The fashion industry has evolved. The days when people wore boring clothes are long gone. It’s the new era of stylish, high-quality digital printed apparel. The rise of DTG printing has been reaching its peak, and people are fascinated by the spectacular features that modern DTG printers offer.
Though predicting the best DTG printer for 2022 can be difficult as there are many strong contenders, it is evident that 2022 will be an exciting year for direct-to-garment or DTG printing.
Since many top DTG printers from previous years are still prevalent in 2021, it can be tough to decide which printer will sweep off the competition and win with flying colors. Nonetheless, here is a look at the available options, and you can make your predictions.
What are the best DTG printing features?
There are numerous models of DTG printers available in the market. But how does one distinguish the best one from the others? What are the factors that can help you find the best DTG printer in the segment?
As much as you’d like to think that there isn’t much difference between various DTG printers, some distinct features can help you compare different printers.
Printing Image Size
The size of the image can be a big differentiator between various DTG printers. Though many printers allow big images to be printed on the cloth, the clarity and definition of the printed image make a lot of difference. The print area also varies with the printers.
White Ink Usage
White ink is the most used ink in DTG printing. As it can be challenging to print darker backgrounds, white ink is used as an under-base for the images with CMYK colors. That’s why many DTG manufacturers keep extra sets of white ink cartridges for backup.
White ink is also used for creating different color shades. The DTG printers also use white ink in their automated maintenance sequences for cleaning print heads. All of this usage makes it essential to consider the amount of white ink any DTG printer uses.
Print Speed
The print speed plays a key role when it comes to printing bulk orders. The printer speed can be measured by how many prints it can perform within an hour and how long it requires to complete one print. The top DTG printers print more than 1200 prints per hour and take around 5 seconds to print one t-shirt.
The Vacuum Platen
Accuracy plays a vital role if you want to achieve high definition print with more accurate colors. The vacuum platen ensures the garment resides ideally on the surface and conducts higher quality of print.
It marginally improves the production speed and is an excellent benefit for bulk printing. It also reduces manually adjusting the garment as the vacuum platen gets rid of creases and wrinkles.
Top contenders for the Best DTG Printer for 2022?
Though numerous contenders are competing for the above title, it’s best not to consider the following two DTG printers categories.
- High Volume Printers
High-volume industrial printers are massive and have bigger production power. They are also costly and usually cost more than $200k. High-volume DTG printers also have way different configurations than the other models in this list. That is why they may not be a suitable contender on this list.
- Home-made DTG Printers
DIY home-made DTG printers are not reliable enough for long-term or commercial use. They are made in-house with different usable parts, and even though they might be functional, it would not be an excellent choice to rely on them for your printing needs. They also lack the latest DTG features.
Now, here are the real contestants of the best DTG printers for 2022.
G4 Direct to Garment Printer
The G4 DTG printer is one of the most affordable printers known for delivering top-notch printing speed, performance, and high-quality prints. It has new benchmarks when it comes to finished garments and fashion panels. It has 150% more speed, performance, and power than its predecessors.
It prints more per hour with high-quality colors, making it highly beneficial for larger productions and is very profitable. Here are some features that make G4 a great contender for the title of the top DTG printer for 2022.
Vacuum Platen
The patented vacuum platen feature makes it very efficient to load the apparel into the printer. Just wrap the t-shirt on the platen, and the vacuum holds it in place, spreads it evenly on the platen, and removes wrinkles and folds.
When the clothing surface lies flat on the platen, there are very few inconsistent prints which save a lot of ink. The vacuum platen also ensures that the ink doesn’t get spread in the air but instead gets sucked into the fabric, saving a lot of ink and giving higher print quality.
Low Maintenance
G4 uses the revolutionary high-quality inks from Kodak with high color accuracy and saturation. The high-quality ink ensures that no particles in the ink can clog the print head and affect the print quality. As the heads don’t get clogged, it needs very little maintenance.
Easy to Use
The G4 flaunts a 7’’ touchscreen display with numerous integrated controls and automated maintenance functions, making it very easy to use without any confusion.
Epson F2100 DTG Printer
The Epson F2100 is the most reliable DTG printer in the market. Known for its fast speed, the Epson F2100 is easy to use and maintain. You can also choose from different print modes to enhance the printing speed according to your needs.
Here’s why the Epson F2100 makes a tough competition in this segment:
- Simple RIP software
The RIP software that comes with the Epson F2100 lets you import the graphics from your local files, edit the image with essential tools like crop, resize, rotate, etc., choose the print quality, and print the design without any hassle.
- Direct printer drivers
There are numerous Epson printers in the market, making it easier to get printer drivers and crowdsourced support.
However, it must be noted that the Epson F2100 doesn’t have a vacuum platen and requires more maintenance than the DTG G4. That is why it fails to secure the first rank in the list.
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