Garment decorator Direct Print & Promotions has “massively” improved turnaround time after investing in its first direct-to-film (DTF) machine.
The Sheffield-based company has installed Resolute’s R-Jet Pro DTF V4 printer which creates water-based heat seal film transfers.
The decision to invest in DTF led to Direct Print selling its long-serving four-colour manual screen print press and reducing the amount of work it puts through its vinyl cutter and digital printer.
Direct Print director James Smith said: “It has massively improved our turnaround time. Even when producing simple single-colour prints, they can be rapidly run off and ready to heat press. The machine has also secured jobs within the company rather than outsourcing.”
He added there was also a cost benefit: the cost per print for A4 went from around £2.75 to 40p, in terms of just consumables cost.
“We were spending almost the same amount as a new machine with various transfer suppliers. We sold our screen print set-up and put the cash towards the DTF.
“Obviously, our cost per print has now massively come down but also we aren’t reliant on any third parties anymore, meaning we can get prints out almost immediately.”
Direct Print opted for the Resolute machine after researching a number of options, James said. “The print quality and colour reproduction seemed best in our opinion. Also, the finishing unit was a huge bonus: we didn’t want to be hand-finishing in an oven due to time constraints.
“The option to start with the 40cm-wide roll but then increase to 60cm when required was a big selling point. We went to 60cm almost immediately due to wasting film down one side when doing larger prints.”
“We are all set for now and looking forward to an investment-free year or two.”
Direct Print & Promotions has seen cost per print drop by roughly 85% since installing the Resolute R-Jet Pro DTF V4
