It is now possible to make your custom heat transfers in the comfort of your home without the need to hire a printing company. And yes, it is possible to DIY (do it yourself). Here are a few tips on how to create a custom heat transfer:
Buying a packaged transfer kit at your nearest local store is the easiest way to start your heat transfer. The kits accompany all the equipment you will require when making transfers. They include transfer paper, image software, and a T-shirt if you are lucky.
- Design Your Heat Transfer
Search or design an image of your liking that you will use during the transfers. If searching for an idea, you can find a photo on the internet, scan a print, or design one with the help of a software program. If you find a picture on the internet, ensure you have the full rights needed to reuse the image. When choosing a photo, remember to contrast your dark colors with fabrics with lighter colors. Also, your home printer will most likely not print to print the color white and leaves it as a blank. This is because it assumes the surface you are printing on is white.
Change a few aspects of the image to suit your liking and needs. You can use image-editing software to change colors, resize your vision, and add other necessary effects.
You only need this procedure if words or numbers are involved in your transfer. Failure to flip the image, the numbers or words you are printing will be in reverse form. You have to put the words in the image editing software and select to reverse or flip the image horizontally command to convert your photo.
- Finding The Proper Heat Transfer Paper
There are various transfer papers and sheets. There are particular transfer papers specified for darkly colored fabrics and other sheets only for lightly colored clothes. Choosing the proper transfer sheet will ensure the best results.
Lightly colored fabrics include colors such as yellow, pink, light green, light gray, and white. Their transfer sheets are transparent, and you should use dark colors to avoid distorting your garment. Darkly colored fabrics include black, dark gray, and dark blue. Their transfer papers are thicker as compared to the lightly colored materials.
The last step is printing your design on your T-shirt or garment of your liking. Before you begin the custom heat transfers, test your image on standard paper to confirm that the colors of the image are what you desire and want to print on your fabric. The image on your computer can sometimes contrast what you publish.
In all, it seems a lot more difficult to do than what it sounds like. If you are not the crafty type, sometimes paying a professional company is worth the cost and time.
If you are content with the image you have designed, you can go right ahead and print it, ensuring it is on the good side of your garment. If printing on a laser printer, you will need specially designed transfer papers made for laser printers.