In select scenarios, you may find we've replaced your desired decoration method with a heat transfer. There's a variety of reasons this may occur, but all of them return to getting you the best result possible.

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Why Heat Transfers?

Compared to other decoration methods, heat transfers provide more flexibility.

Since the design is produced independent of the garment, we aren't as limited by how we're able to fit the garment onto our equipment to print or embroider directly. Using heat to apply the design allows for more placement locations on most garments. This also allows us to decorate some materials that might not accept direct screen printing.

Heat Transfers can also be more economical, fitting tighter budgets and timeframes when your order requires it. That economical angle also suits orders where you may want individual names or numbers on each garment, something that can be cost and time prohibitive if we attempted it with another decoration method.

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What Are The Compromises?

While there are benefits, heat transfers aren't our first decoration choice.

Screen print or embroidery becomes part of the fabric, while transfers will commonly have a more opaque appearance and sit on top of the fabric, and in some cases appear more like a sticker.

When you find a transfer has been recommended for your order, we've weighted these risks, alongside your budget and timeline, and determined these will create the best result.

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What Types Are Available?

Screen Printed Transfers

This transfer type uses similar inks to standard screen printing, allowing for PMS matching.

We'll typically recommend this if you're wanting to screen print a design on a location or product we can't reliably print directly on. It has a very similar appearance to a standard screen print, though the design may appear more solid compared to a true screen print.

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Standard Vinyl

This transfer type is created from vinyl and is limited in color.

We'll typically recommend this if your design comes in a standard color, features no small details, and we're applying it onto garments difficult to decorate, such as safety gear.

We'll also recommend it if you're looking at doing individual names or numbers on a garment, such as team jerseys. They provide for a clean, economical option.

Depending on the size and complexity of the art a border may be visible around it.

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Special Effects

This transfer type is made from various materials to create special effects.

We'll typically recommend this for designs that want to create select special effects, such as being reflective or glittery, that may not be possible with other decoration methods.

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CMYK

This transfer type is created using a full color method.

We'll typically recommend this if your design features a high amount of detail or colors at a small size. This type of art can be difficult to produce with other decoration methods.

We prefer to limit these to small sizes since the transfer has a sticker-like feel and appearance, a solid border surrounding the entirety of the design, making for a heavier feel on the garment that's more noticeable the larger it gets.

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Questions?

If you have questions about a transfer recommended for your order, please reach out to your Creative Project Manager for further information.