New to Heat Printing? Where to Begin

You’re new to heat printing and don’t know where to begin. You know you want to do it, but don’t know where to start. Maybe you’re afraid to start. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Before you even start to heat print, you’re going to need the equipment. Lucky for you, all you need is a heat press. There is a heat press for every need and budget. If you are going to use your heat press for your business, then you want to make sure you get a quality press. There are heat presses available for $300, but you’ll want to steer away from these presses for your business.

You’ve probably heard the common saying, “you get what you pay for”. This is also true for heat presses. Since your business relies heavily on this one piece of equipment, spending a little more will give you that much needed reliability.

After you have your heat press, you are ready to start heat printing. Get a pack of display transfers and some blank apparel to start a t-shirt display and to practice heat applying your heat transfers.

[Related Content: Creating Sample Apparel]

Placing your first order
Placing your first custom screen printed transfer order is easy, so don’t get worked up! Sign up for Easy View®, our online designer, and start playing with the tools to get acquainted. When you have your first order, you will already be familiar with the design process and you’ll be able to place your first order much faster.

Designing in Easy View
Choose a layout to get started. Pick one you like and go with it.

Change your text, colors, background color (apparel color), the size, and clip art.
Choose your print method, transfer type, fabric, and quantity.
Make sure you save your design so you can access it in the future.
Click the Preview and Share button to view your design on a shirt and a model.
When you are ready to order, click the Review Order and Add to Cart button.

That’s really all there is to designing and placing your custom transfers. Go through the cart process, and your order will get processed and shipped to you quickly!

Are you stuck on any part of this? Give us a call or email us and we can help you through it.

Are you stuck on which print method or transfer type to use?
For most orders you will choose Screen Print for the print method. Stretch Litho is our full color heat transfer option, so if you need full color, choose Stretch Litho. All of our other custom screen printed transfers are under the Screen Print method.

If you need help in choosing a transfer type, here is a brief explanation of each transfer:
Goof Proof®: this is the transfer you will probably choose most of the time. It is our most popular, easiest transfer to apply. It goes on cotton, polyester, and cotton/poly blends. It is durable and applies in only 4 seconds.

Polytrans: this is a lower temperature application alternative to Goof Proof. This applies at 340ºF for 8 seconds. If the apparel you are applying to has some heat sensitivity to it, this is an alternative option.

Hot Split: this is our softest screen printed transfer type. It applies with a softer hand than Goof Proof and Polytrans. This transfer type works best with burnout t-shirts, or other lightweight apparel where you need a lighter feeling ink.

Elasti Prints®: this transfer type works perfectly on 100% stretchy polyester, which is usually used in performance wear. It also applies at a much lower temperature of 300ºF, so it also works great for heat sensitive polyester.

Glitter: exactly what it sounds like, this transfer type has a sparkle throughout the ink. It has a glossy look and feel. This type of transfer works great for cheer, dance, and fashion apparel. There are 10 glitter ink colors to choose from. Glitter inks cannot be used with other ink types, only with other glitter inks.

The last choice for transfer type is template. Choose template if you want to order a transfer design that incorporates a group of signatures into the design. You can design the template, and we will mail the template to you for your group to actually sign. Mail this template back with the signatures, and your transfer design will include the signatures in it!

Create a t-shirt with a group of signatures in the design.

Once you design your transfers, the next step is to order your blank apparel. We have blank t-shirts that you can order at the same time as your transfers to make it easy for you. Once you get both shipments (one with your transfers and the other with your blank shirts), you can start heat printing your project.

As long as you follow the instructions that come with your transfers, you should have no issues applying them. If you need assistance at any point, give us a call or email us! We are always here to help you in any step of the process.

Getting Customers
Now that you know how to design and order your transfers and blank apparel, next is getting customers for your business. This can be tricky and difficult and where most businesses struggle. We have some guides and resources to help you market your t-shirt business.

Are you creating custom apparel for groups? Do you plan on creating your own line of t-shirts? Knowing this will give you a starting point and help you to decide on how to market your t-shirt business.

[Related Content: T-Shirt Marketing 101: Product]

Heat Printing Resources
If you are new to heat printing, there are several places you can get information to learn more about heat printing. Try out these resources for all your heat printing needs, for tips, tricks and inspiration!

Subscribe to the Transfer Express blog to get daily tips sent to your email
Watch our videos in our Media Library
Read our guides in our Ebook Library
Follow us on social media to get daily ideas and to join the heat printing community and conversations!
Join our Easy Prints Dealers group, our closed group on Facebook, to collaborate with your peers, ask questions and get answers!

We just took away all your excuses to getting started, so what are you waiting for? Now is the time, let’s heat print!

New to Heat Printing? Where to Begin

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