If you’re looking for the best quality garment prints to complete the foundation of your business, you need to first uncover which form of printing is best for you – vinyl printing or heat transfers. Innotex Transfers can help with weeding out the facts and finding the best fit.Vinyl printing is a popular method of printing in the industry. Still, it is argued that heat transfer is more efficient and productive – we’re going to go through reasons why it’s argued and conclude the debate.From the production process to applications to durability, here you will find all the information to make an education decision as to which method will work best for your business. Let’s start with the basics.
How does vinyl printing work?
To start off, vinyl cutting/printing is also known as vinyl heat transfer. This form of printing uses vinyl solid-coloured paper to cut out the desired design using a blade that detects the cut lines converted on the chosen design. After the machine has done this, a manual process takes over. Before the garment can be heat pressed, excess material around the design is removed using a picking tool – a popular term for this is called weeding (or picking). This design is then cut out from the vinyl paper down to size, placed onto the garment and is pressed via a heat press machine at 160º for 10 seconds (thus the alternative name given).
How do heat transfers work?
Heat transfer (also known as heat press transfer) is completed through high pressure and temperature. The design is printed on transfer paper, a type of wax sheet that transfers the design onto a garment. Similarly, this method also uses a heat press machine, but does not require a cutter to outline the design, nor does it require weeding. Heat transfer is as simple as printing and pressing (at approximately 165-175º, the garment will have a finished design within 10 seconds).
Both forms of printing probably sound similar right now, but everything is not what it seems. Although both use a heat press machine, there are further machinery requirements for each method.
Machinery requirements for vinyl printing
Vinyl cutter
As mentioned briefly, vinyl printing uses a machine that detects cut lines from the artwork. This machine is simply called a vinyl cutter. Vinyl paper is loaded into the machine ready to release just like a standard home printer. However, inside this particular machine sits a very small blade that is aligned just enough to cut over the cut lines in the paper without damaging the machine.
But what are these cut lines you might wonder? Well, vinyl printing makes use of vectored artwork, as opposed to bitmap artwork. If you’ve ever worked with computer design software like Photoshop, you’ll probably recognise bitmap lines made up of pixels.
Vectored artwork uses clean lines that can be scaled to very large sizes, be edited and still retain its shape. The cut lines that vinyl printing uses are actually taken from vectored artwork, using software to convert them into cut lines. The machine is therefore automated by a computer to create precise cuts. Pricing for a vinyl cutter can vary between £120 and £500. Depending on the size of your business and your needs, you may find an average priced vinyl cutter for £300 will do the job.
Heat press machine
Vinyl printing also requires a heat press machine to press the design onto a garment. Depending on the size of the design and workspace required, a larger machine may come in handy. However, most commonly, small heat press machines can start under £100, which will cover at least 7” x 3.8”. If you’re looking to invest in a higher end, larger machine, they can be found for up to £480, with a workspace of 16” x 20”.
Check out our ultimate guide to heat press machines!
Machinery requirements for heat transfers
Printer
Not just any printer. Heat transfer processes cannot be completed with a standard home printer – instead either a laser or inkjet printer is required to get the transfer paper to do its job. Though there are two options for heat transfer printing, inkjet printing is recommended due to a higher assortment of transfer papers to choose from. Inkjet printers can be found between £100 and £300, whereas if you are looking into laser printers, they are slightly cheaper at £90 to £250.
It is widely known that inkjet printers produce higher quality designs, but laser printers can produce prints at a faster rate. In this instance, we argue that speed is not necessarily the most important factor – here at Innotex Transfers believe quality comes first.
Heat press machine
This one is a given. However, unlike vinyl printing, heat transfer requires a larger workspace due to the larger projects at hand for this method. A heat press machine the size of no more than 11” x 17” is sufficient to do the job, as it is unlikely that production requires something as large as 16” x 20”. As mentioned with vinyl printing, machines can be found from £100 up to £480, with average prices at £300.
Now that we’ve established what each method requires, let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of each printing method.
Pros of vinyl printing production
• Uses vectored artwork
• Images can be scaled and stretched to any size while maintaining the quality
• Vinyl is also available in metallic, glitter and reflective paper
• A cheaper form of printing
Cons of vinyl printing production
• Vinyl prints must be weeded to remove excess material from the design
• Colour palettes are limited to solid colours only
• Requires a vinyl printer cutter to shape the design
• Each colour is printed and pressed one by one (pressing repeatedly on a previous layer can damage it)
• Mostly manual production (manual labour will take additional time)
• Vinyl designs shrink slightly after pressed (when adding multiple colours, it is difficult to create a precise design)
Printing with vinyl has the added benefit of using added graphics like glitter and reflective designs. Vinyl also has cheaper costs overall. Vinyl printing is a longer process as weeding (or picking) is needed before the design can be transferred.
Each roll must be placed in the printer before cutting. While single colour designs are sleek, multiple colours in a design must be added individually by hand, meaning your design may not result in a crisp finish. In addition to this, adding multiple colours increases thickness to the garment makes the garment heavier and uncomfortable to wear.
Pros of heat transfers production
• There is no machine required to cut the design
• Multiple colours can be printed at once
• Additional colour options to match pantone colours
• High quantities can be produced at a fast rate
• An easier process, requiring less manual labour and steps
Cons of heat transfers production
• Reflective and glitter designs cannot be created
• Smaller quantities are not as cost effective
• There may be a stiffer feel to the fabric once it has been pressed on
• Inkjet/laser printer required – adds to equipment cost
Heat transfer is a better option when it comes to multi-coloured logos with specific shades, as vinyl is only available in solid colours. Production is more efficient with higher quantities as well, which is actually quicker to produce than handling a small quantity.
Unlike vinyl printing, heat transfers use inkjet/laser printers which adds maintenance cost. In addition to this heat transfer doesn’t provide the option for metallic, glitter and reflective designs. The best that heat transfer can do is find a similar Pantone colour to metallic designs.
Which application is best for our materials?
Vinyl’s long-lasting material is more appealing and has benefits such as added effects (reflective, metallic and glitter wear). It can be suitable for one-time events but may feel uncomfortable. However, sportswear will benefit from vinyl printing as the breathable plastic fibres in polyester has a lightweight feel to it. That being said, there’s reasons for the cheaper cost of production – it is not deemed suitable for industries such as retail where every day clothing is sold, as the finish feels cheap on garments that aren’t at least 50% polyester.
However, heat transfer is more suited toward retail and workwear that requires multi-coloured designs, allowing consumers to choose from a variety of colours. This method is also useful for promotional wear much like vinyl, such as one-time, annual or seasonal events. Using a heat transfer print over vinyl for promotional wear is much more cost effective, with designs most likely being in demand.
Durability and artwork limitations
When providing consumers with printed garments, it’s important for your business to determine the factors of durability and options available for artwork on garments. Reading through this, you may already have your eyes on one or the other.
Innotex Transfers covers several printing and transfer methods that come with individual benefits, so it’s imperative to not be hasty with the choice of printing until you gather all the facts. And that’s what we’re here for.
When it comes to vinyl printing, the benefit to using this method of printing for your garments is the durability; most garments that have vinyl printed designs can maintain the artwork for its garment’s lifespan. However, with heat transfers, the benefits lie with its ability to cater to complex designs; if you’re looking to print a design that doesn’t use simple, basic shapes, heat transfer has the ability to transfer specific lines and shapes to the garment.
Confused? Let’s break it down. For example, let’s say you have a design with 3 colours. Both vinyl print and heat transfer can accommodate this design, but which method will have a better finish? Heat transfer as opposed to vinyl print. Vinyl may last longer in the wash but the artwork desired will not be possible to produce even using vectored artwork, since weeding is a manual process and may not pick out tiny gaps in complex designs using the naked eye, not to mention the precision needed when adding different coloured layers.
Summary: Simple design, one solid colour – vinyl is the way to go. Complex design, multiple Pantone colours – heat transfers all the way.
Economies of scale
Our last topic discusses economies of scale within the textiles industry. If we take a look at vinyl printing, as production increases, there is no lowered cost of production as vinyl paper is still wasted regardless of increased demand of product. Even by reusing excess vinyl material, the time consumption from adjusting the vinyl paper in the cutter to matching the size on the computer application would deem the process more counter-productive.
Using heat transfer as an example, if it had an increase in demand resulting in higher production, this method will benefit from the higher quantities and be more productive and cost effective, as it lacks manual labour. If a product is in high demand, vinyl printing would not meet the standards as the finished result will not withstand that of a heat press transfer finish. This can result in diseconomies of scale as the process would match that of a trial-and-error process.
Where does each method stand?
Low machinery costs – VINYL
High production – HEAT TRANSFERS
High artwork limitations – VINYL
Most applications – HEAT TRANSFERS
Better durability – VINYL
Economies of scale – HEAT TRANSFERS
Our comparison concludes heat transfers as the more efficient, productive and better-quality printing method. The textiles transfer industry has benefited greatly from trends and developments over the decades and will continue to do so as machinery advances in the coming years.
As our blog has discussed, various methods are deemed appropriate in certain situations, where productivity, durability and pricing are concerned. If you would like to find out more about Innotex Transfer’s approach to the industry and our developments concerning heat transfer, get in touch with our team for enquiries or visit our website.
