 This
is the first page of a tutorial that teaches you the basics of starting your
own successful T-shirt business.
The basic tools, to print
your own heat transfers, are not complicated. They are-
- A computer
- Some type of graphics
program
- A basic inkjet
printer
- Good quality heat
transfer paper
- An appropriate heat
press
Because
success requires more knowledge than just knowing what equipment and supplies
to buy, we begin with basic concepts. Heat
Transfers - General
Heat transfers are what is used to apply custom printed graphic
designs and photographs to 100% cotton and cotton-blended T-shirts (50/50),
mouse pads, tote bags and other fabric items.
The basic concept is simple. A standard inkjet printer and
regular inks or T-Shirt inks are used to print on heat transfer paper (called
a carrier paper in the trade).
The heat transfer paper has a film on it and this is the side
that is printed on. After printing, the unprinted part of the transfer sheet
is trimmed and the transfer is placed on the shirt and both are heated in a
heat press with medium to high pressure.
When the heating
cycle ends, the head of the press is lifted and the transfer is complete.
Heat Transfers - Methods
To be successful, the entrepreneur must balance
the choice of what they can
do with what they should do.
This section looks at some important
choices. Heat
Press vs. An Iron No
matter what brand or type of paper you use, you will always get superior results
with a heat press. That's it. End of story. Even the smallest, cheapest heat press
provides consistent and even, heat and pressure. Even the most expensive
iron can do neither.
There is one situation, however, where an iron might make sense.
That would be where you are producing very small quantities of items and basically
giving them away. Small quantities shouldn't wear your arm out and if it's free,
the recipients shouldn't complain.
Professional Grade vs. "Store
Bought" Paper
 There
is a lot of difference, between the two. What is available at an office supply
or department store is a generic paper, developed specifically
for the low-end home iron market.
There is no successful professional (even part-time) using
"store bought" heat transfer paper. The quality is just not good enough.
It has nothing to do with price (our professional grade paper
is actually cheaper), only with the quality and durability of the transfer.
The choice is yours.
Inkjet Printers vs. Laser
Printers
Unless you already own a color laser printer, we usually suggest
using an inkjet printer, for two reasons.
First, an excellent inkjet printer costs considerable
less than even a cheap laser printer. Second, not all laser printers
produce good heat transfers.
It has nothing to do with the print quality (which can be excellent).
Rather, it is because many laser toners do not hold up to washing.
We wouldn't want to see you buy a laser printer and then find out it wasn't
suitable.
If you already own one, then get a small sample pack of paper
and test the results (printing and washing). You may be very pleased.
However,
Alpha Supply Company no longer sells any type of heat transfer paper for laser
printers. We made that decision because of constant, uneven results in all laser
heat transfer papers. The problem is in the coating (film) on the paper. In
a nutshell, the film has to melt in a heat press, so that it sticks on fabric.
However, laser printers use a heated fuser to make the toner stay on the paper.
All too often many fusers also melt the film and it sticks to the laser printer
fuser. It was
such a hit or miss affair that we have elected to just stick with inkjet transfer
papers.
"Soft Hand" vs. "Hard
Hand"
In the trade, "hand" refers to how a transfer
feels, before washing and after. A soft hand can certainly be felt
but is not objectionable. A hard hand, as the name implies, is very stiff and
can be objectionable.
 Our
heat transfer paper has a relatively soft hand, after transferring
and is even softer after the first washing. However, you will always
be able to feel it. There is no escaping that fact.
Be wary of advertising that claims to have
"practically no hand" or "a hand so soft you can barely feel
it" or some other nonsense. While you certainly don't want a cardboard
feel, there has to be enough film to make the image stick on the garment.
Also, because there is not much film, colors can be quite dull.
More importantly, you don't want a lot of expensive re-do's
because the transfer won't hold up in the wash and the customer brings them
back.
 "Clear"
Transfer Paper vs. "Opaque" Transfer Paper
These two transfer paper types have two totally different functions.
"Clear" transfer paper is for white and light
ash gray fabrics and "opaque" transfer paper is
for colored fabrics. We provide exact details on the next page of your
tour.
"Preprinted
transfers" vs. "Your inkjet printed transfers"
Again, these are two completely
different types of transfers, which serve completely different
needs and purposes.
99% of preprinted
transfers (like you can buy online) are screen-printed on a special
type of paper. When the transfer is put on a shirt and heated in a heat press,
the ink becomes soft and sticky. When the heat is removed, the ink is stuck
on the shirt so tightly that the paper back is easily removed and nothing remains
on the shirt except the image.
Many of our clients produce shirts with preprinted transfers, in addition to printing
their own, on an inkjet printer. This is a viable option, for large quantities
of the same thing. Unlike
preprinted transfers, 99% of inkjet printed transfers
involve custom images (like photos) with multi-colors and often
under 100 pieces. This customization, with no setup costs, and very low
startup costs, as well as fast turnaround times, are
the main strengths of printing your own heat transfers.
These competitive strengths are so important that even many screen-printing companies
also offer inkjet printed transfers.
The most important
fundamental to remember about inkjet printed heat transfers, is how it works.
By itself, ink has no ability to stick to a shirt! It requires some type of film
to make the image stay on the shirt. This film covers the paper sheet. This also
means that if you do not trim unprinted areas off of your transfer, the film in
that area will also be on the shirt.
There is no way to get around this fact. Of course, a rectangular or square image
is really easy to trim (we have done a few hundred thousands in our time). The
potential difficulty is in trying to trim an irregular shape.
This is why many pros will put a “box” around an irregular shape and
then apply a colored background fill (to make the transfer into a square or a
rectangle).
While inkjet printed transfers are not the solution for every situation, the market
is so huge that literally tens of thousands (and probably more in the summer)
of shirts are sold every day with this process.
Other T-shirt Decorating
Methods
Because
no one T-shirt decorating method “can do it all”, we teach
you about other methods during your T-shirt business tutorial. They are: 
Vinyl
Cutters & Vinyl – Being able to vinyl cut your own designs,
letters and numbers, as needed, provides extra opportunities. We’ll take
a look at how.
 Flock
Letters & Numbers – There are often requests for just
simple names and numbers on a T-shirt. If you don’t have a vinyl cutter
this is the next best way to do the job. You’ll learn how.
 Uniform
Numbers – There is a big demand for putting numbers on uniforms,
shirts, jackets, etc. The most common type is 6” and 8” black or
white numbers. You’ll learn how to fulfill this simple request
Now that you have a general understanding of T-Shirt decorating
basics, let's go learn specifics about our professional grade "Alpha"
heat transfer paper, on the next
page.
Updated: Friday September 10, 2010   
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