The language of production, in plain English
52 working definitions across processes, artwork, materials, equipment, and the business side of print. Written to be accurate and useful — no manufacturer specs, no marketing.
Processes & techniques
- DTF (direct-to-film)
A transfer printing process where artwork is printed onto a coated PET film, coated with hot-melt adhesive powder, cured, and then heat-pressed onto the garment or item. DTF works on a wide range of fabrics including cotton, polyester, and blends, without pretreatment of the garment, which is a large part of its rapid adoption. Prints are typically produced with CMYK inks over a white underbase so they sit opaque on dark fabrics.
- DTG (direct-to-garment)
Inkjet printing directly onto a garment with water-based textile inks, rather than onto a transfer medium. DTG excels at detailed, photographic artwork on cotton-rich garments; dark garments require a pretreatment liquid and a white underbase to make colours opaque. Compared with transfers, there is no application step — but garment handling, pretreatment, and drying define the workflow.
- Screen printing
Printing by forcing ink through a stencilled mesh screen, one screen per colour. Setup effort scales with colour count (each colour needs its own screen and registration), which makes screen printing economic at volume and expensive for one-offs. It remains the reference process for bold spot-colour work, special inks, and long runs.
- Dye sublimation
A process where sublimation dyes are printed onto transfer paper and then turned into gas under heat and pressure, dyeing the surface of a polyester or polymer-coated substrate. Because the dye enters the material rather than sitting on top, results have no feelable hand — but the process only works on polyester-rich or specially coated items, and shows best on white or light bases.
- Heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
Coloured vinyl film cut to shape on a cutting plotter, weeded of excess material, and heat-pressed onto garments. HTV is a per-colour, cut-not-printed process — ideal for names, numbers, and simple one- or two-colour designs, and uneconomic for detailed multicolour artwork where a printed process wins.
- Embroidery digitising
Converting artwork into a stitch file that tells an embroidery machine every stitch's type, direction, density, and sequence. Digitising is a skilled interpretation, not an automatic conversion — the same logo digitised well and badly produces visibly different results in thread. The digitising fee on embroidery quotes pays for this work, and the resulting stitch count drives the run cost.
- Curing
Applying controlled heat (and time) to fix a print or coating into its final durable state — melting DTF adhesive powder, drying and crosslinking DTG or screen inks, or fusing plastisol. Under-curing is the classic hidden failure: output looks finished but fails in the wash. Cure parameters come from the ink or powder supplier's specification and are worth verifying with a probe rather than trusting a dial.
- Pretreatment
A liquid applied to garments before DTG printing (and some other digital processes) that reacts with the ink to keep it on the surface and make the white underbase opaque. Dark-garment DTG depends on even pretreatment application; patchy pretreat shows as patchy prints. Applied by spray machine or hand sprayer, then dried flat before printing.
- White underbase
A layer of white ink printed beneath colour artwork so it reads opaque and vivid on dark substrates. In DTF and DTG the RIP generates the underbase from the artwork automatically, and its settings materially affect ink cost — white often consumes as much ink as all colours combined — as well as opacity and hand feel.
- Laser engraving
Removing or marking material with a focused laser to create permanent text, artwork, or photos on wood, acrylic, coated metals, glass, leather, and more. Different laser sources suit different materials (CO₂ for organics and acrylic, fibre for bare metals), and results are controlled by power, speed, and focus settings per material.
- Weeding
Removing the unwanted vinyl from around and inside a cut design before application — the counters of letters, the background between elements. Weeding time scales with design complexity and is a real labour cost that per-sheet vinyl pricing needs to reflect; intricate designs can take longer to weed than to cut and press combined.
- Gang sheet
A single sheet or length of transfer film filled with multiple designs — often different jobs or sizes nested together — printed in one pass to maximise material use. Ganging spreads the per-run cost across every design on the sheet, which is why DTF sellers price by sheet dimensions and why tight nesting directly improves margin.
Artwork & file preparation
- Vector artwork
Artwork described as mathematical shapes (paths, curves, fills) rather than pixels — typical formats include AI, EPS, SVG, and much PDF content. Vectors scale to any output size with perfectly sharp edges, which makes them the preferred source for logos, text, and flat graphics. A raster image embedded inside a vector container is still raster.
- Raster artwork
Artwork stored as a grid of pixels — JPEG, PNG, TIFF, photographs, and most social-media graphics. Detail is fixed at creation: enlarging a raster image spreads the same pixels over more area, softening edges. Whether a raster file is usable depends entirely on its pixel dimensions relative to the intended print size.
- Resolution (DPI/PPI)
The pixel density of an image at a given output size — pixels divided by printed inches. It is meaningless without a size: the same file is 300 DPI at 5 inches and 75 DPI at 20 inches. Around 300 DPI at final size is the common standard for close-viewed print; large-format work viewed from distance tolerates much less.
- CMYK
The four-ink colour model (cyan, magenta, yellow, black/key) used by most colour printing. CMYK's reproducible range is smaller than a screen's RGB range, so vivid on-screen colours can dull when converted for print. Reviewing the conversion — and proofing critical colours — belongs in preflight, before ink is committed.
- RGB
The additive colour model screens use — red, green, and blue light. Customer artwork almost always arrives in RGB. Some digital print workflows (including many DTF RIPs) accept RGB input and handle conversion internally with wide-gamut ink sets; the risk isn't RGB itself but promising colours from what a screen shows.
- Spot colour (Pantone)
A colour specified as a premixed reference — most commonly a Pantone number — rather than built from CMYK percentages. Spot references exist so a brand's colour is reproducible across printers and processes. For brand work, an agreed reference (or an approved physical sample) is the difference between a matched colour and an argument.
- Halftone
Simulating shades and gradients using patterns of dots of varying size or spacing — the mechanism that lets a one-colour process print a photograph. In screen printing, halftone line count and mesh choice are linked decisions; too fine a halftone for the mesh loses dots and detail.
- Bleed
Artwork extended beyond the final trim edge so that cutting tolerance never leaves an unprinted sliver at the edge. Standard for printed-and-cut work such as stickers, signs, cards, and banners; the required bleed distance is set by the printer or cutter's tolerance, commonly a few millimetres.
- Knockout
An area where an overlapping element removes (knocks out) what's beneath it instead of printing on top — for example, white text knocked out of a colour block prints as bare substrate, not white-on-colour. In garment work, checking what is genuinely white ink versus knocked-out fabric matters on every dark-garment job.
- Outlined fonts (text to curves)
Text converted from live font references into vector shapes, so it renders identically on any system regardless of installed fonts. Without outlining, a missing font substitutes silently and the printed piece carries the wrong typeface. The alternative is supplying the font files with the artwork; outlining is the safer default for one-way handoffs.
- ICC profile
A standardised description of how a specific device (printer + ink + media combination, monitor, scanner) reproduces colour, used by colour management to translate colours predictably between devices. In production printing, printing through the correct profile for the exact media is a large part of getting repeatable colour.
- Mockup
A visual of the artwork placed on the actual product — right garment colour, agreed position, indicative size — used to set customer expectations before production. A mockup shows intent; it is not a colour-accurate proof. Clear shops treat the two differently and say which one the customer is approving.
- Proof / approval
The exact artwork, placement, and specification presented to the customer for sign-off before production. A timestamped approval against a specific version is the shop's protection when the delivered goods are questioned — and the customer's protection against surprises. Production before approval converts every ambiguity into shop-paid risk.
Materials & consumables
- DTF film
Coated PET film that receives DTF ink and powder, sold in rolls (common widths around 30 cm and 58–60 cm) and sheets. Films differ in coating, finish (matte/gloss), and peel behaviour — hot, warm, or cold peel — and the film supplier's application spec defines the pressing parameters. Film choice visibly affects the transfer's finish and feel.
- Hot-melt adhesive powder
Thermoplastic adhesive powder applied to wet DTF ink and then cured, forming the bonding layer that fixes the print to fabric under the heat press. Grades vary in grain size and melt behaviour for different fabrics and hand feel. Application coverage and correct cure are the two variables that decide whether transfers survive washing.
- Substrate
The material being printed, decorated, or engraved — a garment, sign blank, mug, board, or sheet. Substrate properties (fibre content, coating, surface energy, heat tolerance) determine which processes are viable and which settings apply; "what's the substrate?" is the first question of any compatibility discussion.
- GSM (grams per square metre)
The standard weight measure for fabrics, papers, and films — grams per square metre of material. In garments, GSM is shorthand for fabric weight and drape (a 180 gsm T-shirt versus a 320 gsm hoodie fleece); it describes weight, not quality, but customers and catalogues use it as a primary comparison figure.
- Self-adhesive vinyl (cast & calendered)
Adhesive-backed PVC film used for signage, vehicle graphics, and decals, cut or printed then applied to surfaces. The two manufacturing families behave differently: calendered vinyl is economical and suited to flat, shorter-term applications; cast vinyl is thinner, more conformable, and more dimensionally stable, suiting curved surfaces and longer-life work. Matching the film family to the surface and lifespan is the core specification decision.
- Application / transfer tape
The carrier tape applied over weeded vinyl graphics to lift them from their backing and position them on the destination surface in one piece. Tack level matters: too aggressive fights the vinyl on release, too light drops pieces. Sold in paper and clear film variants, the latter easier for aligning layered work.
- Embroidery stabiliser (backing)
Material hooped or placed under (sometimes over) fabric during embroidery to support it against stitch tension and needle penetration. Main families are cut-away (permanent support for stretchy knits), tear-away (removed after stitching stable wovens), and wash-away toppings for pile fabrics. Wrong stabiliser choice shows as puckering, distortion, or sunken stitches.
- Sublimation paper
Transfer paper coated to hold sublimation ink and release it efficiently as gas under heat and pressure. Paper choice affects ink release, drying speed, and detail retention; it pairs with polyester or polymer-coated substrates, since sublimation dye only bonds with those surfaces.
Equipment
- Heat press
A machine applying controlled temperature, pressure, and time to bond transfers, vinyl, or sublimation prints to substrates. Formats include clam, swing-away, and draw designs plus speciality presses for caps and mugs. Real platen temperature and even pressure matter more than the display — both drift, and both are checkable with cheap instruments.
- Vinyl cutter / cutting plotter
A machine that drags or drives a blade through vinyl (and other sheet media) along vector paths to cut designs. Key working variables are blade depth, force, and speed per material; print-and-cut workflows add registration-mark reading so the cutter tracks printed graphics accurately.
- RIP software
The raster image processor that converts artwork into printer-ready data — handling colour management, ink limits, white-underbase generation, nesting, and queue control for production printers. In DTF and DTG the RIP's settings drive ink consumption and output quality as much as the printer itself; its consumption reports are the honest source for per-print ink costing.
- Conveyor dryer / curing oven
Heated tunnel or oven equipment that cures inks and adhesive powders at controlled temperature as work passes through on a belt (or sits in a static oven). Belt speed and temperature together set the actual cure the work receives; surface-temperature verification catches the gap between dial and reality.
- Embroidery hoop / frame
The frame that clamps fabric and stabiliser taut while the embroidery machine stitches. Hooping quality directly affects registration and puckering; hoop marks on delicate fabrics are a known handling risk QC should check for. Speciality frames exist for caps, pockets, and hard-to-hoop items.
- Printhead
The precision component that jets ink in inkjet-based printers (DTF, DTG, wide-format). Heads are the most maintenance-sensitive and often costliest wear part of the machine — nozzle condition determines output quality, and daily routines (nozzle checks, cleans, capping, white-ink circulation) exist mainly to protect them.
Business & pricing
- Margin (gross margin)
Profit as a percentage of the selling price: (price − cost) ÷ price. A £10 sale with £6 of cost carries a 40% margin. Margin is the standard management number because it maps directly onto what each pound of revenue leaves behind — and it is not interchangeable with markup.
- Markup
Profit as a percentage of cost: (price − cost) ÷ cost. The same £10 sale with £6 of cost is a 66.7% markup — and a 40% margin. Confusing the two always errs toward underpricing; know which your price list uses.
- Overhead
Business costs not tied to a specific job — rent, power, insurance, software, equipment depreciation, non-production salaries. Jobs must collectively pay for overhead, so honest job costing allocates a share to every quote; pricing on direct costs alone is how busy shops lose money.
- Setup fee
A per-job charge covering the work that doesn't scale with quantity: artwork preparation, screens or digitising, machine setup, test prints. Setup cost is identical for 5 units and 500, which is why per-unit prices without a setup charge make small runs loss-makers.
- Unit cost
The full cost of producing one unit of a job: per-unit materials and labour, plus the job's one-off costs (setup, delivery) spread across the quantity, plus an overhead allocation. Unit cost falls as quantity rises because the one-off costs dilute — the mechanism behind quantity price breaks.
- Break-even point
The sales volume at which total contribution (price minus variable cost, summed over units) exactly covers fixed costs — zero profit, zero loss. Below it the business consumes cash; above it each additional unit's contribution becomes profit. Calculated as fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit.
- Contribution margin
What each unit sold contributes toward fixed costs and profit: price minus variable cost, expressed per unit or as a percentage of price. It answers "is more volume worth it?" — a job with positive contribution can be worth taking even when fully-loaded accounting says it's marginal, and one with negative contribution loses money at any volume.
- Fixed costs
Costs that stay the same regardless of output volume: rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions, finance payments. Fixed costs define the height of the break-even hurdle — every pound added to them must be re-earned by contribution before the business makes anything.
- Variable costs
Costs that scale with each unit produced: blanks, ink, film, powder, thread, packaging, card fees, per-unit labour. The split between variable and fixed is what makes contribution analysis work; when in doubt, ask "does this cost go up if I print one more?".
- Payback period
How long an investment takes to return its cost: upfront investment ÷ net gain per period. A £12,000 machine netting £750 a month pays back in 16 months. Simple payback ignores the time value of money and anything after the payback point — useful as a first filter, not a full appraisal.
- Utilisation
The share of available capacity (machine hours or staff hours) actually used on productive work. Labour utilisation drives the true cost of an hour — someone productive 75% of the day costs a third more per productive hour than their worked-hour rate. Machine utilisation drives ROI: a press idle six days a week pays back seven times slower than the brochure maths.
- MOQ (minimum order quantity)
The smallest quantity a supplier or shop will produce for a given price structure. MOQs exist because setup costs don't scale down — below some volume, a job can't carry its setup and handling. Shops without an MOQ (or a minimum charge) end up doing the same admin and setup for a £12 order as a £1,200 one.
- Turnaround time
The elapsed time a shop commits to between two defined events — properly, between artwork approval and dispatch, since customer approval delays are outside the shop's control. Quoting turnaround from order date instead silently transfers the customer's slowness onto the shop's reputation.
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