Inkjet Heat Transfer Paper Types

As you continue your tour, teaching you about the heat transfer business, this page guides you through understanding the different paper types. Different types of heat transfer paper produce different effects and are used for different reasons. Totally understanding their applications increases your opportunities.

Because we are so picky about what we sell, we only offer what we think is the "pick of the litter".

We made shirts and caps for 22 years in our former retail shop and know the importance of offering good-looking products.

However, we still want to emphasize that while our paper is of the highest quality it is still just a heat transfer paper. This means that the film covers the entire sheet. What you don't trim off will go on the garment and you can see it; some more, some less.

Click on the picture to see a larger version Transfer was done using TransMagic! inks

Alpha Double Green is a Warm peel heat transfer paper, for inkjet printers. It is used with white or off-white 100% cotton and 50/50 fabrics.

This paper produces a slight, photographic sheen when pressed and peeled warm. It is best used when that look is desired, but when the image or picture is easy to trim. Because it is the film that is slightly shiny, untrimmed portions will be very noticeable on the fabric (that is why we put the lettering on the example, on the picture, rather than under it).

Because it is a professional-grade paper it must be applied with a heat press. This is true with all of our heat transfer papers.

Our presentation of Alpha Double Green heat transfer paper is the culmination of many years of constant testing, tweaking and searching for the best value, based on performance, consistency and price.

First presented as merely Double Green Line, the name was changed to Alpha Double Green™ when we felt like it was the best available paper on the market, for white shirts.

Vinyl Cutter Option - The Alpha Double Green heat transfer paper can also be easily cut with a vinyl cutter plotter. This allows graphics and lettering to be cut out and applied to white shirts. "How Is That Done?" NOTE- Most heat transfer paper for white shirts (including our own Alpha Purple Cold and Jet-Pro SofStretch) can NOT be cut with a vinyl cutter.

Of course, everyone always claims to have the “best” of whatever they sell. All we can say is that we have many hundreds of very happy (but picky) customers and our testimonial page is but a fraction of the comments that we have received.

Read about all of our papers and if you want to test them all, you may purchase a small Alpha sampler pack of all of our inkjet heat transfer papers (see "Ink/Paper Prices" at the top of this screen).

You have no risks. If you buy our heat transfer paper and are not delighted, we’ll give you a prompt and cheerful refund. It’s that simple.

If you want to test, before you buy anything, click on “Free Samples” (at the top left of this screen) and we will zip some free samples out to you.

1000 500 sheets 300 sheets 200 sheets 100 sheets 25 sheets 8.5 x 11 $550 55¢/sheet $300 60¢/sheet $207 69¢/sheet $146 73¢/sheet $75 75¢/sheet $25 $1/sheet  Purchase

11 x 17	$1,100 $1.10/sheet	$600 $1.20/sheet	$414 $1.38/sheet	$292 $1.46/sheet	$150 $1.50/sheet	$50 $2/sheet
Purchase

Alpha Purple Cold is a Cold peel heat transfer paper, for inkjet printers. It is used with white or off-white 100% cotton and 50/50 fabrics.

With this heat transfer paper, the garment is removed from the press and you wait about 45 seconds before you peel the paper back off.

This paper and technique produces a semi-gloss finish, with a relatively smooth touch.

While this is our least popular heat transfer paper (in terms of sheets sold) it enjoys a very strong demand among those who buy it. For some, it is actually their most popular because their customers prefer the look.

This reality is exactly why we offer our Alpha Sampler Packs to our new customers. The packs include 25 sheets of each type. This is enough to make a few samples for display, and still have enough left over to fill a few small orders.

Some will get a 100 pack (cheaper price) of the type they think will be most used and also a sampler pack, to show alternatives.

1000+ 500 sheets 300 sheets 200 sheets 100 sheets 25 sheets 8.5 x 11 $650 65¢/sheet $350 70¢/sheet $240 80¢/sheet $170 85¢/sheet $90 90¢/sheet $27.50 $1.10/sheet  Purchase

11 x 17	$1,300 $1.30/sheet	$700 $1.40/sheet	$480 $1.60/sheet	$340 $1.70/sheet	$180 $1.80/sheet	$55 $2.20/sheet
Purchase

This high quality heat transfer paper is specifically designed to print transfers to apply to dark colored fabric, including black, using an inkjet printer.

8.5 x 11 1000+ 500 sheets 300 sheets 200 sheets 100 sheets 25 sheets  Purchase $1,110 $1.10/sheet $575 $1.15/sheet $360 $1.20/sheet $250 $1.25/sheet $130 $1.30/sheet $37.50 $1.50/sheet

11 x 17	$2,200 $2.20/sheet	$1,150 $2.30/sheet	$720 $2.40/sheet	$500 $2.50/sheet	$260 $2.60/sheet	$75 $3.00/sheet
Purchase

Click on the picture to see a larger version Transfer was done using TransMagic! inks

We added Jet-Pro SofStretch to our to our well-known Alpha brand heat transfer papers to provide a heat transfer paper that has as soft a feel (hand) as is possible.

The paper also leaves very little residue on the garment in untrimmed areas (especially after washing) so is also our best paper to apply lettering to white T-shirts. However, we should caution you that “very little” does not mean totally “invisible”. The discerning eye can still see and feel it. It’s just the best that we have seen for this purpose (the noticeable line around the lettering in the close-up picture is from the paper edge, not the film).

The Jet-Pro SofStretch heat transfer paper also has a certain amount of “stretch” (when peeled hot) so it also resists cracking when washed. It also does not “flake” at all, as some of the expensive specialty ink and papers do.

With all the upside to this paper, you may wonder if there is any downside in using it for your white T-shirts.

There are potentially two. First, while the printed colors are nice, they are totally flat. If you are decorating shirts with photographs, a great number of customers will prefer a slight “photographic sheen” like that produced with our Alpha Double Green paper.

Second, while Jet-Pro SofStretch has very good washability, and retains color very well, it is still not quite as good as our Alpha brand heat transfer papers for whites (currently there is no effective paper for colored fabrics in the “soft” line).

1000+ 500 sheets 200 sheets 100 sheets 50 sheets 25 sheets 8.5 x 11 $490 49¢/sheet $275 55¢/sheet $120 60¢/sheet $70 70¢/sheet $40 80¢/sheet $25 $1/sheet Purchase

11 x 17	$980 98¢/sheet	$550 $1.10/sheet	$240 $1.20/sheet	$140 $1.40/sheet	$80 $1.60/sheet	$50 $2.00/sheet
Purchase

A simple and easy method of putting just names and numbers on garments and caps.

Flock Appliqués (transfers) are precut velour fabric, with a heat activated adhesive on the backs of the letters and numbers.

Heat transfer paper is not a very good method of putting just names and numbers on fabric. Unlike plastic looking vinyl, flock presents a very desirable, high quality image because it is a fabric.

Many, especially embroiders, like flock because it gives them the ability to provide a quality image, on small orders. Their philosophy is that if you have to tell a customer “no”, on something simple, you may lose them for everything.

The most common combinations are black letters on white shirts and white letters on black shirts. Royal Blue and red are the next most popular. Fuchsia (pink) is quite popular with young girls.

Flock Prices - More Info

Alpha Hi-Gloss pressing paper produces a bright gloss finish on the Alpha Gold Dark paper, mentioned above.

You do not print on the paper itself. You use Alpha Hi-Gloss as a pressing sheet instead of the parchment paper mentioned in the Alpha Gold Dark section.

After the Alpha Gold Dark transfer is printed and placed on the garment (see above), an Alpha Hi-Gloss sheet is placed over the transfer. Note: it is not necessary to trim the Alpha Hi-Gloss sheet because it leaves no residue on the fabric.

Pressing time and temperature is the same as if you were using the parchment paper pressing sheet (Don’t worry about times and temperature. Every pack of paper is sent with detailed instructions).

There are two major facts that you must remember, when using this paper. First, the Alpha Hi-Gloss pressing sheet must be peeled off cold. In this case, cold means room temperature and “air-cooled”. Here’s why.

If the shirt is warm (much less hot) when you peel the paper, the Alpha Gold Dark film will pull off of the shirt. The same thing happens if you “force-cool” the shirt. Let the garment cool naturally. Test the temperature by touching the paper over the transfer (bare parts of the garment cools faster).

The second important fact to remember is that Alpha Hi-Gloss can not be used with sublimation ink. It can only be used with regular or heat transfer inks. It doesn’t matter what type of ink, just that it not be sublimation ink.

We did marketing research to prove to ourselves that Alpha Hi-Gloss pressing paper would make our friends and clients more money. Click Here, to read about our tests.

Alpha Hi-Gloss is offered in one of our Sampler Packs that we mentioned. It is only offered in 100 sheet quantities because, quite frankly, it is so cheap that it is not worth our time to count it out for broken (25 sheets) packs.

Final Thought about Alpha Hi-Gloss

Our final thought about Alpha Hi-Gloss is about a good marketing idea, to help your profits.

“Names” are important. They add perceived value. On the other hand, “no-name” products have no extra value.

To us, calling this beautiful product a “heat transfer” (to your customer) sounds about as exciting as talking about paint drying.

Think of a name, like “Photo Gloss Shirt” or anything that sounds exciting. If you sound exciting, there is a good chance that your customer will follow your lead.

Putting It All Together

Because you now have excellent, but new, knowledge about all heat transfer papers, you may be confused about which you should chose, for your work.

In this section we briefly discuss the pros and cons of each paper (because no paper does everything), to help you in your decisions (and you can also call us).

– a warm peel paper (removed from the press and peeled in about 15 seconds) that leaves a relatively smooth finish, with a slight photographic sheen.

It is excellent for photographs and images where the brightest colors possible are desired. It is not recommended if you must print words by themselves, off the main image. The unprinted areas will be quite noticeable. One way to circumvent this fact is to print on the image itself.

– a cold peel paper (removed from the press and peeled in about 40 seconds) that leaves a very smooth finish, with the highest gloss possible with this type of paper for whites.

This is an excellent paper when the highest gloss possible is needed. Many of our customers also like it for mouse pads, totes, white caps and other items that won’t be washed. Color retention is excellent but it is more prone to cracking than other types of heat transfer paper because of the “hard” finish produced by cold peeling.

FYI Note – Major damage to shirts is usually caused by customers not following washing instructions. Be sure and read our detailed info in “Pro Tips & Tricks”, later in your tour.

– a cool peel paper (the shirt is removed from the press and the parchment paper is peeled when cool to the touch) that produces a relatively flat finish and is our only paper for colored fabrics.

Our one-step opaque heat transfer paper is thick enough to block out the background of even black fabric, while it is white enough to provide good color. The necessary thickness (to block out underlying fabric color) is the only objection that some folks have. While the paper is certainly not stiff cardboard, it does have more hand (feel) than any other type of transfer paper. It also washes the best of all opaque papers that we have tested.

Some of our customers do refuse to offer colored shirts because of the necessary physical properties of opaque heat transfer paper. However, based on experience, you will give up 40-60% of your sales by only offering white shirts.

- a hot peel paper (the paper backing is removed within 10 seconds, while the shirt is still on the press) that leaves a totally flat finish, but with the softest hand (feel) of any heat transfer paper on the market.

Use this paper when it is necessary to print non-geometric (easy to trim) images and/or just lettering on white fabric. However, we still want to emphasize that untrimmed portions of the transfer are not invisible, just usually acceptable to the buying public. While this paper does wash acceptably, it does not retain colors quite as good as our Alpha paper.

What To Do?

• You can get some of some of everything with our Alpha Sampler Packs: JPGDS-20 (5 sheets of all 4 papers), JPGDS-100 (25 sheets of all 4 papers) or JPDGS-200 (50 sheets of all 4 papers). The samplers have enough to not only test and make samples but also enough to make small orders. We even have a tiny Trial Sampler of 20 mixed sheets for only $19.95. Testing is not a bad idea because people are so different in what they want (20 minutes of observing people in a mall will underscore that fact).

• However, if you know exactly what you want to offer, then get just a small or standard pack of only those heat transfer papers.

Because this page is so long, we grouped all of our paper prices and options on a separate page. If you want to review them now, click here and then hit your back button, to continue learning.

Color Laser Copier & Color Laser Printer Heat Transfer Paper

Because of constant manufacturer quality control problems, we have decided to offer heat transfer paper for inkjet printers only.

The main problem is consistency from one paper lot to the next. On a good day, prints from CLC and CLP systems are OK. On a bad day the prints are a nightmare to run.

Actually, nightmare is a bit of an understatement on the papers offered for Color Laser Printers. All too often, the fusers in laser printers melt the heat transfer paper and it sticks to the fuser. What’s worse is the fact that even if it doesn’t melt it instantly, small particles of the film can build up on the fuser, requiring frequent fuser replacement.

We want to send you printing solutions, not problems.

A professional grade heat transfer paper is essential for quality work. However, a superior T-shirt ink is equally important. On the next page you’ll learn why that’s important to you…

Updated: Friday September 10, 2010