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Printing a heat transfer is the process of taking a design that and printing it on a special paper, then transferring this design to cloth using heat, typically from an iron. This is something that can be done with either an inkjet or a laser type printer.
For the most professional looking results, special printers are used to transfer the designs to a medium that will then be printed onto the t-shirt or other material. These printers will apply a lot more ink than your basic home machine, and the design will be less subject to fade over time once applied. For home use, you can buy transfer paper any place that sells computer or office supplies. The image printed on this paper will transfer onto a fabric surface easily with a home iron hot source.
You will need a computer program that you can use to create or import a design or photograph onto the screen. You should be able to edit the design or photo for the best look on the material you are printing it on. Most programs will let you add text or whatever you decide would enhance the design.
Once it is ready you merely print the design onto heat transfer paper, made for either a laser printer or ink jet type. As the ink has improved over time the ink jet method has also gotten better, and longer lasting more color saturated designs are now possible. The home type laser printers do not quite do the job that ink jets are capable of.
There are printers mentioned above that are dedicated to fabric or garment transfers, these are known as DTG or digital garment printers. A business that specializes in garment printing may use these DTG machines.
For home use though, be sure to see this Youtube video and you can tell how easy and rewarding the creation of fabric prints through heat transfer, can be. For clubs, groups, special occasions and other more whimsical projects the heat transfer process can be a great one to use to make one or more creations.