Powderless DTF, Expanded Color Gamut, and PRINTING United Expo One Week Away
By Matt Harvey, Little 6 Industries | Published: September 14, 2026
One week from PRINTING United Expo and the equipment world is moving fast. This week brought a genuinely significant announcement: DuPont demonstrating what could be the first real path to powderless DTF production. Plus multiple manufacturers launching expanded-color-gamut systems that address one of DTF’s biggest historical limitations.
Here’s what’s happening and why it matters.
The Big Picture: Custom printing equipment is going through genuine transformation. Powderless DTF, expanded gamut printing, and improved UV-DTF chemistry are moving the industry beyond just “faster machines” toward fundamentally different workflows and capabilities.
Powderless DTF: The Potential Game-Changer
DuPont announced September 9 that it will demonstrate its Artistri JA1100 jettable adhesive at PRINTING United Expo 2026. This is potentially the most significant DTF workflow development we’ve seen this year.
Traditional DTF production involves several messy steps: printing the design, applying TPU adhesive powder, shaking off excess powder, and curing everything together. The powder handling is one of the most maintenance-intensive parts of DTF production—it gets everywhere, requires HEPA filtration, and adds meaningful labor to every transfer.
DuPont’s approach jets the adhesive digitally onto the film instead of applying and shaking loose powder. They’re pairing it with Brown Manufacturing’s automated Yet-Tee system for demonstration.
What This Could Mean
DuPont claims the jettable adhesive creates:
Cleaner production environments (no airborne powder)
Reduced manual steps (no powder application or shaking)
Softer hand on finished transfers (more precise adhesive placement)
Lower labor cost per transfer (workflow simplification)
If durability and economics hold up in production—not just demonstration environments—this could eventually eliminate one of the messiest and most labor-intensive parts of DTF. That’s a meaningful workflow shift, not just an incremental improvement.
The Caveat: Demo performance and production reliability aren’t the same thing. Jettable adhesive systems have been attempted before with mixed results. We’ll be watching closely at PRINTING United to see whether this represents a real breakthrough or another promising demo that doesn’t survive production reality.
Mimaki Launches Production DTF Printer
Mimaki announced the TxF330-800 on September 8—a 32-inch production DTF printer available in two configurations:
Productivity configuration: Standard CMYK plus White, optimized for volume production speed
Color configuration: Six-color CMYK plus Light Cyan, Light Magenta, and White for smoother gradients and better color reproduction
Notably, the system supports ink replacement while printing, reducing downtime on long production runs.
This is another major OEM treating DTF as serious industrial production equipment. Combined with Brother’s recent industrial launches and Roland’s activity in the space, established manufacturers are legitimizing DTF as standard textile production infrastructure—not the aftermarket technology it started as.
Expanded Color Gamut Is Becoming Standard
Expanded gamut DTF is transitioning from novelty feature to serious industry trend. Multiple manufacturers now offer systems that go beyond standard CMYK to reproduce colors traditional four-color DTF can’t handle well.
Recent examples:
Mimaki’s TxF330-800 Light Cyan/Light Magenta configuration for smoother color transitions
ColDesi’s DigitalHeat FX DTF 12H2 adds Orange and Green to CMYK+White, claiming 27% wider gamut and approximately 100,000 additional reproducible colors
Prestige XL3 triple-printhead system with RGBO (Red, Green, Blue, Orange) plus CMYK
The industry conversation is clearly shifting from “how fast can DTF print?” to “how accurately can it reproduce difficult customer colors?”
Why This Matters
Standard CMYK printing struggles with specific colors that customers request constantly: royal blue, bright orange, vibrant red, rich green, and specific brand colors with defined Pantone values. Expanded gamut printing directly addresses this limitation.
For premium and color-critical work—brand identity apparel, event merchandise with specific color requirements, corporate wear needing exact matches—expanded gamut represents a genuine capability differentiator, not just another speed specification.
The Local Arizona Market
Arizona DTF pricing pressure remains a factor. Local Phoenix operations continue advertising aggressive commodity pricing—22-inch gang sheets from $7.95, pricing starting at $0.02 per square inch, same-day production, and free shipping thresholds around $99.
Two to three cents per square inch appears to be the established Arizona commodity price tier at this point, not a temporary promotion.
The Interesting Gap in the Commodity Model
One thing worth noting from the local commodity operations: they explicitly tell customers they print exactly what’s uploaded and do not fix spelling errors, sizing issues, color problems, or artwork positioning.
That’s a genuine gap in the commodity model. Customers who need help ensuring their artwork actually prints correctly can’t get that assistance at those price points. Service, artwork assistance, and quality control become quantifiable differences—not vague “better customer service” claims.
The commodity operations are optimized for one thing: producing what customers upload as cheaply as possible. That works fine for customers who have professional artwork prep expertise. For everyone else—which is most small business customers—it’s a real limitation.
Heat Press Technology: Diverging Paths
Heat press equipment is diverging in interesting directions—getting cheaper at the entry level while becoming more specialized at the production level.
STAHLS’ Hotronix introduced an updated 6-inch by 6-inch Threadable LowRider Auto Clam on September 4, specifically designed for neck labels, patches, and small-format work with improved positioning for two-sided printing.
Cricut dropped automatic pressing dramatically down-market with its 15-inch by 15-inch AutoPress 2 starting at $349 (versus $999 for the original AutoPress).
The Cricut development is particularly interesting because it means more hobbyists can now press DTF transfers themselves. Counter-intuitively, this could actually expand the market for ready-to-press transfers—people who can’t justify buying a DTF printer can still handle the heat press step and become customers for pre-printed transfers.
UV-DTF Continues to Mature
Industrial ink manufacturers are piling into UV-DTF. Sun Chemical announced September 1 that it will demonstrate new low-viscosity UV/UV-DTF inks specifically tuned for Epson i3200 printheads at PRINTING United.
Combined with Roland’s improved UV-DTF media (claiming up to 2x better adhesion and less adhesive residue), the technology is rapidly moving from experimental equipment territory into standardized consumables and reliable workflows.
For shops offering UV-DTF—like ours—this means the technology continues to improve on the input side (better inks, better media) as well as the equipment side. Result: better durability and consistency on branded drinkware, promotional products, and custom hard goods.
PRINTING United Expo: One Week Out
PRINTING United Expo 2026 opens in Las Vegas September 23, with Media Day on September 22. This show is shaping up to be significant—800+ exhibitors, hundreds of announced product launches, and unusually heavy focus on DTF, UV-DTF, and finishing automation.
What We’re Watching Specifically
Powderless DTF systems. The DuPont Artistri demonstration is our top priority. If jettable adhesive works reliably outside controlled demos, this is the first technology this year that could justify rethinking actual production workflows.
Expanded gamut ink systems. Real-world color reproduction from RGBO, LC/LM, and CMYK+Orange+Green configurations. Does the marketing match the actual output?
Automated finishing and pressing. Anything that materially reduces labor per transfer changes the economics of production.
UV-DTF developments. New inks, new media, new equipment. The category continues expanding rapidly.
Workflow automation. The industry is moving toward less operator involvement and more hands-off production. That trend affects quality, consistency, and pricing across the board.
What This All Means Together
Step back and the pattern is clear:
DTF is maturing as an industry. Major OEMs are investing seriously in production-scale equipment.
Color capability is the new frontier. Speed increases are plateauing; expanded gamut is where meaningful differentiation is happening.
Workflow innovation is accelerating. Powderless DTF, automated pressing, and integrated systems are all reducing labor per transfer.
The commodity/service divide is deepening. Aggressive commodity operations exist in a completely different market than service-focused shops. Customers benefit from understanding which type they actually need.
Small business customers are the beneficiaries. All this equipment investment eventually flows down to better quality and more options at the customer level.
What Little 6 Is Prioritizing
Our focus areas over the next several weeks:
Powderless DTF evaluation. If DuPont’s approach performs well, this could genuinely change how we produce transfers over the next 1-2 years.
Expanded gamut readiness. Following expanded gamut developments closely to understand when this becomes practical for our production scale.
UV-DTF quality improvements. Adopting improved inks and media as they become available to keep our hard-goods work at the top of its category.
Service differentiation. Continuing to invest in what commodity operations can’t offer—artwork help, quality control, real customer service, and product bundling under one roof.
Practical Takeaways for Customers
If you’re ordering custom apparel, stickers, or promotional products right now:
Know what your supplier will actually do. Some shops print exactly what you upload with zero artwork help. Others review, adjust, and communicate before printing. Both are legitimate models—know which one you’re getting.
Ask about color accuracy for critical projects. If you have specific brand colors that matter, ask your supplier what they can currently deliver and what’s coming.
Consider suppliers investing in capability. Shops that adopt new technology and improve their workflows will produce better results long-term than those coasting on older equipment.
The tools your supplier has access to keep improving. Expect quality baselines to keep rising across the industry. Choose suppliers who are engaged with these developments.
Next Week’s Briefing Will Be Big
PRINTING United Expo will provide concrete information about what’s actually coming to market in late 2026 and into 2027. We expect major equipment announcements, new ink formulations, workflow automation updates, and probably a few surprises.
Powderless DTF is the standout this week. If DuPont’s jettable adhesive performs well outside a controlled demo, it’s the first technology in these briefings that could justify actually rethinking the Transfers42 production workflow—not merely buying a faster version of what we’re already running.
We’ll report back after the show with the developments that actually matter for small business customers.
Questions about how any of this affects your current or future orders? Reach out at matt@little6llc.com or (520) 705-4026. We’re always happy to talk about what’s actually possible for your specific project.
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