Is DTF living up to the hype?
Three shop owners share what direct-to-film printing has actually delivered to their businesses
By Adrienne Palmer
DTF printing has taken hold of the decorated apparel industry. According to the Printing United Alliance’s most recent State of the Decorated Apparel survey, the number of shops offering DTF in-house has grown since the previous survey period, the vast majority of respondents expect adoption to keep climbing, and a significant portion have converted screen printing capacity to DTF.
Keypoint Intelligence’s 2024-2029 Global DTF Forecast adds that print volume, consumables, blank apparel, and retail value are all expanding faster than hardware placements and revenue. This means shops are using their DTF machines more and more productively, not just buying new ones. The shirts printed, the ink consumed, the blanks decorated, and what those garments sell for at retail are all growing faster than the number of machines being placed or the revenue from selling them.
The global DTF retail value is projected to grow from $13.2 billion in 2024 to $55.2 billion by 2029. According to Keypoint Intelligence, “DTF has transitioned into a production-driven apparel technology, with growth increasingly defined by utilization, throughput, and repeat programs rather than system proliferation.” In North America, entry-level placement growth sits at 1.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2029, while systems in the commercial and production tiers are growing at around 11% CAGR.
What businesses are still figuring out is whether it delivered what it promised. Three shop owners weigh in.
Images courtesy of Game Gear
Taho Sportswear | Fridley, Minnesota
Mark Aho has been in the decorated apparel business for more than four decades. His business, Taho Sportswear, which merged with GLS Promotions in 2024, runs four MHM automatic presses, 71 heads of embroidery, two commercial Velox DTF machines, laser engravers, UV printers, and a full range of wide-format equipment. A team of 46 keeps production moving. Aho was among the first three shops in the Minneapolis region to invest in a large commercial DTF machine, nearly five years ago.
Taho Sportswear just bought a new MHM 8-color, 10-station automatic press. A year ago, Aho was looking at a 14-color press. He chose the smaller configuration, saving roughly $40,000, because DTF now handles the high-color work that used to require more screen printing capacity — things like LGBTQ+ Pride designs, race car graphics, and other complex multicolor jobs.
“We decided we could move most processes or high-color jobs to DTF,” Aho said. “The savings give us the ability to also invest in higher-speed DTF carousels or faster presses down the road, and our space footprint is smaller.”
The press purchase didn’t come at the expense of screen printing. “Notice we also added another screen press,” Aho said. “There is room and need for both.”
Color count is the first factor when routing a job. After that, the deadline and workflow come into play, then the desired hand or effect. “Many customers are understanding the difference and have a method they like better,” Aho said. “We have them asking for both.”
DTF also handles short runs and small reorders, and has opened up unexpected territory for Taho Sportswear. Customers have started requesting small images applied with extra passes on polo and golf shirts to simulate the look and feel of silicon printing. “It’s also a nice fill-in or small reorder option,” Aho said.
With DTF printing marketed as a low-barrier to entry, full-service shops are up against operators running tabletop machines as a side hustle. Aho thinks the decorated apparel industry undersells itself. “So many in our industry forget they are artists with a very special skill set, and we cheapen that too often,” he said.
“I’ve said no to many of the flash-in-the-pan methods and processes out there over the years,” Aho said. “This one grabbed me as a game changer from the first time I saw it. DTF has helped a new department take off.”
Images courtesy of Game Gear
Get It Got It | Buffalo, Wyoming
Bryan Wampole started Get It Got It as a side business in 2007. The shop spent its first 16 years in Pennsylvania before relocating to Buffalo, Wyoming, in 2023. Courtnee Wampole, managing partner, came on full-time in 2024. In-house equipment includes a Vastex manual press, a Tajima 6-head embroidery machine, and heat press equipment. DTF is outsourced, and that’s a deliberate choice.
“We were screen printers first, but DTF became a necessity as the industry changed,” Wampole said. “We already had a heat press to do vinyl names and numbers for player jerseys, so when DTF entered the space, it made sense to add a print method that allowed us to say yes to small orders with intricate details or lots of colors.”
For shops outsourcing DTF, Wampole said the supplier relationship is what makes the difference. “A lot of it came down to finding the right DTF partner that was willing to work with us to educate us about the process and provide a great product that we were proud to send out our door,” Wampole said. “Once you have those two things dialed in, DTF makes it so easy to say yes to those orders that you would never set up a screen print job for.”
Labor costs, equipment costs, and interest rates all factor into the decision to stay outsourced. “I would rather have someone else have the headache of keeping those machines running,” she said. “I’m all about focusing our time and energy on selling more versus bringing different print methods or equipment in.”
After moving to the small mountain town, the shop saw an opening. Customers were coming in looking for Bison gear, the local school mascot, only to find the wrong size or the wrong style elsewhere. Get It Got It now keeps five to 10 transfers on hand, cycling them out as seasons change. Blank products in school colors sit at the front of the store. Customers pick their garment, pick their transfer, and have it pressed while they wait. The DTF partner ships same day, so replenishing stock midweek isn’t an issue.
“People 100% know to come in specifically for it,” Wampole said. “We are usually super busy on Thursday and Friday game days or before a big championship or meet.”
AI-generated artwork has made DTF more complicated for Get It Got It. Customers increasingly arrive with full-coverage, full-color images generated in tools like ChatGPT, convinced the design is print-ready. Full-coverage backgrounds don’t translate cleanly to DTF without adjustment. Halftoning produces a much softer hand and better wearability without changing the look, but getting customers on board is its own conversation. “We have to tweak,” Wampole said.
For higher-quantity runs with fewer colors, screen printing is still more economical. “For those jobs that are a few hundred pieces and a few colors, we are always going to screen print those,” Wampole said. “Likewise, we have been screen printing for so long that we can still screen print larger jobs faster than someone can press them.”
Images courtesy of Get It Got It
Game Gear Indy | Indianapolis
Chris Theis launched Game Gear Indy as a family-owned business that has grown over the past two years into a dedicated team serving schools, sports programs, and local businesses. “We want to become a trusted partner by providing uniforms, spiritwear, online stores, and apparel programs that organizations can rely on year after year,” Theis said.
The shop runs DTF in-house on an Epson SureColor G6070 printer and a Hotronix heat press. Embroidery and screen printing are handled by local contract partners when volume calls for it.
“We wanted to invest in one machine that gave us strong margins and a lot of flexibility,” Theis said. The model works well for schools and teams ordering without large minimums or long lead times. “It just fit with how people are ordering now,” he said.
Game Gear does not sell individual transfers or gang sheets. “We use DTF as part of a complete apparel decoration solution, producing finished apparel and helping organizations build consistent branding and apparel programs rather than simply printing transfers,” Theis said.
Theis expected to spend time educating customers about DTF. Game Gear even produced marketing materials explaining what it was. That turned out to be unnecessary.
“The reality was that most customers didn’t know or pay much attention to the decoration method,” Theis said. “They liked the variety, the colors, and the option to order when they wanted instead of only being part of one group order.”
A local church put that flexibility to the test. When a vacation Bible school program had more attendees than expected, organizers reached out on a Wednesday afternoon hoping for a quick turnaround on additional shirts. The blank was a color not available locally. Theis sourced it for next-morning delivery, printed the transfers, pressed the shirts, and had them ready before Thursday’s final night.
Shipping costs on smaller orders are the ongoing challenge. Theis orders once or twice a week, batching jobs to stay within a 10- to 14-day delivery window and hit free shipping thresholds. When a rush doesn’t allow for that, they work with contract printing partners in their supplier’s decorator network for next-day pickup. “Right now, the biggest limitation is shipping costs,” Theis said. “DTF makes it easy to offer smaller, more flexible orders, but shipping those smaller individual orders affordably is still something we have to work through.”
Images courtesy of Get It Got It
Is DTF worth it?
Shipping costs can eat into the margins that make small runs worthwhile. AI-generated artwork is creating new friction at the design stage. Hobbyist competitors are undercutting pricing across the board. And yet Aho restructured a major equipment purchase around DTF and calls it a game changer. Wampole built something no one else in her market offers. Theis built his whole business on it. None of them are saying DTF failed to deliver. For shops willing to figure out where it fits, the hype held up.
Adrienne Palmer has 13 years of experience in editorial leadership, branded content, and print and digital media. Through her consulting company, AP Media Group, she helps apparel decoration and wide-format digital print brands elevate their message and engage audiences through high-impact content and strategy. She is currently the VP of Fabric, an executive coaching program for progressive print shop owners.
