How to Add DTG Hats to Any Left Chest Order!

We're adding on hats to any left chest print order! And the best part? You can do it with the exact same artwork your customer wants printed on their apparel! It's fast, easy, and is a great way to get your customer more of what they actually want! We know you know the drill when it comes to DTG printing hats (if you don't, check out how to use the Captain Platen here!), so we'll get straight to the point here! The bottom line: having the ability to add hats to any DTG order is the best way to add more value to the orders you receive! Allow us to explain:

The Benefits

1. Offer your customer the option of matching hats with their order without the need to do any extra work (using the same artwork already provided by the customer)

2. Your print shop makes more money while the customer gets more products!

3. Lets the customer know this is a service you offer compared to other print shops that don't, therefore they are more likely to place an order with you for that service

The Process

The order we are printing in this project is for a left chest print on a hoodie. Easy, right? We used our 16x10 Platen + Locking Hoop (if you haven't checked out this platen in action yet, catch it here!) and got it done in no time. But the key part of this order is that the customer also wanted matching hats with the same artwork printed on them! Normally, this would be difficult. The amount of detail in the graphic could not be achieved with either screen print or embroidery, but with the Captain Platen, we used DTG to get it done without any extra work! Making it the perfect addition to any order! 

Printing the Left Chest Print

1. Load your hoodie on to the 16x10 Platen + Locking Hoop
   1. To load the hoodie facing forward, simply place the 16x10 Platen on to the Setup Station and thread it on as usual, then shift the hoodie front around until the left chest area you are printing on is aligned exactly where you want it
   2. Place the Locking Hoop around the loaded plated and lock it in place!
   3. The Key capability of forward facing loading is that you can isolate your print space much easier, as you are able to look at the print space straight on and right side up. So when you go to aim your artwork in Garment Creator, it is much easier to ensure your print is going exactly where it needs to go!
2. In Garment Creator, choose the 16x20 platen preset setting to get as close to your platen size as possible
3. Use the center artwork button to automatically place the artwork in the center of the grid
4. Count up and down five grid boxes (1 grid box = 1 inch) from the center line-- those are the top and bottom lines of your whole available print space, so you know you cannot place the artwork anywhere past those lines
5. Because it's a left chest print, now you know the artwork needs to be placed on the right side of the grid (since the apparel prints a mirrored orientation, artwork placed on the right side of the grid prints it on the left side of the apparel
6. Now you are ready to print!

Printing the Hat

The cool thing about left chest print artwork is that it is sized perfectly to be printed on a hat! This means that you do not have to do anything, not even resize it, to prepare it for the hats!

1. Load the hat into the Captain Platen (for a full breakdown on how to do that, click here!)
2. In Garment Creator, just change the platen size present to 7x8 and center the artwork once more
3. Count up three grid boxes (3 inches), and that is your top line of the print space
4. Place the artwork where it needs to go, and you're set to print!

And just like that, you've got a matching left chest print and hat! And better yet, DTG printed hats is not a service a lot of print shops will have, so on top of getting a high quality order your customer will love, having this service means they will place the order with you every time! 

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