Using a 'Garment Graphics' Cutter for Apparel Decoration

A vinyl cutter can create numerous new opportunities for your apparel decoration business. Here's how to pick the perfect one.
Jan 1, 2008

Once the design is cut, it can be peeled away from its transparent backing. Here, you can see exactly how the cutter cut around the design to produce the finished transfer.

At first blush, it might not seem obvious how a sign vinyl cutter can improve your apparel decoration business — less obvious than, say, an embroidery machine that embroiders textiles or a screen printing press, which applies ink to them. Well, did you know that a sign vinyl cutter can actually cut different types of materials to be applied to apparel with a heat press or an embroidery machine? This method of indirect garment decoration is now recognized by manufacturers, dealers and businesses like yours, revolutionizing this traditional sign-making tool into an indispensable piece of equipment for garment decorating. Consequently, I am coining a new term, "garment graphics cutter," for this versatile piece of equipment.

Garment Graphics Cutter Mission Statement: The primary purpose of a garment graphics cutter is to help you increase profits by accommodating low-quantity, custom apparel orders.

When researching various brands and styles of cutters, it is important to know what to look for. To start, make sure the cutter can do three primary applications: cutting heat-applied film; cutting tackle twill or appliqué fabrics; and trimming around preprinted images for inkjet and color laser transfers.

Before examining the technical specifications of a cutter needed to achieve these results, let's look at each of these applications and learn how they can benefit your business. Each of these applications will be explained in greater detail in follow-up articles that will be posted exclusively at impressionsmag.com. This article, and the follow-up articles, will be further illustrated by podcast-style videos that can be viewed online.

Cutting Heat-Applied Film: The process of cutting heat-applied film entails loading a solid-color, two-ply material into the cutter, and then sending vector artwork to the cutter, which cuts it out in a mirror image. After the design is cut, the excess material is removed to prepare it for application on a heat press. This type of application is ideal for one- to two-color, text-based designs or logos and typically provides extremely durable results that won't crack, peel or fade, often outlasting the garment itself. Heat-applied film is available in standard colors as well as a huge variety of different looks and feels, including screen print finish, matte, glossy, fuzzy, glitter, reflective, and other types of special effects — many of which will appeal to markets that you have not been able to reach.

Some Quick Film Facts: Heat-applied film is typically sold in 5-yard increments, with roll widths ranging from 15 to 19 inches. While the cost per yard varies by material, the average cost per square inch usually breaks down to just more than 1 cent for solid colors and about 2 cents per square inch for glitters, reflective and other specialty finish materials. Knowing this, we can estimate that the cost of a single, solid-color design that measures 4 x 10 inches is 40 cents.

While you can save fractions of a cent by ordering materials in larger quantities, this is theoretically a set cost regardless of the quantity of designs produced. This makes the process ideal for low-quantity, custom orders where screen printing is not a viable option. Heat-applied film can be applied to fabrics such as cotton, polyesters, blends, nylon, leather, spandex, denim and silk.

Cutting Tackle Twill or Appliqué Fabrics: The process of cutting tackle twill is much like that of cutting heat-applied film. The job starts by loading a roll or piece of two-ply twill into the cutter, the material consisting of a layer of the twill fabric mounted on a sticky plastic backing. The vector artwork is sent to the cutter and the design is cut in the positive, meaning no mirroring of the image is required. After cutting, the excess twill is removed to expose the lettering, which is still spaced on the plastic backing.

At this point, if your design is one solid piece, like a number "8," you can pick it up from the backing and lay it onto your garment. If the design consists of several free-floating pieces such as the letters "A," "B" or "C," then you can use a sticky masking material to pick up your image and take it over to your garment as one piece.

After positioning, permanent adhesion is achieved by stitching the twill to the garment using embroidery equipment or by encapsulating the outside edge with heat transfer vinyl. This type of application is ideal for simple designs that call for an authentic or vintage look. Tackle twill comes in many varieties as well, including solid colors, pastels, plaids and other popular patterns.

Quick Twill Facts: Tackle twill is sold by the yard, typically in 5-yard increments. Twill comes in two types: pressure sensitive and non-pressure-sensitive.

Pressure-sensitive twill is two-ply twill that can be cut in a roll-style cutter. Non-pressure-sensitive twill is designed for use in a flatbed-style cutter.

Pressure-sensitive twill is sold in a 16.5-inch-wide roll. The cost per square inch of pressure-sensitive twill also is just under 1 cent, giving it a similar cost structure to the heat-applied film. However, as mentioned, this material must be stitched down or encapsulated with heat-applied film for permanent adhesion, so be sure to consider this when estimating your cost. Tackle twill can be sewn on a variety of fabrics, including cotton, polyester and blends.

Trimming Around Preprinted Inkjet or Laser Transfers: Using a cutter to work with transfers is infinitely easier than cutting transfers by hand with scissors. You simply scan or import an image, convert it to vector artwork, and establish cut lines and registration points around the image using software that comes with the cutter. You'll print that file — using an inkjet or laser printer — onto transfer paper, and then load it in the cutter, which uses its optical eye sensor to read those registration points and then cuts out the image perfectly. This solution is ideal for smaller orders and personalized jobs, where full-color graphics are in demand. The durability expectations for this process should be about 24 to 48 washings, depending on the brand of paper used.

Quick Transfer Paper Facts: Transfer paper comes in many varieties. The key to having a transfer paper that works with a garment cutter is that it needs to be two-ply. Most opaque transfer papers or papers for dark fabrics are two-ply and quite easy to work with. However, transfer papers for light colors often need to be mounted on masking material prior to cutting. Check with your paper supplier to ensure that what you buy is cutter-friendly.

With ink costs included, a full-color printed design that measures 4 x 10 inches for dark fabrics costs $1. Paper for light- colored fabrics comes in at about half that cost. Most transfer papers can be applied to cotton and cotton/poly blends, with some papers working on 100% polyester and Lycra spandex.

Josh Ellsworth has been in the garment decoration industry for eight years, working for the past six years as an account representative for Imprintables Warehouse. He manages his own blog at joshellsworth.com, entitled Heat Press Yourself. His Web site offers weekly articles, tutorials and videos that explore that art of T-shirt decoration with a heat press.

For more information or to comment on this article, contact josh@imprintableswarehouse.com.

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