One hack we use to make what we print more predictable is color swatches.įor example, we design a lot of black t-shirts for Merch by Amazon. If you choose such colors, you can expect massive color changes. For example, neon colors or gold cannot be reproduced by any inkjet printer, so the same goes for dtg printers. However, we always recommend putting a little thought into your color selection. Secondly, even if the color is not printable, the printer will automatically match it to the closest alternative. If you have to use a certain Pantone color for your brand, you might be better off using a different printing process like screen printing. We generally recommend not worrying too much about the colors you use for your direct-to-garment printing designs.įirst, be aware that there will always be color changes. There is no information about which colors are actually printable and therefore can be embedded in a design. Which colors can you use for DTG printing? Most of the factors that affect the printed color discussed above are beyond the designer and the client’s control. The situation can be particularly tricky for designers in direct-to-garment printing. For example, your colors will only look right in a completely dark room with standard lighting. It would be best if you also had a controlled environment to judge colors properly. Ideally, print results are evaluated in a standard viewing environment. That’s why strawberries always look red and juicy in the supermarket, and when you get home, they don’t look so delicious anymore. The last reason is that print results are often judged under incorrect viewing conditions. This usually adds a yellow cast to your screen and changes the look of the colors.Ģ) Set the brightness of your monitor higher. That being said, there are two steps you should take to improve how your design looks on your monitor:ġ) Make sure you turn off night mode on your monitors. So, as we mentioned, we don’t do that either. These devices are expensive, and a calibrated monitor is only half the battle. But I would guess that 99% of t-shirt designers don’t do this, including us. If you have a monitor calibration device, you should do that. Īnother thing you should do is to take a look at your working environment, especially your monitor. The last reason is an uncalibrated monitor and wrong viewing conditions. Thus, it regularly happens that the embedded color value is not the best suited to achieve a certain result. When designs have been created for other printing methods, such as screen printing, the design’s colors often serve only as placeholders. In some cases, designs were not created for DTG printing. The problem with this is that there is no information available to designers about what profile to use and what colors can be embedded in a design. Often the design is in a color profile that doesn’t match what the printer can actually reproduce. Therefore, the number of profiles you would need to create to cover regular production can be quite overwhelming. Usually, the customer can choose from a variety of garments and garment colors. Most printers don’t just print the same white t-shirt. This means that you would have to create a separate profile for each T-shirt color. However, the problem with printer profiles is that they only work for a combination of pre-treatment, printer, garment type, and garment color. This gives the printer all the information it needs to translate the colors within a design into printed dots as correctly as possible. When you calibrate the printer, you create a printer profile. Depending on the material and color of the garments, the result may vary greatly.Īnother cause is if the direct to garment printer is not calibrated. The garments you are printing on can also cause color changes. If the printheads are not well maintained, missing nozzles can also cause a different result. You can compare this to drawing on cream-colored paper versus pure white paper. If there is less pre-treatment, the white ink will look less white, and therefore the printed colors will look different. For example, a small variation in the amount of pre-treatment applied to the garment can already cause an unintentional ripple effect. One possible reason for color shifts is that the printing process is not consistent and repeatable.