Things You Should Know Before You Buy Heat Transfer Paper

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Things You Should Know Before You Buy Heat
Transfer Paper

• PRINTING T SHIRT DESIGNS

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• Heat transfer paper is one of the best ways to
  make high-quality custom T-shirts and other
  garments like headware. Its incredibly easy to
  use but if you are new to it, then there are a
  few things that you need to know before you
  purchase your first heat transfer paper.
• Knowing these important rules will help you make
  sure that you buy the right paper and save your
  money. Lets dive into the rules you must abide
  by when it comes to heat transfer paper 

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What Kind of Heat Transfer Paper Printer You Have?

• It is important to consider what kind of printer
  you use for heat transfer paper because heat
  transfer papers work with laser printers or
  inkjet printers.
• They are not cross-compatible. So, if you have a
  laser printer, you will have to buy a laser
  transfer paper. And if you own an inkjet printer,
  then you need to buy inkjet transfer paper.
• If you do not know what type of printer you own,
  all you need to do is look for the model name on
  the label present on the printers surface. Some
  printers even have inkjet or laser written in the
  name. Or you can just run a Google search on the
  models name. You can also open your printer to
  see if it has toner cartridges or ink cartridges.
  Ink cartridges are small and have liquid ink. On
  the other hand, toner cartridges are larger and
  have toner powder.

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Laser Printers vs Inkjet Printers
Both printers have the capability of producing
high quality, professional T-shirts and garments.
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• Inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers.
  In the garment personalization industry inkjet
  printers have the lowest startup prices, and are
  most suited for printing photos. The drawback,
  however, is that they dont self-weed, you have
  to cut around the picture before you press it
  into a piece of clothing, especially when working
  with darker garments.
• Laser printers are more expensive and are better
  for vector-based art, especially if you use some
  sort of RIP software like FOREVER Transfer RIP
  that lets you rasterize photos and gives superior
  washability. The biggest perk of doing heat
  transfer using laser printers is that they are
  self weeding, so you do not need to cut around
  the garment.

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Light HTP vs Dark HTP

• This is extremely important to decide before you
  even begin. You need to decide whether you want
  to use heat transfer paper dark or light because
  white and light-coloured items need a different
  transfer paper than black and dark-coloured
  ones. 
• The reason for this is that the toner and ink
  depend on a white background to produce accurate
  colour reproduction and be visible. So, on white
  or light backgrounds, such as tan, off-white,
  natural, and light ash grey, you will need a
  transfer paper specially made for light garments.
  A light heat transfer paper has a transparent
  polymer coating, so whenever it is placed on a
  coloured garment the shirt colour will take on
  the empty spaces in the print.

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• On the contrary, dark coloured garments, like
  green, red, navy, black, and blue, need paper
  made only for dark garments. A dark heat transfer
  paper contains an opaque, white polymer coating,
  so the image will transfer as originally
  designed. However, both types of paper can be
  used for iron on heat transfer paper or
  commercial heat press. 
• Another thing to know, before you finalise what
  is the best printable heat transfer paper is the
  type of fabric. The majority of transfer papers
  work with poly/cotton, 100 cotton, and 100
  polyester. If you are working on fabrics other
  than cotton, polyester and poly/cotton blends,
  there is no guarantee what kind of heat transfer
  papers will or will not work with them.

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Type of Artwork
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• One last thing you need to consider is the kind
  of artwork you want to print. Vector graphics are
  line or shape-based illustrations made using
  software like CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator.
  Vectors are most commonly printed using heat
  transfer paper. So, if you want to print
  vector-style graphics, then you can use any type
  of heat transfer papers. But if you want to print
  photographs, then your choices will be limited.
• With photos, your best choice is inkjet transfer
  paper for lights, however, inkjet transfer paper
  for darks has a little caveat. Inkjet transfer
  paper for darks has a white, opaque and thick
  coating which can be felt once the image is
  transferred onto the shirt.
• Laser transfer paper is difficult for photos
  because standard laser printers only deliver bold
  colours. To print a broad range of colours, you
  will need a more advanced laser printer that uses
  white toner.
• Do not let these factors confuse you. Just keep
  in mind that if you want to print photos, inkjet
  heat transfer paper for white and light-coloured
  garments is a good place to start. For
  vector-based designs, you can use any kind of
  heat transfer paper.

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Tips Tricks to Successfully Nail Transfer Paper
Application

• When using a light heat transfer paper
• Always mirror your image before you start
  printing it.
• You can trim the edges of the image you want to
  press, but it is not a compulsory step.
• Always remember to remove the transfer paper
  backing after pressing the design onto the
  garment. Also, it is important to remove it while
  it is still hot.
• When using dark heat transfer paper, follow these
  tips for the best results
• Do not attempt to mirror your image before you
  start printing.
• With dark paper, any place that you do not cut
  away the transfer paper, your desired design will
  end up getting transferred as white on the dark
  garment. 
• Always remove the paper backing before you, lay
  it on your garment and always keep the image face
  up.
• Cover your transfer paper using parchment paper
  or silicone before pressing.
• Remember to not peel your transfer paper from the
  garment as soon as you have pressed it. Only
  remove the parchment paper or the sheet of
  silicone.

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Concluding It Up

• Now that you know what to consider before buying
  heat transfer paper, you have the green light to
  start shopping and creating the best custom
  printed clothes.