DTF (Direct to film) is quickly becoming a brilliant new DTG (Direct to garment) alternative as DTF is more accessible, cheaper and requires less maintenance. It is a new method of printing that extends the capability of DTG printing by allowing designs to be transferred to a wider range of substrate or material types.

There is an increase in demand for DTF products however there are not a lot of DTF printers in the market. A lot of people are opting to buy a converted DTF printer at a high price but did you know that there are ways you can convert your current DTG printer into a DTF printer yourself? Converting a DTG printer to a DTF printer involves a number of steps that are basically easy and uncomplicated to do.

In order to convert your DTG printer into a DTF printer, you will need the following:

1. D2F Film such as Breeze from AW Paper
2. D2F Adhesive Powder Breeze Powder from AW Paper
3. DTF Ink (Important to use the correct DTF textile ink instead of DTG Ink)
4. Solution of 1 part Piezo Flush and 2 parts Distilled Water
5. 2 sets of ink cartridges
6. 60mL syringes
7. Priming syringes
8. Maintenance tank
9. Maintenance tank resetters
10. Maintenance sponges
11. RIP Software
12. Dispensing Needles
13. Heat curing station instead of a pre-treatment station

Steps:

1. Remove the lid of the current maintenance tank and get rid of the old sponge. Replace the maintenance sponge with a new one and reset the tank using the maintenance tank resetter.
2. Insert the maintenance tank back in the printer
3. Fill a new set of ink cartridges with the Piezo solution. This solution will purge out the ink in the ink tubes.
4. Take the old cartridges and put them into the Piezo solution, for long term storage purposes.
5. Run the Initial Fill setting of the printer and you should see the inks in the ink tubes get flushed out.
6. Fill the other set of new cartridges with the DTF inks using the syringes and dispensing needles.
7. Replace the cartridge with the Piezo solution with the one with DTF inks. The ink cartridges with the Piezo solution can be stored for future use. Note: Set-up the ink configuration according to your printer. DTG printers have different color profile needs when running with DTF ink.
8. Run another initial Fill in the printer to replace the solution in the ink tubes with the DTF inks.
9. Run some tests and you’re all set. 

Note that DTF printing requires similar maintenance to what DTG needs but less frequent. DTF ink is less likely to clog and is easier to clean. Daily shaking of the white ink is still needed as it separates. We highly recommend regular printing as it is the best form of maintenance to prevent future complications.