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What is Direct Digital Print on Garments?

Updated 27th June 2025

Direct digital printing—or “direct-to-garment” printing—is a branding process involving applying full colour images on garments using inkjet technology. While other printing techniques, such as screen printing, use stencils and multiple ink layers, DDP uses specialised printers, which create sharp, vibrant designs. How does it work? Just load your design into a computer hooked up to the printer. After the machine reads it, tiny nozzles shoot ink in precise patterns onto the clothing. When printing tee shirts, for example, you lay out the fabric on a tray, and the printer scans over it, adding the ink layer by layer if it’s a complex or colourful design.

Advantanges

Its quick and reliable process sets it apart from other methods, making it ideal for custom garments. At the same time, it allows vibrant full prints and high-definition details, including gradients and photorealistic images, without compromising clarity.

In addition to its high-quality results, DDP is perfect for small-batch orders because it allows small-quantity orders without the additional cost per unit. That’s why businesses often use it for small-scale campaigns or testing out ideas.

Likewise, it’s more eco-friendly than some methods since there’s less waste—no extra screens or chemicals to toss. Plus, tweaking for mistakes is as easy as 1, 2, 3: Make changes on the computer and reprint them in minutes.

Disadvantages of Direct Digital Printing

Alongside its many advantages are its notable cons, with pricey machine and ink costs at the top of our list. When printing on dark fabrics, you would likely need a white underlayer first, which adds more to the production time and budget spent. Second, it’s not as fast as screen printing for large orders—hundreds of identical shirts might still go old-school. And durability? The prints hold up decently, but they fade a bit faster than screen-printed garments if you’re washing them a lot.

How is Direct Digital Printing Used

You can see digital printing on garments everywhere. For branding, it’s a quick way to put logos or slogans on shirts, jackets, or hats. Since it’s suitable for small batches, companies love it for event apparel or team gear. For events, it’s a winner. Think t-shirts or hoodies with festival logos or charity-run designs. Attendees grab high-quality stuff to keep, especially as memorabilia. In retail, fashion brands lean on it, too. It’s perfect for small collections or one-offs. Let your creativity run wild when you print graphic tees or customise a whole boutique collection.

Examples of Direct Digital Print

You will see examples of direct digital print on garments on a daily basis. In fact likely you will own some garments yourself. Here are the main products you will likely see digital print on:

• Promotional T-shirts
• Caps
• Custom Printed Hoodies
• Jackets

Digital vs Screen vs Transfer Printing Side-by-Side Visual Comparison

The Future of Custom Apparel

As technology gets better, the cost of digital printing will come down dramatically. It has its quirks—like fabric limits or wash wear—but the good outweighs the bad when you’re after quality printing. DDP will be our suggestion if you want personal flair on your gear. With this tech, your ideas can jump off the fabric.