Produce Custom Dad Hats With Transfer Paper
If you’ve found that heat transfer vinyl is too limited or time consuming for multicolor hat transfers, you can always alternatively apply your own heat transfer paper prints. Especially since most hats are made of common materials, applying a transfer like Paropy Inkjet Dark Pro to a hat will be just as simple as with a T-shirt. Let’s show you how to do just that on a dad hat.
First, be sure to measure the front side of your hat to get an idea of the best size for your graphic. Once you’ve done so, it’ll be just a matter of printing it through your preferred inkjet printer. If you’d like to contour cut your graphic however, import it to your vinyl cutter’s software and use its tools to trace the image and add print and cut borders around it. As you’re working with smaller graphics, you’ll be able to make duplicate graphics for several hats to fit in one document of your paper’s size.
Since we’re printing with dark heat transfer paper, there’s no need to mirror your graphics prior to printing. But once ready, send it to your inkjet printer using either its transfer paper or matte photo paper presets. And with the transfer printed, you may now cut the graphic.
Simpler shaped graphics can be cut with scissors, then peeled off the paper’s carrier sheet. Though we’ll continue to contour cut our graphics with a vinyl cutter. Every machine and their software will differ based on their brand, though it’s a good practice for any 20" or larger cutters to place your print on a large enough cutting mat that allows the machine to feed into it properly. We also recommend using the settings shown here for most papers.
Now that the transfer’s been cut, carefully lift the graphic off of the carrier sheet.
Next, turn on your cap press and set it to 25 seconds at 375 degrees Fahrenheit with medium to firm pressure. For Paropy Dark Pro and similar papers however, it’s best to apply with firm pressure for consistent results.
Once your machine reaches temperature, mount your hat to its lower platen, then place and center your graphic on top. Cover it with a protective sheet and press.
After 25 seconds, open your machine and allow the transfer to cool down. And once it’s cooled, peel the protective sheet off and your colorful graphic has now been applied onto a dad hat! You can learn more about transfer paper and more on our YouTube channel or at HeatPressNation.com.
