Another form of T-shirt decoration is heat transfer vinyls. These
allow people to make short runs of printed shirts using plotter cut
vinyl that they can then heat press onto the garment. They are
made in a multitude of colors, patterns, and styles, and some even
replicate the look of screen print, like ThermoFlex.
Vinyl Transfers are vector images that are die cut into coloured rolls
of vinyl. These transfers are usually one colour and have no background colour. The
background is cut or 'weeded' away leaving the design in place.
Vinyl Transfers can be either: Heat Press Transfers which are applied to the garments using a heat press; or Vinyl Decals which are essentially stickers. Vinyl decals are applied using a plastic squeegee to remove air bubbles and can be applied to walls, windows, cars, boats etc. These are great for signage on car and shop windows.
Advantages of Vinyl Transfers
- Fast process
- Special effect vinyls (metallic, glitter, safety reflective) available on special request
- Perfect option for lettering, numbers and simple logos
- Large catalogue range of stock designs readily available
Disadvantages of Vinyl Transfers
- Not cost effective for large runs
- Limited to one colour per design
- Not suitable for lettering smaller than 6mm
- High definition artwork is required