Frequently Asked Questions

DTF stands for Direct-to-Film. We print your design onto a coated PET film with CMYK + white inks, lay down a hot-melt adhesive powder, and cure it in our lab. You receive a ready-to-press transfer that you apply to the garment with a heat press in about 10 seconds.

Compared to screen printing, there's no minimum order, no setup fees, and full-color photo-quality detail. Compared to vinyl (HTV), DTF gives you complex multi-color art without weeding.

Transfers by Size — one design, priced by the square inch. Perfect for a single tee, a small batch, or when you only need one print at a specific size.

Gang Sheet — many designs packed onto one big 16" wide sheet. Way cheaper per transfer at scale. Use it when you have multiple designs or need lots of copies. Use the builder to drop in artwork and we auto-pack it for you.

Yes. A clamshell or swing-away heat press is required. A regular household iron does not produce consistent enough heat or pressure for DTF transfers to bond properly. A Cricut EasyPress can work for very small designs (under 4"), but a 15"×15" or larger flat press is what we recommend for anything bigger.

Cold peel. Always wait until the carrier sheet is fully cool to the touch before peeling. Pulling while hot is the #1 cause of edges lifting. See our application instructions for the full press recipe.

Standard recipe: 320°F · 10 seconds · medium-firm pressure · cold peel, then a 5–10 second post-press with parchment paper for durability. The full step-by-step is on our how-to-apply page.

Absolutely. Our DTF prints include a built-in white ink underbase, so colors stay vivid on black, navy, charcoal, or any dark color. No "ghosting" or muddy color shift like you'd get with sublimation.

Cotton, poly/cotton blends, tri-blends, ringspun cotton, polyester, performance wear, canvas, denim, hats, fleece — almost any heat-tolerant garment. We recommend dropping the temp to 285°F and increasing time to 12 seconds on 100% polyester to avoid dye migration. Test first on stretchy or specialty fabrics.

When pressed correctly and cared for properly, our transfers hold up beautifully through 50+ wash cycles. Cracking, peeling, or fading almost always traces back to one of three things: skipping the post-press, using harsh detergents, or running the garment through a hot dryer. See our care instructions.

PNG with a transparent background at 300 DPI is ideal. SVG and PDF (vector) also work great. JPG is acceptable for photo-style art that doesn't need transparency. Full breakdown on our artwork guide.

Before any file goes to the printer, a real human checks it for low resolution, missing transparency, color profile issues, hairlines that won't survive pressing, and embedded font problems. If we spot something, we email you with the issue and the fix — at no charge. We don't print files we know will fail.

Upload it anyway. Our review will tell you the largest size it'll print sharp at. Smaller is sometimes fine — a low-res phone screenshot can print acceptably at 3" but will look blurry at 12".

We're a print lab, not a design studio. We won't redraw or recreate your art. We will, however, do basic prep work like background removal, simple color tweaks, or scaling — email support@transferlabs.com with your file and what you need.

Standard production is 1–2 business days. Add the Guaranteed Delivery upgrade and orders placed before 11 AM PT ship the same business day. Transit time is on top of production. Most US customers receive their transfers 2–4 business days after ordering. See shipping info for full details.

All 50 US states and US territories. We don't ship internationally yet.

Yes — free standard shipping on orders over $75. Below that, shipping is calculated at checkout based on weight and destination.

No. Order one transfer or a thousand. Gang sheets save more per transfer at scale, but we have no order minimums and no setup fees on either product.

Yes. The moment your transfers ship, you'll get an email with your tracking number. Click the carrier link in that email to follow the package.

Email support@transferlabs.com with your order number and a photo of the issue within 14 days of delivery. If it's our error — defect, misprint, wrong size — we'll reprint it for free OR refund your money, your choice.

Custom DTF transfers are made to your art and can't be resold. We don't accept returns on custom orders for "buyer's remorse" reasons. We do stand behind print quality — anything that's our error, we make right.

If the transfer was defective coming out of our lab, yes — send a photo and we'll reprint. If it failed because of how it was pressed (under-temped, hot peel, no post-press, garment incompatibility), we can't reprint for free, but we're happy to walk you through what likely went wrong so it works next time. Read our application guide first.

Yes — if it hasn't entered production. Email support@transferlabs.com as fast as you can. Once a job is on the printer, we can't cancel it because the materials are already committed.

Yes. Gang sheets already discount aggressively as the sheet gets longer (up to 50% off at the largest sizes). For ongoing accounts, repeat schedules, or very large runs, request a custom quote on our wholesale page.

Yes — for accounts with consistent volume. Email support@transferlabs.com to set up a reseller arrangement.