products. Over the years, heat press, transfer paper, and ink technology have improved greatly. These improvements ensure high-quality and durable printed products. Screen print transfers offer great versatility, they allow you to print on-demand while maintaining low overhead costs. “Ganging” artwork is possible, in other words having different designs printed on the same transfer sheet. Doing so greatly reduces production costs.
There are several reasons why decoration shops, schools, and small businesses should consider using screen print transfers to decorate a wide range of apparel products. The only investment and equipment you need to print transfers is a heat press. A quality press will deliver accurate time, temperature, and pressure which ensures a high quality finished product. A heat press has a very high return on investment, considering that most high quality manual heat presses sell for around $2,000.00. Starting a direct screen printing business could cost up to 30 times that amount! Also, a heat press takes up very little space and requires no daily maintenance. All things considered, heat presses are the most logical option for the vast majority of new print shops.
Perhaps screen print transfers’ best quality is their versatility. Screen print transfers allow you to print on-demand, which means you never have to hold printed inventory that may or may not sell. Transfers can be printed almost anywhere on a garment. If you have multiple designs with the same color scheme, or if you can fit multiples of the same design onto a single transfer sheet, then you can “gang” the artwork. This means that you fit as many designs as possible onto a single sheet of transfer paper, drastically reducing the unit print cost.
Another reason to consider using screen print transfers is how easy they are to apply. It takes virtually zero experience to successfully print custom products using our transfers and a quality heat press. It is as simple as placing the transfer onto a garment, pressing it, and peeling off the transfer paper. Print Fundraising’s transfers are much easier to apply than direct screen printing, and just as durable. The transfers have quite a bit of play as well, meaning that they can be printed at slightly different variable settings and onto a wide range of products. In other words, regardless of the product or design being printed, our transfers will perform.
Opaque Hot Peel
First, we have our Opaque Hot Peel transfers, which are our most popular transfer. Opaque Hot Peel transfers can be applied onto 100% cotton and cotton/poly blend shirts. The ink is opaque and holds its color well on garments of all colors. If you are struggling to keep the opacity of the ink with our Opaque Hot Peel transfers, then you are likely using too much heat, pressure, or time when pressing them.
Low Temperature
Next, we have our Low Temperature transfers. The Low Temperature transfers are designed to be pressed onto polyester and other synthetic materials. Since most synthetic materials struggle to take the high heat required for our Opaque Hot Peel transfers we developed our Low Temperature transfers, so these garments could still be printed on a heat press. Our Low Temperature transfers have an adhesive powder backing, giving them extra adhesive strength to offset the loss of heat. Since they require adhesion powder these transfers are slightly more expensive. Our Low Temperature transfers can still be printed onto 100% cotton and cotton/poly blend shirts, but they have a slightly thicker feel to them.
Soft Vintage
Our Soft Vintage transfers are our softest transfer, and they perform like a hot split rather than a hot peel. With hot split transfers half of the ink is transferred to the product and the other half is left on the transfer paper. The splitting of the ink is what gives it such a soft feel, since less is left on the garment. Primarily, our Soft Vintage transfers should be used on lighter colored shirts, though they can sometimes be used on darker shirts.
Glitter Sparkle
Our Glitter Sparkle transfers perform similar to a cold peel transfer. It takes some time to perfect the cold peel pressing process, but when done correctly the results are beautiful. After you press a glitter transfer you will want to rub the transfer paper with an eraser or rag for around 10 seconds before peeling. Doing so ensures that all the ink separates from the paper. Then, press the design once more with parchment paper to make sure the ink is completely cured. Discard the parchment paper after just ONE use, otherwise you will likely transfer specks of glitter to another print.
Metallic
Our Metallic transfers are very similar to our Glitter Sparkle transfers. The main difference between glitter and metallic transfer ink is the flakes are much smaller, giving the appearance of a more matte finish. The smaller flakes allows for metallic ink to obtain slightly more detail than glitter ink and gives the ink less of a shine. After you press a metallic transfer you will want to rub the transfer paper with an eraser or rag for around 10 seconds before peeling. This ensures that all the ink separates from the paper. Then, press the design once more with parchment paper to make sure the ink is completely cured. Discard the parchment paper after just ONE use, otherwise you will likely transfer specks of metallic to another print.
3D Puff
Our 3D Puff transfers are designed to be applied to cotton, poly, & cotton/poly blend products. Our puff transfers have a great 3D look and feel. This is a cool and popular effect that prints well on both light and dark-colored garments. These transfers come in over 60 different colors, and we offer PMS color matching.
Glow-in-the-Dark
Our Glow-in-the-Dark transfers are fun for children, teens, and adults of all ages. After charging in the sunlight, these transfers will glow in dark places. Glow-in-the-dark transfers print best on white cotton, poly, & cotton/poly blend products. We currently have more than five colors available for our glow-in-the-dark transfers.
Fine Detail & Negative Space Requirements
When you send artwork to us for screen print transfers we need for any lines or negative space to be at least 2 points wide. If lines are less than 2 points wide, then they may either appear spotted or not appear at all. If negative space is less than 2 points in width, then it may be filled in when printed. We want to get your transfer made right the first time, so please help us help you by checking the width of your lines and negative space before sending them to us.
Distressed Design
If you want a design to be distressed, it is better if you send us the original artwork without any effects. We can then apply a distress overlay, which can be heavy, medium, or light. We request that you allow use to distress the artwork so that we can be sure it adheres to our fine detail and negative space requirements. If you send us an already-distressed image, then it is more difficult for us to adjust the artwork to meet both your needs and the requirements for screen printing transfers.
