Concept
Substrate
Any material onto which a transfer or print is applied. Includes apparel, hard goods, leather, and rigid surfaces.
Definition
Substrate is the trade term for any material onto which a transfer, print, or decoration is applied. Substrates split into two main categories. Textile substrates include cotton, polyester, blends, fleece, denim, canvas, and synthetic knits. Hard-good substrates include glass, metal, ceramic, acrylic, polycarbonate, wood, leather, and rigid plastics. Different decoration technologies bond to different substrate classes. DTF is fabric-first. UV DTF and dimensional UV graphics are hard-good-first. Substrate compatibility dictates which transfer line a decorator orders for a given job.
Related Terms
Textile Substrate
Any fabric-based material a transfer can be applied to, including cotton, polyester, blends, and synthetic knits.
Hard-Good Substrate
Any rigid non-textile material a transfer can be applied to, including glass, metal, ceramic, acrylic, and wood.
DTF
Direct-to-film transfer printing process used to produce full-color heat-applied graphics for apparel decoration.
UV DTF
A UV-cured direct-to-film transfer designed for rigid substrates and applied with a cold-peel adhesive instead of a heat press.