PET Film

PET film is a thin, heat-stable polyethylene terephthalate sheet, typically 75 to 100 microns thick, run through a DTF printer as a roll or cut sheet the same way paper feeds through an inkjet printer. The printer lays down a CMYK design, backs it with a white underbase, and dusts it with adhesive powder — all on top of this one clear sheet, which is the "film" that gives direct-to-film printing its name and the reason DTF sits apart from screen printing or plain HTV.

For anyone ordering pressable DTF transfers, PET film is the physical object that shows up in the mail: a clear sheet with a colorful, slightly raised design sitting on its surface, ready to be trimmed and pressed. We buy film in bulk rolls rated for a specific printer's ink formulation, and switching brands without testing first has burned us before — one off-brand roll released the white underbase unevenly, leaving faint streaks across an otherwise clean logo.

Print shops spec film by thickness, matte versus glossy finish, and hot-peel versus cold-peel release, matching it to their printer, powder, and press settings as one system rather than swapping any single piece in isolation. Matte film generally gives a softer, less plasticky hand-feel on the finished shirt, which matters on orders where buyers will notice the print's texture as much as its color.

A common mistake is assuming the film itself ends up on the shirt — it doesn't. The film is only the temporary carrier; once pressed and peeled away, only the ink and adhesive layer stay behind, and a good transfer leaves no trace of the film's texture or sheen on the fabric.