Hey friends, Dave here with Transfer Express, and today we are covering the question we get asked a
lot: what transfer type should I use? So, today we're going to break down the differences of our
top heat transfer types when you should use them and then, we're even going to run through a couple
different real world scenarios with some different artwork so that you can not only have the project
look the best, but, you'll be maximizing your expenses and boosting your profit margins!
sounds pretty good right? well, let's get right to it. if you are new to transfer express we are
the world's largest supplier of custom screen printed and digital heat transfers heat presses
free customizable designs wholesale apparel and expert advice to help grow your t-shirt business
if you haven't already subscribe we're kicking out new videos like this one every single week
well here at transfer express we have 16 different heat transfer types pretty much broken down into
two categories screen printed and full color now as you can guess screen printed transfers
are just that screen printed produced exactly how you would typically screen print a t-shirt
however we print those inks onto a carrier sheet and send them to you to heat apply now before we
dive in too deep here i do want to mention that if you are ever confused about what transfer type
is right for you and your project all you have to do is click on over to our transfer selector
tool at transferexpress.com we'll have it linked right here and down in the video description below
essentially we're just going to ask you a few questions about your project like what fabric
type you're going to be putting on how many colors are in your artwork and then some other details
and then all bam in just a couple clicks we will give you the perfect heat transfer recommendation
for your project that is always available and completely free to use transferexpress.com while
there are nine different screen printed transfers for the most part they're just different effects
like glitter glow in the dark are pearlescent pearl prints foil puff or even reflective screen
print transfers now all of our screen printed transfers are spot color prints which means for
each additional color in your design the price will increase but go check in your closet i bet
the vast majority of printed graphic tees that you have are actually one or two color prints
now there are three main players in the screen printed transfer category and that's goof proof
alasta prince and hot split retro now they are all available by the sheet in a standard size which is
11 and a quarter inch by 14 inches or are jumbo sized 12 and a half by 17 and a half transfers
now goof proof is your go to heat transfer and it has been for hundreds of thousands of customers
over the past 30 years it's still our number one best-selling transfer type because it looks feels
washes and wears just like a traditional screen print on a t-shirt with minimum quantity starting
at just six it's accessible for small orders and very economical with huge price breaks at those
higher quantities it's super simple to apply and just like the name says it's pretty hard to goof
it up it applies in as few as four seconds making those huge orders so quick and simple to print
elastoprints is next up it is our durable athletic formula heat transfer built for 100 polyester
and performance wear it's got great stretch and elasticity and a low temperature application so
you could avoid scorching on your let's say heat sensitive synthetic fiber t-shirts now next up
is hot split retro essentially hot split is our goof proof ink formula without the adhesive powder
now this leaves you with a plastisol print that kind of melts into the fibers of the t-shirt
leaving you with a super soft to the touch print now hot split used to be incredibly popular for
fashion forward prints but since the improved goof proof formula rolled out just a couple years ago
both are incredibly soft and flexible on the shirt now we compared the new goof proof formula and hot
split head to head here in this video that we have linked and down in the description below
now other than hot split being slightly less opaque on dark colored garments they felt almost
identical and with an increased dwell time hot split applies for twice as long as goof proof
so there are some trade-offs for just that tiny bit softer print now of course if your artwork
has more than one to three colors in it you're probably going to want to switch over to our full
color transfers now our full color transfers offer the capabilities to print photo realistic images
colorful designs fine detail and gradients so first up to mention is the ultra color line
ultra color transfers apply to cotton polyester and cotton poly blends and there are three
different ultra color transfers all of which have their own specific uses we'll start with ultra
color max it is perfect for low quantities at just six cents a square inch ultra color
max is priced at flat rate which makes all of the pricing and quoting super simple and easy
it's available in any quantity as a single image or a gang sheet all the way up to 22
by 22 inches talking a huge sheet here now this direct to film transfer does require
print ready artwork so any art fixes and proofing is rolled into an additional 22 dollar service now
ultra color soft is available in 11 and a half by 18 inch sheets with a minimum quantity of six
sheets making it perfect for four plus colors or any full color projects with artwork too complex
for traditional screen printing now it's great for high quality orders over maybe 18 and 24 sheets
with steep price breaks and it features a smooth soft finish truly unique for full color transfers
next is our new ultra color pro transfers which are very very similar to the ultra color soft
as the latest evolution of ultra color technology but you do trade off a little bit of that smooth
soft matte finish for a fast and easy hot peel application now this is perfect for those jobs
where printing efficiency is required the last transfer in the ultra color line is
ultra color stretch now ultra color stretch is specifically designed for printing on synthetic
fabrics like spandex lycra and woven nylon it leads the industry in stretch and reboundability
thanks to its water-based ink formula now stretch is slightly more expensive than soft
pro and max but it could also be coupled with a dye blocker for printing on sublimated apparel
without any dye migration to your print now to round out the full color transfer line we do have
the cad prints which are essentially full color printed vinyl they are audible as single images
no gang sheets at all here with just a 25 minimum similar to the ultra color max now you could order
all of these transfers with your own artwork or with artwork you designed online in our free
easy view online designer at transferexpress.com now in easy view you have the ability to gang
sheet your artwork or essentially fit as much artwork on the sheet that you could fit grouping
resizing and arranging artwork is all super simple and quick and all online in this browser-based
design program now that we've covered the differences between each transfer type and
what you'll use them for let's run through a few different scenarios that can help point you in the
right direction so for our first scenario let's say we're going to be printing uh this image now
we're going to need 36 total shirts and we'll just be printing with white ink a single color on a 100
cotton shirt so which transfer type do you think will be the best pick well if you guessed goof
proof you're right for a single color image like this we could fit two on a standard size sheet
with some room to spare so we only have to order 18 sheets for our full 36 quantity which prices
out to 3.87 cents per sheet or just a buck 94 per print now as a curve ball on this same scenario
let's say the quantity is the same white inks but this time instead of printing on cotton we'll
print on some heat sensitive 100 polyester blanks so what transfer type yep elastoprince is going to
be the best bet now because of the heat sensitive polyester we could avoid scorching our apparel by
going with that much lower application temperature at 290 degrees okay so say now this time
it's just the same artwork but for just seven shirts instead of 36. now we could do the goof
proof but if we don't have other artwork to fill out our gang sheet with we're going to
be buying too many transfers and spending too much for this small seven shirt project
but if we just switch our transfer type over to ultra color max we could protect our profit
margins and produce these for just 3.96 per image for a total print cost of just 27.72 so you can
see here where ultra color max at low quantities could really help you profit on those lower
quantity orders regardless of how many colors are in your design now let's shift gears and look at
some artwork with more than a couple colors in it some gradients and even this photo realistic image
now of course we're going to be using one of the full color transfer options but which one
is going to be the lowest cost so that we could profit the most well what fabric are we printing
on what size is the artwork going to be and how many do we need so for cotton in 12 quantity at
11 inches wide we're at just 28.80 total or 2 dollars and 40 cents per image using our ultra
color max transfers now say we needed a hundred total shirts here that would be 240 dollars with
our ultra color max because there is no quantity breaks so switching over to our ultra color soft
we could produce these same graphics with four images per sheet so realistically we only need to
order 25 sheets instead of 100 dropping our sheet price to eight dollars and three cents or about
two dollars in one penny per image saving us forty dollars that could be profit in our pocket instead
i hope this video helped you with some better knowledge of the heat transfers available here
at transferexpress.com and it's going to help you select the perfect transfer for your next
project of course you could check out the transfer selector tool that we have linked in the
description or log into easy view online designer to run through some of these pricing scenarios
with your artwork yourself want to apply touch and feel the quality of each one of these transfer
types for yourself well you can request free samples here at transfer express we'll link it
right up here and in the description or if you're new to transfer express just create an account and
we'll send you the samples to get started with for free here at transfer express we are dedicated to
helping you and your t-shirt business succeed with tons of helpful tips tricks and marketing help
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