What is a DTF halftone, and when do I need one?
A halftone turns soft, half-transparent areas into a pattern of solid dots. A DTF printer puts white ink under every visible pixel, so a faint glow gets full white beneath it; as dots, each spot is either full ink or bare shirt. You need it for designs with glows, smoke, shadows or faded edges, above all on dark shirts. Here the dots keep the original coverage: a 30 % glow prints as about 30 % ink (measured within 5 %).
Why does my DTF print have a white or grey haze around the design?
The printer puts a solid white base under every pixel that is not fully transparent. Glows, shadows and soft edges are half-transparent, so they get full white under faint colour. Halftone dots fix this: each dot is either solid ink or nothing, so no thin white shows.
How do I remove a black background for DTF without losing the glow?
Choose Remove black. Dark pixels become transparent in proportion to how dark they are, and their colour is brightened back to what it was meant to be, so an orange glow stays orange and fades into the shirt. Then the halftone step turns that fade into dots.
What DPI and size should a DTF file be?
300 DPI at the final print size. A typical front print is 25 to 30 cm wide, a back print 30 to 35 cm and a pocket logo 8 to 10 cm. The PNG from this page has 300 DPI stored in it, so Photoshop and most RIPs open it at that size.
Which dot size should I pick?
Medium (35 LPI) suits most designs. Coarse (25 LPI) is more forgiving with powder and on rough fabric; Fine (45 LPI) keeps small details on smooth, tight-weave shirts. Print a small test strip if you are unsure.
