Do-it-yourself thermal transfer paper making. How to make a print on a T-shirt: step-by-step instructions, necessary materials, tips, photos Thermal transfer paper for dark fabrics

Have you seen a T-shirt with an exclusive design or with their own photo printed directly on the fabric? Do you want to make something unusual for yourself, but do not know how such a sticker is made? For this, special thermal transfer paper is used. With your own hands at home, you can easily make an exclusive unique T-shirt, T-shirt, bag and other thing.

Materials and technology

If you have never worked in the field of design or manufacturing of souvenirs, but only saw T-shirts, T-shirts, pillows, mugs, plates and other products in the shop windows that are offered to be made in an exclusive design, for example, with a photo of the future owner, read the brief description the essence of the manufacturing technology of such things.

For any transfer of the image to the object, an intermediate material is used. In this case, thermal transfer paper. With your own hands at home, you can easily apply any image to the fabric (white, dark, colored, natural or synthetic).

In order for the desired image to appear on this intermediate material, of course, it must first be created or found ready-made, and then printed. To perform the layout, template (the picture itself) use various graphic editors - computer programs designed to create and edit images. If you already know how to use Adobe Photoshop or a similar graphics package, you can assume that you have created an image.

The next step is printing. It is performed on the usual just on special sheets. Next, using an iron, the image is transferred to the prepared fabric. At home, you can only apply an image to flat things lying on a flat surface. Making a mug, of course, will not work. For them, special thermopresses with a cylindrical surface are used. Actually the job is easy.

DIY

If you are going to make many products, purchase packages with the appropriate number of sheets. In this case, the unit price will usually cost you less. If you just decide to try yourself as a designer and make original souvenirs for yourself or your friends for some holiday, buy a pack with a maximum of 10 sheets. If you find a company that offers sales by sheet, take the right amount, for example, a couple, by the way, it’s better with a margin (suddenly you print it wrong the first time). Be sure to ask for instructions for the paper and first specify for which fabric, light, dark, natural or synthetic, it is intended.

Working with light fabrics

If the thing you are going to decorate is white, any thermal transfer will do. You can easily make any image on this type of fabric with your own hands. The type of sheets that is intended directly for light fabrics is cheaper, but in this case the image will have to be printed as a mirror image.

Thermal transfer paper for dark fabrics

If your T-shirt is dark (blue, green) or, in general, black, then you need to buy sheets of the appropriate type. This is necessary for the best possible and high-quality results. If you print the image on a white fabric sheet, it will take on the tone of your T-shirt after transfer and the photo will not look natural.

For example, a4 sublimation thermal transfer paper for dark fabrics is suitable, however, it requires special sublimation inks that stick only to synthetic fabrics, and natural ones also require a special substrate.

It is cheaper to get by with a more budget option - sheets for inkjet printers for dark fabrics. In this case, the image will have a kind of white background, the color will not change and there will be no additional costs. It is desirable to leave a white border around the picture. This will give things a finished and beautiful look.

Now you know what thermal transfer paper is. With your own hands, you can easily make any image for a T-shirt or other fabric object right at home. Create exclusive things for yourself, friends and relatives.

All owners of operational printing salons at some point realize the limitations of their capabilities. In fact, all of them can do only one thing - printing on paper, and even then on a limited range with almost the same quality and terms. And the client, as a rule, needs the whole range of products.
The most common task is printing on T-shirts. Moreover, often the circulation is 1-2 pieces, and even a full-color image, such as a photograph. Although I consider putting my photo on a T-shirt or, let's say, a mug, the height of idiocy, the client brings us money, therefore, paraphrasing the well-known phrase “If you want to be an idiot, be one!”
How can you print on a T-shirt?

1. Screen printing.
The industry standard for printing on T-shirts and textiles in general. If you want to get a decent result (full color for example), then you need to invest heavily in both equipment and training. Very advantageous for medium and large print runs. (well, let's say from 100 pieces to infinity).
Someday I'll write how to screen print T-shirts at home, but that's another story...

2. Special printers.
Now there are specials on the market. fabric printers. In principle, a rather promising direction, the only thing that stops is the price of a printer from 9,000 euros. Although there are exceptions here, it is still a rather expensive technique, which is interesting for large volumes of short runs.

3. Thermal transfer
Here it is! This, perhaps, is our option, and we will dwell on it. So:

Thermal transfer is the transfer of an image to various surfaces under the influence of temperature and pressure.

Thermal transfer implies that you have a thermal press. The price of a thermal press ranges from 15,000 to 50,000 rubles, depending on the manufacturer (Chinese noname or a well-known American company) and the type of press - rotary or folding.
But let's talk about abs another time. For now, remember - if you plan to seriously engage in thermal transfer, then you need a press. If this is still a hobby or a test of the pen, an iron will do too ...

As my practice shows, in the head of most people on the issue of thermal transfer, there is a complete mess. I'll try to fix it, so:

Thermal transfer happens:
Jet
laser
stencil
With film

jet transfer

It means printing on inkjet printers. Moreover, if this is a household inkjet printer with conventional ink (I recommend remembering what I wrote about this here and here), then printing is done on special paper, which has a special coating, into which the ink is embedded, then the paper is cut out along the contour of the drawing, if necessary, applied to the fabric with the image down and ironed. As far as I remember, there is even paper for dark fabrics.

The advantages of this method include availability and low cost. All other indicators are solid flaws. The image is unstable, the colors quickly fade and wash out. To the touch, the pattern is rough and “rubber”, in general, FU. I don’t like this type of transfer, and think for yourself - if everything was so simple, then T-shirts with pictures were much cheaper.

The second method of printing with an inkjet printer is more interesting and is commonly known as SUBLIMATION.

Sublimation is the process of the transition of a substance from a solid state to a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid phase.

This is one definition.

Sublimation is the process of evaporation of special dyes at temperatures of 180-200C and diffuse into polyester materials, forming strong chemical bonds with polymers.

Now this seems to be simpler, but if it’s quite simple, then there are some sublimation inks that are poured into an inkjet printer in CISS or refillable cartridges, and the printer must be of the EPSON brand due to the design of its print heads, after which a mirror image is printed on paper, dried and with the help of press - an iron here is unlikely to help transferred to an object with a polymer (synthetics) content of more than 70%.
Important: the paper can be ordinary, but when transferring about 30% of the ink will not transfer, and the image will turn out dull, it is best to take special sublimation paper or, in extreme cases, any matte photo paper. The same Lomond for example.
As for sublimation printing on T-shirts, you don’t even have to try to transfer sublimation to cotton fabric - even if it does, it won’t stick.
For natural fabrics, as well as for dark fabrics, there are special films, which you first weld onto the fabric, as if getting a substrate, and then sublimate on it. The process is somewhat hemorrhoids, and the picture on the T-shirt turns out to be “bulletproof”. But this transfer method is perhaps the most resistant to washing.
Advantages - high image stability, relative cheapness of the "start"
Disadvantages - you need a separate printer, the impossibility of printing on dark fabrics without the use of films, you need a heat press, insufficient resistance to light.
Scope - production of flags, sportswear. Production of metal plates (special metal, recommended for indoor use), plates (special plate, special press is needed) and mugs (special coated mug is needed, mug press)

Transfer from a laser printer.

It has a lot of advantages, to be honest, I have two favorite thermal transfer technologies - laser transfer and screen printing.
So, for a laser transfer, you need a color laser printer (b / w is unlikely to work, due to the high temperature of the oven) and special transfer paper.

Papers are usually divided by brand of printer and by purpose.

1 Paper for light fabrics - suitable for light cotton and synthetic fabrics, the latter is better to hold on to. The image is printed "in a mirror".

2 Dark fabric paper - the image is printed directly, after which the paper is divided into 2 parts - the substrate, which is thrown away and a thin white film with a printed image, and then welded in a press or iron.

3 Substrate for dark fabric - here the situation is similar to sublimation - first we transfer to a special substrate, and then transfer everything together to the fabric. The backing has an interesting velvet finish, but feels rougher to the touch. Also suitable for sublimation.

4 Hard surface transfer paper - the amazing possibility of laser transfer - image transfer to ceramics, wood, metal, glass, plastic, etc. Moreover, these materials can be without special coatings, though to some extent to the detriment of image stability.
Here you definitely need a press and a special mat, which is placed on top and ensures uniform crimping of the product. It doesn't work without a rug .. don't try it. By the way, ritual ovals are often made on monuments in this way, it is a pity that the durability of the image is about a year in the sun.

5 Very interesting cold decal paper.
Remember, before there were such decals that fell into the water and then transferred, say, to the refrigerator? Here, it's almost the same, only printed on a laser printer! As you can see, you don't need a press.
So many people transfer pictures to candles, plates, mugs and any other objects, by the way, paper can be used for both light and dark surfaces.
If you need to achieve image stability, then bake the product in the oven - 15 minutes at 180C and you can’t scrape it off with your fingernail!

That's why I love laser transfer. Firstly, there are a lot of options, secondly, we use a “regular” color laser printer on which you can earn good money on operational printing; thirdly, you can almost always get by with an iron at the initial stage (although in fact you can try an iron, work with it on a print run - masturbation and kindergarten).

And of course, the availability of ready-made media - mouse pads, puzzles, watches and other interesting things that I did not mention above.
Disadvantages - we get a souvenir item, which is still not intended for long-term use.

For example, for an image transferred to a light fabric, about 40 hand washes at 40C are declared. For dark fabrics, durability is higher, but paper is noticeably more expensive. For example, an A4 sheet for a light fabric costs about 18 rubles, and for a dark one the same format is already more than 100 rubles. "cold decal", regardless of the color of the substrate - about 80 rubles for a similar sheet.
With all this, profitability remains very good, the main thing is to correctly set up the process.

Screen transfer.

A big and serious topic that boils down to two simple things.

1 The image is printed with the same screen process, with the same inks, but in mirror order and on special paper.
2 When needed transferred to the fabric.

It seems that everything is simple, but what do we get - since we print on paper and not on fabric, we can use cheap manual one-color machines, even home-made ones. In case of marriage during printing, we lose only paper (about 1 euro per sheet 70x100 cm), and not fabric.
We can print "in reserve" and transfer if necessary.
We can finally print cool creative pictures and then sell them (Americans have been doing this very actively for many years), or vice versa, buy ready-made ones and, without bothering with the printing process, deal only with transferring (there are a lot of examples of such a business, ranging from clothing manufacturers, especially children's to salons for transferring the picture to a T-shirt of the client's choice).

Image durability with this transfer method is identical to direct screen printing!

Everything is simple here - we have a film with an adhesive layer that melts in the press and sticks to the fabric.

If everything is done correctly and the correct version of the film is chosen, then the bond is extremely strong, you can boil, dry clean, rub and wrinkle. Films can be welded on top of each other, of different colors, obtaining simple color images.

Films are smooth or velvet (flock).
The color range can be quite extensive, including fluorescent colors, metallics and reflective films.
Often the film is divided into ordinary and more expensive, for fabrics with water-repellent impregnation (umbrellas, raincoats, bags, etc.)
Of course, cutting a film with scissors is like masochism - there are special devices for this - cutting plotters (cutters), but more on that another time.

Modern fashion trends are increasingly conducive to bright multi-colored patterns, bold decisions in clothing. Choosing an individual color scheme and original design in your personal wardrobe is a great way to express yourself and a kind of message to others about the essence of your personality. Ready-to-wear is not to everyone's taste, although there is now an incredibly rich and varied selection of various clothing items. Many people prefer to personalize their own look with their own hands, decorating and altering ready-made clothes according to their tastes and preferences. In most cases, this applies to light T-shirts and T-shirts that can be decorated with original prints. Moreover, this can be done not only in specialized firms, but also at home with your own hands. Consider how to make a print on a T-shirt with your own hands.

Paint selection

In order to make a quality print on clothes, it would be better to use acrylic-based indelible dyes. They have very bright and saturated shades, are very easy to use and are incredibly resistant to fading. The skilful combination of acrylic spray paint, water-based spray paint, and liners for drawing the contours of the picture when applying the print will create an exceptional product with a beautiful image of a fashionable design or an original t-shirt lettering.

A creative approach to decorating a simple plain t-shirt will make you the owner of a unique piece. We offer lovers of creativity and people with a well-developed imagination to make an interesting pattern on a T-shirt. So, how to make a high-quality print on a T-shirt?

Drawing on a T-shirt at home

Even without special skills, with the help of special tools you can give clothes a unique style and a bright personality. Consider two ways of drawing a pattern on a fabric - using a stencil and using a nodular technique. They can be used not only separately, but also in close combination with each other. For dyeing, a T-shirt is taken from natural material - cotton, silk, linen, or the product should contain no more than 20% synthetics. If the T-shirt is new, it should be washed before dyeing to remove softening additives.

Necessary tools

To create a unique attire, you will need a few improvised means. You will need the following support materials:

Knot staining technique

How to make a print on a T-shirt at home using knot technique? Step-by-step instructions involve the implementation of several phased actions:

As you can see, it is quite easy to make a print on a T-shirt yourself using the knot technique. In addition, such a procedure is quite accessible to everyone at home. But it should be remembered that such a T-shirt can only be washed by hand in water at a temperature of no more than 30 degrees, after turning the product inside out.

With thermal transfer paper

Printing on a T-shirt with thermal transfer paper is even easier. This technique is quite convenient to use, and the result will undoubtedly please the owner of an exclusive thing, decorated by him with his own hand.

To create a print, you need to prepare:

• T-shirt (white)
• thermal transfer paper;
• iron.

First, decide what kind of print you want. Before you print a picture, turn it in the mirror direction. This is done so that as a result, when applied to the fabric, you get not a mirror image, but the correct display. This rule is especially important if your image has text captions.

Lay the T-shirt out on the ironing board. flatten the fabric. Take paper with a pattern printed on it. Next, cut out the image along the contour.

Then lay the paper on the fabric pattern side down. Next, turn on the iron, choosing the highest power. Then iron the paper for four to five minutes.

After that, leave the product for seven minutes to cool down. Remove the paper, it is no longer needed. Remove it carefully so that the image on the surface of the thing is not damaged.

Of course, over time, such a print will lose its presentable appearance. But sooner or later it happens to everything.

Stencil staining technique

Now let's try to master another simple technique. Next, we will tell you how to make a print on a T-shirt using a stencil.

Selection of a pattern for print

When wondering what kind of print can be made on a T-shirt, it should be noted that the pattern should not be very technically complicated. Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to cut a good stencil and make a clear painting of the details. It should be more of a schematic drawing than a work of art. And here your imagination will come to your aid.

Let's finally give some useful tips when applying prints to clothes:

Conclusion

So, making a print on a T-shirt at home is not difficult. You will be free to experiment with your wardrobe, giving your clothes an elegant look and realizing your creative thoughts and ideas. Having trained on simple T-shirts, you can also transform boring clothes, giving them a second life and enriching your wardrobe with new extravagant accessories.

A transfer is a method of transferring any image from a transfer material to fabric, ceramics or metal. A special thermal transfer paper is used to apply the pattern. It happens for laser and inkjet printers, for light and dark surfaces. Therefore, before buying, you need to clarify so as not to make a mistake with the choice. This paper is made by the following well-known companies: Lexmark, Canon, Lomond, HP and ProfiLine.

Equipment and materials

For thermal transfer printing you will need:

1. Computer.

With it, you can easily find a suitable image on the Internet, and then edit it in any special program.

2. Color printer.

Depending on the desired result and the type of paper, different printing devices will be used. For example, using an inkjet printer, you can get an image with a high level of detail, which is then applied to any surface (light, dark, color). The laser printer prints a pattern suitable only for light materials.

3. Thermal transfer paper.

The most important transfer material with a special coating. Do-it-yourself thermal transfer paper is not made at home. Only firms are engaged in manufacturing. The choice of paper depends on the type of printer and the type of surface on which the image will be applied.

4. Iron or heat transfer press.

At home, you can use an iron to make simple souvenirs. But if you plan to produce on a large scale, it is better to purchase professional equipment with different molds. These devices are needed to heat the thermal transfer paper and print the image on the surface of the material. The process is fast and easy.

Paper types

Thermal transfer paper is divided into two categories: for inkjet and laser printers. With the help of the first type, the image is transferred to light and dark materials. The detailing of the drawing is close to photographic. Thermal transfer paper for laser printing is used on light and hard surfaces. The quality is worse, but the speed of work is much higher.

Disadvantage: if you transfer the picture to the fabric, it will become very dense, and the image may stretch.

Dignity: speed of manufacture, minimal financial costs, you can do without special and expensive equipment.

Thermal transfer paper Lomond

Lomond can be purchased at any office supply store. This is a brand of a well-known company that produces thermal transfer paper for inkjet and laser printers. One such pack contains ten sheets. Prices vary depending on destination. For example, for dark fabrics, the cost will be much higher than for light materials. The printed image is very easy to transfer to baseball caps, T-shirts or other cotton surfaces.

On sale there is Lomond fluorescent thermal transfer paper, which allows you to achieve the effect of glow in the dark. This is achieved through a special reflective coating. Used for inkjet printing.

Lomond produces three types of paper:

1. Transfer paper for light materials.

2. Paper for dark surfaces.

3. Fluorescent paper for colored fabrics.

The printed images are transferred to the fabric using a conventional iron, but it is better to use a press. The printed pattern is able to withstand repeated washing. It does not fade and does not fade throughout the entire service life. For the successful use of paper, you should carefully read the attached instructions.

Types of surfaces for drawing

Thermal transfer paper for printers helps you quickly and easily transfer your printed image to any surface.

Cotton fabrics: baseball caps, shirts, t-shirts, etc. The more cotton, the stronger the pattern will stick to the material.

Hard surfaces: ceramics, plastic, metal, etc. The transfer of the image is carried out using paper from a laser printer, which is well suited for smooth surfaces.

Transfer Technology

1. Print.

Quality thermal transfer paper should be prepared. With your own hands, you can draw any image using a computer program and print it in mirror image.

2. Preparation for the transfer.

The printed image needs to be cut with a 5mm margin. Prepare a comfortable and level table for work. Cover it with a soft pillowcase. Lay your favorite t-shirt, pre-ironed, and cut off the transfer paper on top, picture side down, on the backing.

3. Transfer.

With a well-heated iron, pressing as hard as possible, iron the image with uniform, circular movements. Never turn on the steam function! Ironing is done for 1-2 minutes, through a sheet of paper or cloth, so as not to damage the image. Then let the shirt cool. After ten minutes, repeat the smoothing. Try to pass well over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe picture. Then remove the protective sheet and carefully peel off the transfer paper.

As a result, you have made a unique T-shirt that no one else has. The technology is very simple, and any beginner can easily master it.

Exploitation

The T-shirt must be turned inside out and washed in warm water, the temperature of which should not exceed 40 degrees. Do not use bleach, do not turn on the quick dry mode (in the washing machine). Iron the fabric with an iron (without using steam) at medium temperature. Use protective paper for this.

In this article, you learned what thermal transfer paper is and how to use it at home. If all instructions are followed, then you will get a quality souvenir that will last a long time.

In this article, Roman shares his business idea, which is that you can start your own business and print pictures or photos on a T-shirt with your own hands while working from home. For professional quality, the thermal transfer printing method is suitable.

As you may know, this service costs about $10-12, however, he believes that it is possible to reduce the cost of this service by using some methods and materials.

What to cook.

You don't need many different tools. All you need is an ironing board, an iron, thermal paper, a T-shirt on which printing and a picture or photo will take place.

Progress.

So let's get started. The video shows the process step by step. Here is our t-shirt. There are two types of thermal paper - for laser and inkjet printers, for dark or white fabrics. This set contains 5 sheets. The cost was eight dollars.

The logo that will be on the T-shirt was printed in advance. It has two sides - matte and glossy. Printing must occur on the matte side. It should be especially taken into account that before drawing a picture, you need to change the orientation of the picture in a mirror image on a graphic editor. This is necessary so that the finished result on the fabric does not come out, as in a mirror image.

Put the iron on position "3". We put the picture face down and start ironing, you need to do this with an iron for about 60 seconds or up to 2 minutes. After ironing, we should leave everything for a minute or two to cool down and after that we will remove the top layer.

Let's try to peel off the top layer of thermal paper and see what we got from that. Used about 15 minutes and less than $3 instead of $12, so this job is easy for you, it saves money. If you wish, you can create your own business, and you can start by doing this work at cost for friends or acquaintances. Thermal transfer printing is not that difficult!

What do we need:

1. Ironing board
2. Printer
3. T-shirt
4. thermal paper

The process itself:

To decorate a T-shirt or children's clothing with your own hands at home, you need to choose a photo or logo that we want to put on the fabric. We print it on thermal paper (thermal paper has 2 sides: one is glossy, the other is matte. We need printing on the matte side). Do not forget to make a mirror image of the picture before printing in any graphic editor, so that after applying it it would look right.

Now we heat up the iron, apply the pattern to the fabric (in our case, this is a T-shirt). Smooth it out for ~ one minute. After ironing, leave to cool for 2-3 minutes.

Now it remains only to peel off the thermal paper. The picture has been drawn.

Using this method, you can decorate a T-shirt or other piece of clothing. A handmade gift will appeal to both men and girls.

Source: http://kashtankacom.com

Do-it-yourself thermal transfer printing on a T-shirt

Hello, first of all I will ask you to support my efforts and subscribe to my publications, thank you) In this article I will tell you how I transferred the drawing to a T-shirt. The method is called THERMAL TRANSFER using thermal transfer paper and a conventional printer. Instructions, let's get started. We will need:

Material:

1. Thermal transfer paper

2. T-shirt (necessarily cotton)

Tool:

1. Printer

2. Photoshop

4. Ironing board or just a table with a flat surface

1. Open Photoshop or another editor. Upload a picture or create from scratch. I made a channel logo:

It is MANDATORY to display the image horizontally

2. Print out. We insert the white side to the top of the sheet, on the reverse side of the cell.

3. The sheet must be cut along the contour of the image, leaving 5 mm from the edge of the image

4. We take an iron and an ironing board. Smooth out the T-shirt.

5. We set the iron to the maximum temperature.

Important. Turn off the STEAM function.

We apply the pattern to the T-shirt, trying to make it as even as possible. Put a green leaf on top (INCLUDED)