All techniques of T-shirt printing have their own benefits and limitations. By looking at these pros and cons, you can decide which technique is best for your purpose of custom made T-shirts. Ultimately, selecting the types of T shirt printing will be based on your requirements, your budget, and the kind of image you want. One technique of T-shirt printing is known as heat transfer printing. This is done by using a heat transfer paper. The design you wish to have on your t-shirt is printed on the paper and then that paper is kept on the t-shirt. With the help of a heat press, the paper is pressed and the image is copied onto the garment. This technique is very economical and can often be done even at home.

For those who want to initiate a small T-shirt printing business where only small quantities of t-shirts have to be printed, this method is perfect. The equipment required for heat transfer printing are available easily and do not require heavy investment amounts. However, if bulk quantities are needed, this technique may not be suitable because every time a t-shirt has to be printed on, the shape has to be cut out and the unnecessary material should be removed. This is quite time consuming and not preferable to large printing quantities. Another printing technique that is gradually gaining popularity is known as digital printing.

In this method, the t-shirt is stretched on a frame that lies below the head of an ink jet printer. The printer then prints on the garment just as if it were printing on a piece of paper. This technique is more appropriate in situations where the same design has to be printed on a large number of t-shirts. Although this method can be costly, with mass production the costs can be distributed equally and the per unit cost can be reduced. One of the most traditional Tshirt printing techniques is that of screen printing. The finishing of the image that is printed on the t-shirt is very nice and bright and the image is bound to last for a longer period of time. The cost of this method is very economical and is also ideal for mass printing.

Gone are the days where you had to use tiny bottles of ink and squeezing out the ink through small tubes in order to draw directly on a clothing item. During those days, reproducing one design would have been impossible and same with any detail designs that had to be drawn. Gladly, with the invention of computers and various other technologies, activities like T-shirt printing are now very simple. Many printable surfaces that work on fabric have been designed to work with ink jet printers.