 Do you know the difference between DTF and sublimation? We do and we'll show you what we know right now. What is up? Welcome back. Do you like to do a builder to make it? So do we. And we have a new video each week. This week we're doing a versus challenge, a little head-to-head competition. We're doing direct to film printing versus sublimation. Since we've gotten our DTF printer we've had lots of questions about what's the difference between DTF and sublimation. So we thought we'd run down a little side-by-side comparison. A little challenge, a little one-to-one. And tell you the differences. I'm going to take the role of sublimation. And I'll be playing the role of direct to film printing. So what is it? For sublimation we're using a converted inkjet printer with sublimation inks onto sublimation paper. We use a heat press to transfer that ink to your substrate, your fabric. And it takes that ink and makes it from a solid to a gas instantly. And it bonds at a molecular level to the fabric. What is direct to film printing? We are also using a converted inkjet printer and an oven for curing the adhesive. Direct to film printing is also CMYK but with white. And it prints to a PET film, a polytriceratops type of film. It's a polyethylene terephilate. Yep, it prints face down on the film. The ink is similar to the ink that they use in direct to garment printing. Where you add an adhesive powder to the back, you bake the powder in to meld it with the ink. And then you also heat press it down to a substrate. So what's it take to set up these tools? For the sublimation printer the Epson Eco Tank 2760 was very easy. All I had to do was pull it out of the box. Instead of putting regular printer ink in it, I filled the CMYK wells with sublimation ink. And I didn't have any special software to install. It installed the software that came with the printer when I plugged it in. After that I could print from any program. So the DTF was a little more to set up. First I had to uncrate it. And then I set it up like a regular printer. But I had to add the inks to the well. And then I had to pull each of the inks through to the nozzle head or the print head. And then I had to install some special software, the RIP software. This will allow me to print the white and print the white behind it. I think it took me about 90 minutes to set the whole thing up and get my first print going. Not too bad. Not too bad. So what are we printing on? For sublimation, I'm printing on these A-sub sublimation paper transfers. These are coming a box of $110 for about $20. I'm printing on that PET film. It's like a dusty transfer. I get 100 of these for about $80. Then I'll also need the adhesive powder, which is about $25 for 17 ounces. That'll also do about 100 prints. And then these will last for about a year. I can store these. Same with the sublimation. You can print your prints and then store them in a cool dark place for about a year. Same. So what can I print on? So here's where some of the big changes come in. For sublimation, we're restricted to some of those synthetic fabrics like the polycrylics and the nylons. You can print on wood, metal, cotton, but those items must be pre-treated before you can print on them with sublimation. Now for a DTF, I can use that like Frank's Red Hot. I put it on everything. It works great on cotton, canvas, linen, fleece. It will do wood, metal, plastic, acrylic. The only thing I've had trouble with so far are metal tumblers. That's what I was going to say. Will it do that tumbly? Yeah, it will. I'll figure it out. So let's talk about the texture. What do they feel like once they're printed? This is also where some of the changes come in. For sublimation, because that ink bonds to the material and to the fabric, you don't feel anything. It just feels like the texture of the t-shirt. And this will last the lifetime of the t-shirt because it has bonded at a molecular level to the fabric. So DTF doesn't feel as nice as sublimation. Sublimation has no feel. But the DTF feels like a thin vinyl. And it's a little more stretchy than vinyl also. And it'll last about 50 washes. You shouldn't be wearing a t-shirt more than 50 times anyway. So let's talk about the colors. They're both print and colored ink. Now with sublimation, the colors aren't quite as vibrant. But they're there. It's colored. They still look good. But once you have that DTF dialed in, it's like a fine finicky Ferrari. Once it's dialed in, those colors are very vibrant. And you got some really great detail. And again, it works on light and dark fabrics. You can put it on anything. The challenge with sublimation though, is because it doesn't use that white ink, you have to print it on light colored fabric. So these white t-shirts, white tumblers, white metal, that's pretty much where your bulk of your uses are going to be. So but it's great when it prints. Maintenance. LOL for sublimation. What maintenance? We put that ink in that printer. Let it sit for three months. Can print tomorrow? No maintenance. Maybe a print head cleaning at some point. But so far for our printer, we've had it a year. I haven't had to do a print head cleaning yet. So DTF is a little more involved. It's like a fine finicky Ferrari, like I said. So every time I go to use it, I do a head cleaning and a nozzle flush, just to start because that white ink likes to separate and clog almost immediately. So you have to stay on it. But once you do that daily head cleaning and that nozzle flush, it prints like a champ. It works swimmingly. Let's talk volume. So for the sublimation printer, I can print prints from any program, just like you would print on any standard printer. But my press times might change a little, depending upon what I'm pressing it on, anywhere from one minute to five minutes. And I'm limited with this printer by that eight and a half by 11 print size. With DTF, again, it takes a little bit longer per print. I have a couple of more steps. I have to add the adhesive and I have to bake it. So it does take a little bit more time. But my press time is 10 seconds at 300 degrees, no matter what. I have very quick press time and I have a good print size of 11 by 17, so I can hit larger areas. So what is the cost of entry? So for the sublimation printer, at least for our 2760, it was pretty cheap to get into the sublimation game at, what, about $250, less than $300. We did have to buy the inks and the printer. So if you're gonna step up your game and buy a Ferrari, it does cost a little bit more. So all in for the oven, the inks and the printer, it was about $2,800. I did have to buy the adhesive separately. Oh, and it did come with 100 of those pet films to begin with. So for sublimation, our prints are about $0.60 per print. And it's a little more expensive if you're looking for that higher level thing. So mine is about $1.50 per print for a DTF. So who won the battle? Well, it was like a tie. It was like a little Rocky and Creed. They knocked each other out. They're great depending on the business purpose. If you want to do koozies and tumblers, then you'll want to stick with that sublimation printer. I think that's the way to go. But we want to be able to print on untreated wood, make our own t-shirts, and have prints available for our customers. So a DTF was the way to go for us. So all in all, I think it's great to have both jewels. Again, it depends on your business purpose. And I'm glad that we have both so that we can choose which one we need for the project that we have. You got to keep your options open. And a big thanks to all of our patrons. We love you guys. Thank you so much. We enjoy talking to you. We enjoy hanging out with you. And we know who you are when you see us on the Tuesday Live during test cuts. So I got my eye on you. Well, we are about out of time. So if you're not going to join us for the patron after show, we will see you next week where we'll do a building and make it again. And don't forget to stop by on Tuesdays where we do a test cut Tuesdays live. That's where I take a new design. I cut it and we find out if it worked or not live. We paint it and see how it looks. Well, we paint it. We chip chat with you a little bit. And that's what makes it fun. And we get it all done in about an hour. Kim likes to tell stories and put me on blast. I do.