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Custom Screen Printed Transfers & More

Metallic, Pearl & Glitter Screen Print Transfers for T-Shirt Printing

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Hey Friends! Dave here with Transfer Express, and today I want to show you the differences and similarities between three different screen printed transfer types - our Goof Proof metallic inks, our Pearl Prints and our Glitter transfers.

They’re all shiny and fashionable, but which one will work best for you and your project? Let’s get to it.

Now, before we get into applications and comparisons between these different screen printed heat transfer types, let’s talk about how you can order each one.

It’s real easy and all in the same place. Let’s hop over to TransferExpress.com and I’ll show you.

Let’s navigate to the Easy View online designer right here by clicking on “order transfers”. Now that we’re in, you can select and switch between different transfer types right here on the bottom left.

For metallic inks- Goof Proof is the transfer type you’ll want to select. Now Goof Proof isn’t limited to the 4 metallic colors, it’s available in 70 standard ink colors and can also be pantone matched for an additional charge.

They can also be combined with the puff inks, too! So if you wanted metallic silver and white puff inks, you can make it happen. Here, with our metallic Goof Proof though, we’re limited to just 4 colors: Graphite, Silver, Gold and Rose Gold (which we’ll be using as our sample in just a couple minutes).

For Glitter, we’ll select the Glitter product right here under the Goof Proof. Glitter is available in 10 colors, and can be combined with other Glitter inks for multi-color prints. You can choose or combine: Blue, Gold, Green, Pink, Red, Silver, Navy, Orange, Purple and Onyx. Pink will be our choice to compare our samples with today.

Last, our Pearl Prints are right next to the Glitter, available in your choice of six colors. However, these are limited to single-color artwork only. They’re the most similar look to the standard Goof Proof metallic inks, but have an expanded color pallet: Red, Purple, Pink, Green, Copper and Blue. We’ll be using the Pearl Pink for our samples.

Let’s add some artwork in our design space! Of course, you can upload your own artwork here using the upload tool, but for our example, we’ll just use one of the thousands of customizable layouts here at TransferExpress.com. Let’s click add layout and use this new layout in the promo layouts tab- QMS-221.

This artwork is a good example because, while it has some fine details, the line weight and fonts should print fine with all of our different transfer types. Goof Proof metallic plastisol inks will be the best bet for finer detail and text, with Pearl coming in a close second. Fine text, small elements and details may not work the best with Glitter for a couple reasons: the first is that the inks are a clear ink with actual glitter suspended in it- so small text can appear not as solid as you would like, leading to readability issues. The second is that small areas can have trouble with durability- the more surface area the better. We’ll investigate when we get to printing.

With any customizable layout in the Easy View designer, you can easily swap text, fonts and even elements in the design. Here we’ll just delete the lower line of text and double click to change the top here to nature. We’ll select our ink color here at the top of the edit menu- and we’ll select pink Glitter here. You’ll notice the ink swatches in this selection will change based on what transfer type you have selected.

Once we’re happy with our artwork, we can confirm our details at the bottom here, input our quantity and bam, we have pricing and our turn time. Let’s click next, confirm our details and add to cart.

Now that our transfers arrived, let’s get to applying!

We used the same exact art file here for a nice apples-to-apples comparison between these three transfer types.

Application instructions: Goof Proof - 365°F /  4 seconds /  Hot peel

Application instructions: Glitter - 365°F / 15 Seconds / Cold peel

Application instructions: Pearl - 340°F / 10 Seconds / Cold peel

Compare: Look, detail, feel, shimmer/shine

So which one do you like the best?

Be sure you’re subscribed to stay up to date on all of the helpful videos we’re releasing every single week. From heat transfer applications, to t-shirt business ideas and so much more- we’re dedicated to helping you and your t-shirt business succeed. But, until next time- I’m Dave, Happy Pressing!


Colors Available:

  • PEARL - SINGLE COLOR ONLY
    • Available in 6 colors: Pearl Red, Pearl Purple, Pearl Pink, Pearl Green, Pearl Copper, and Pearl Blue
  • GLITTER - MULTIPLE BUT ONLY GLITTER
    • Available in 10 colors: Blue, Gold, Green, Pink, Red, Silver, Navy, Orange, Purple, Onyx
  • GOOF PROOF - 70+ Can be combined with puff inks
    • 70 Standard, 4 metallic colors: Graphite, Silver, Rose Gold, Gold


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