Pick DTG when…
- Run is 1–200 pieces
- Design has gradients, photos or 6+ colours
- Fabric is 100% cotton or cotton-rich
- You want soft-hand finish
- You don't want setup fees
DTG Printing Cyprus
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Digital · DTG · Soft-Hand · OEKO-TEX Inks · EU ProductionDTG printing — photo on a t-shirt, no setup fees. Direct-to-garment is the digital print method that sprays water-based pigment ink straight into cotton fibres. Unlimited colours, photo-realistic gradients, soft-hand finish you can barely feel — and the first piece costs the same as the fiftieth. Available in Cyprus from 1 to 500+ units, EU production, 7–10 day delivery.
0 €Setup fees
1 → 500+Pieces per order
60+Wash cycles tested
7–10 dDelivery to Cyprus
What DTG printing actually is — and why it changed the game.
For decades, printing on a t-shirt meant screen printing — burning a separate stencil for every colour, mixing inks by Pantone, pulling each print by hand on a carousel, and committing to runs of 50+ shirts to make the maths work. Anything below that volume was a money-losing exercise. Anything with more than 6–8 colours was a mechanical nightmare. And anything with a photographic gradient was simply impossible.
DTG — Direct-to-Garment printing — is what happens when an inkjet printer goes to the gym, gets bigger heads, swaps paper for a t-shirt platen, and learns to spray water-based pigment ink straight into woven cotton fibres. The result is a digital print on fabric: unlimited colour count, photo-realistic detail, no setup, no minimums, and a hand-feel so soft you barely notice the print is there. The same machine that prints one custom birthday shirt for €25 prints two hundred branded employee tees on the same shift, no retooling.
This page is the no-fluff guide to DTG printing in Cyprus — how the process works, when DTG beats screen printing or DTF, what files you need to send, durability and care, pricing logic across volume bands and the hard-edge cases where DTG isn't the right call. Written by the people who actually run the machines, not by an SEO copywriter who Googled "what is DTG".
How DTG printing actually works.
Four physical steps, run on industrial Kornit and Brother GTX machines, with a quality-control pass on every piece before it leaves the production line.
- Pre-treatment. The garment is sprayed with a thin, water-based pre-treatment fluid, then heat-pressed. This locks the cotton fibres flat and creates a chemical bond that prevents pigment ink from soaking through and bleeding sideways. Skip this step and DTG looks like a watercolour on absorbent paper.
- White under-base (dark fabrics only). On dark or coloured cotton, the printer first lays down a layer of white pigment ink as a base. Without it, the colour layer would mix with the dark fabric and read muddy. On white tees, this step is skipped entirely.
- Colour pass. Full CMYK ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is jetted directly onto the cotton at up to 1,200 DPI in a single pass. Since the print head moves over every pixel of the design, gradients, drop shadows and photo-real images come out exactly as the file specifies — no halftone simplification.
- Curing. The garment passes under a heat-press or conveyor dryer at 165 °C for ~90 seconds. The water in the ink evaporates, the pigment binds permanently to the cotton fibres, and the print is washfast. Quality control is performed on every piece — colour accuracy, registration, ink coverage, garment defects.
The key insight: DTG ink soaks into the fabric, it doesn't sit on top.
That's why a DTG print has a soft hand-feel and the garment stays breathable. Vinyl transfers, plastisol screens and DTF all sit as a layer on top of the fabric. DTG is structurally different — it's a dye, not a coating.
DTG vs screen printing vs DTF — which to pick.
Three methods that do overlapping jobs, each with a clear sweet spot. Send us the design, the volume and the fabric, and we'll tell you which makes economic and visual sense.
| Criterion | DTG (digital) | Screen printing | DTF transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best volume | 1–200 units | 50–10,000+ units | 1–500 units |
| Setup cost | €0 | €18–€35 per colour | €0 |
| Colour count | Unlimited (CMYK + W) | 1–8 spot colours | Unlimited (CMYK + W) |
| Photo-real detail | Excellent | Limited (halftones) | Excellent |
| Hand-feel | Soft, soaked into fabric | Soft to medium (water-based) / heavy (plastisol) | Slight rubbery layer |
| Best fabrics | 100% cotton, cotton-rich blends | Cotton, blends, polyester | Any fabric inc. polyester, mixed, performance |
| Durability | 60+ washes | 80–100+ washes | 50–80 washes |
| Eco profile | Water-based, OEKO-TEX, low waste | Water-based screen possible; plastisol contains PVC | PET film + adhesive layer |
Pick screen printing when…
- Run is 100+ pieces of one design
- Design has 1–6 spot colours
- Cost-per-piece is the priority
- Print on hoodies, totes, dark cotton at scale
- Vintage / vibrant Pantone-spot look wanted
Pick DTF when…
- Fabric is polyester or performance blend
- You print on bags, caps, mixed substrates
- Neon / fluorescent colours required
- Ultra-fine line work on dark fabric
- One-design / many-fabric scenario
Where DTG is the obvious right call.
Six scenarios where teams in Cyprus consistently come back to DTG over every other method — because nothing else does the job at the same cost or quality.
📸 Photo & gradient designs
- Photographic prints on apparel
- Soft-edge gradients and shadows
- Watercolour-style illustrations
- Hand-drawn art with 100+ colours
🛍️ One-off & small-run
- 1-piece custom prints for individuals
- Sample & prototype runs
- Birthday, gift & event pieces
- Print-on-demand fulfillment
🎨 Apparel brands & designers
- Drops of 30–150 units per design
- Multiple SKUs without setup costs
- Quick reorders without re-screening
- Margin-friendly low-volume releases
🎤 Event & team merch (small runs)
- 50–150 piece event tees
- Internal team apparel
- Conference speaker shirts
- Hackathon / workshop swag
🎁 Personalised gifts
- Names, dates, photos per piece
- Variable-data printing
- One-of-one editions
- Family / friend custom tees
🌱 Eco-positioned brands
- Water-based OEKO-TEX inks
- No PVC, no phthalates
- GOTS-organic blanks compatible
- Lower wastewater than screen runs
Fabrics & products that DTG-print well.
DTG was designed around cotton chemistry. The closer the fabric is to 100% combed-ring-spun cotton, the better the print.
✓ Optimal fabrics
- 100% combed cotton — gold standard, perfect ink absorption
- 100% organic cotton (GOTS) — same chemistry, sustainability-positive
- Cotton-rich blends (≥80% cotton) — slight saturation drop, still excellent
- Heavy oversize tees (180–240 g/m²) — our most popular DTG canvas
- Cotton hoodies (320–500 g/m²) — front and back panel printable
- Cotton totes (140–280 g/m²) — large print area, vivid output
⚠️ Limited or wrong fit
- 50/50 cotton-poly — works but colours desaturate ~15%, choose DTF instead
- 100% polyester — DTG ink doesn't bond, use DTF or sublimation
- Performance / moisture-wicking — coatings reject pre-treatment
- Waterproof & technical fabrics — surface treatments prevent absorption
- Acrylic blends — fibre chemistry incompatible with pigment
- Leather, canvas, denim — possible but specialist machine setup required
For mixed-fabric runs (e.g. cotton tees + polyester caps + performance jerseys for one team) we typically split the order — DTG for the cotton pieces, DTF or embroidery for the polyester. Same artwork, same brand colours, two methods, one delivery.
Files we need from you.
DTG is digital print — what's in your file is what shows up on the shirt. Get the file right and the print is essentially perfect.
File specs
- Resolution: 300 DPI at full print size (e.g. 30 × 30 cm at 300 DPI = 3,543 × 3,543 px)
- Formats: PNG (transparent), TIFF, PSD, AI, PDF, SVG
- Colour mode: RGB (sRGB profile) — our RIP converts to CMYK + W
- Background: transparent, no white box around the artwork
- Max print size: 36 × 46 cm front / back panel
Common file pitfalls
- Phone screenshots — almost always too low resolution
- Logo on white background — prints the white box too
- JPEG at 72 DPI — pixelates when scaled up
- CMYK file with embedded ICC — colours may shift
- Vector with raster images embedded — check the embedded raster's DPI
- Tiny details under 1.5 mm — may not survive the white under-base on dark fabric
Free pre-flight check on every order.
Send us your file before you commit to the order. We pre-flight every artwork, flag DPI issues, suggest fixes for tiny detail and produce a digital mockup so you see exactly how it will sit on the garment. No charge, no commitment.
Durability, care & ink chemistry.
Honest answer: DTG durability depends on three things — ink chemistry, curing temperature and how the wearer washes the garment. We control the first two; we'll teach you the third.
Lifespan in real-world wash
- 60+ wash cycles at 30 °C with proper care
- 40–80 cycles on dark cotton with white under-base
- 80+ cycles on white cotton (no under-base)
- Fade pattern is gradual — no peeling, no cracking
- Print breathes with the fabric, never lifts away
How to wash a DTG print
- Turn the garment inside out before washing
- Wash cold or 30 °C with similar colours
- No bleach, no oxygen-based whiteners
- Skip fabric softener directly on the print
- Tumble dry low or air-dry inside-out
- Iron on the reverse side only
Ink chemistry: we use Kornit NeoPigment and Epson Genesta water-based pigment inks — both OEKO-TEX Eco-Passport certified, GOTS-compatible, free of PVC, phthalates and APEOs. Cleared for direct skin contact, including children's apparel and underwear. Wastewater from the print line goes through a closed-loop filtration system.
Pricing, volume bands & turnaround.
DTG pricing is genuinely linear — there's no setup, so the per-piece cost compresses smoothly as volume rises. Below the indicative bands for a single-side A4 print on a heavy-oversize cotton tee.
| Volume | Tee + 1-side DTG | Tee + 2-side DTG | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–9 pieces | from €24.90 | from €31.90 | 5–7 working days |
| 10–24 pieces | from €19.90 | from €25.90 | 7–9 working days |
| 25–49 pieces | from €17.50 | from €22.90 | 8–10 working days |
| 50–99 pieces | from €15.90 | from €20.50 | 9–11 working days |
| 100–199 pieces | from €14.50 | from €18.90 | 10–13 working days |
| 200+ pieces | quote (often switches to screen print) | quote | 12–16 working days |
What's included
- Garment + DTG print
- Pre-flight artwork check
- Digital mockup before production
- QC inspection per piece
- Standard polybag packaging
What costs extra
- Premium garments (heavyweight, organic)
- Sleeve / inside-neck print add-ons
- Custom care labels & hang-tags
- Branded packaging & gift wrap
- Express turnaround (3–5 days)
Delivery to Cyprus
- Standard EU courier 4–6 days
- Cyprus tracked delivery 7–10 d total
- Bulk pallet for 200+ orders
- EU VAT-compliant invoicing
- Free shipping over €120
DTG printing Cyprus — FAQ
Everything customers, designers and bulk buyers ask before placing a DTG order.
Is DTG the same as digital printing?
Yes. DTG (Direct-to-Garment) is the apparel-industry name for digital printing on fabric. Same principle as a desktop inkjet, scaled up to industrial heads, swapped paper for a t-shirt platen and using water-based pigment ink instead of dye-based ink.
What's the minimum order quantity for DTG?
One. There's no minimum and no setup fee — we print individual custom pieces every day. The first piece costs roughly the same per-unit as the tenth, and only at 100+ units does volume pricing meaningfully kick in.
Can DTG print on dark cotton?
Yes. We lay a white-pigment under-base first, then print the colour layer on top. Reproduction is excellent on dark navy, black and forest green. Strict neon and fluorescent shades read more saturated on DTF — for those we'll recommend that method instead.
What's the difference between DTG and DTF?
DTG sprays ink directly into cotton fibres — soft-hand finish, breathable, eco-friendly inks, but only works on cotton-rich fabrics. DTF prints on a PET film with adhesive, then heat-presses onto the garment — works on any fabric (polyester, performance, mixed) and gives ultra-vivid colour, but you feel a slight rubbery layer on the print. Different tools for different jobs.
How long does a DTG print last?
60+ washes when handled correctly: inside out at 30 °C with similar colours, no bleach, no fabric softener directly on the print, tumble-dry low or air-dry inside-out, iron on the reverse. White-fabric prints can hit 80+ cycles. Failure mode is gradual fade, never peeling or cracking.
What file resolution do you need?
300 DPI at the full print size. For a 30 × 30 cm front print that's a 3,543 × 3,543 px image. PNG with transparent background is ideal; vector formats (SVG, PDF, AI) are even better. Phone screenshots are almost always too low — we'll flag and suggest fixes free of charge before production.
Is DTG eco-friendly?
Compared to plastisol screen printing, yes — significantly. We use Kornit NeoPigment and Epson Genesta water-based inks, both OEKO-TEX Eco-Passport certified, free of PVC, phthalates and APEOs. Wastewater goes through closed-loop filtration. Inks are GOTS-compatible and cleared for direct skin contact including children's apparel.
Can DTG print neon or fluorescent colours?
Not at full saturation. CMYK + white can approximate fluorescent shades but won't match a true Pantone Neon swatch. For neon-critical work we use DTF, which has dedicated fluorescent ink sets. Send us the artwork and we'll tell you whether DTG can hit your colour brief.
How long until the order arrives in Cyprus?
Production turnaround is 5–11 working days depending on volume; Cyprus delivery via tracked EU courier is 4–6 working days on top. End-to-end most DTG orders to Cyprus arrive within 7–10 working days from artwork sign-off. Express turnaround (3–5 working days) is available on request for a small surcharge.
Can DTG do all-over print or sleeve print?
Sleeve print yes — we run a separate platen for sleeve panels. All-over print is technically possible but DTG isn't optimised for it (the platen size limits print area to ~36 × 46 cm). For genuine all-over print we recommend sublimation on polyester or a cut-and-sew approach where panels are printed flat, then sewn into a finished garment.
What if I want both DTG and embroidery on one piece?
Common request — we run combined decoration daily. Typical brief: DTG print on the chest or back panel, embroidered logo on the sleeve or inside neck label. Order them on the same line, same garment, one invoice. Brief us with both files and the placement.