What is Heat Transfer Vinyl Printing?
Although it is considered a method of garment printing, it doesn't actually require printing at all (unless full colour designs are needed). Heat transfer vinyl can be as simple as a single colour logo, or a full colour realistic image. For single colour heat transfer vinyl printing, the process involves the vector design file being sent to the cutter, where it cuts the shape of the design into a two layer vinyl sheet, one layer being vinyl and another being hard plastic, which doesn't get cut into. The negative space vinyl can then be weeded out of the sheet (negative space is parts of the design such as the background and insides of the letters which are removed). From there, the vinyl can then be heat pressed onto the garment and after a few seconds, the glue permanently sticks the vinyl to the shirt and your design comes to life!
The preferred file types for heat transfer vinyl prints are vector files, which typically are saved in the following formats:
