DTF printing with PrintFab
(PrintFab Pro XL only and currently Windows only)
DTF printing (Direct To Film) is a textile printing process in which a motif is printed on a transfer film and then transferred to textile in a heat press. Special inks are used, usually including the extra color white, which makes it possible to print on dark textiles.
PrintFab supports white ink DTF printing for certain Epson printer models, see the table at the end of this page.
Control the background color white in PrintFab Composer
The spot color white can be controlled either via images with an alpha channel (transparency mask) or via an automatic threshold value. You can use software such as Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw to create your artwork and save to PNG or TIFF with alpha. Then use PrintFab Composer to arrange and print.
The image's transparency mask determines the use of white:
Image area is transparent => no white is printed
Image area is not transparent => white is printed
To check whether the image contains a transparency mask and whether it was loaded correctly by PrintFab Composer, deactivate the option "White background color" in the pulldown-menu "View". The page background in the page editor then becomes gray where there are no images or where they are transparent. The non-transparent areas of images remain white or colored.
In PrintFab Composer, the settings for screen printing can be found in the “Advanced Print Settings” on the right, section “DTF”. The settings are only active if the PrintFab driver supports DTF printing and the media type “DTF” is selected.
Mode - determines where white is printed, alpha channel or white threshold. In "Threshold mode", white is printed under all colors that are darker than the threshold.
White Intensity - Adjustment of the print intensity of white. The intensity can be set separately for light and dark colors.
White on top - if this setting is active, white will be printed as the last / top color - this ensures that white is the background color after transfer in the heat press.
White Threshold - to adjust the threshold for automatic white base creation
Cartridges with white ink - here you can select which ink cartridges are used when printing white ink. This setting is helpful to disable a cartridge if ink is low or if a print head is clogged.
Supported Printers for DTF
| Supported Printer Models | Ink Configuration: White replaces color ... | |
|---|---|---|
| Epson Artisan 1430 | LC, LM | |
| Epson EcoTank ET-8500, ET-8550 | Grey | |
| Epson ET-18100 | LC, LM | |
| Epson L800, L1800 | LC, LM | |
| Epson L8050, L18050 | LC, LM | |
| Epson Stylus Artisan 50, Photo P50 | LC, LM | |
| Epson Stylus Photo 14xx, 1500 | LC, LM | |
| Epson Stylus Pro 4000 | LC, LM, LK | |
| Epson Stylus Pro 7600/9600 | LC, LM, LK | |
| Epson XP-950, XP-960, XP-970 | LC, LM | |
| Epson XP-15000 | Grey, Red |
Note: Currently, only Epson printers can be used for DTF printing with white. This is because
only Epson printers allow direct control of individual print head nozzles. This is necessary so that
the color white can be applied before the other colors.
Your feedback is welcome!
More printer drivers that support DTF printing with white ink will be added in the future. If you
want to use a printer that is not yet supported, please use our feedback form and tell
us the desired printer model.
We are also grateful for feedback on your printing results or requests for additional setting options.