Free DTF Pricing Calculator

What is the True Job Cost of a DTF job?

True Job Cost is the PriceMyPrint way of adding up everything a job actually costs your shop before any profit is added. It is an educational framework, not a formal accounting standard. For dtf work it includes the blank garment, the transfer (bought or printed in-house), pressing labor, a share of the press and printer, allocated shop overhead, and an allowance for reprints.

Once you know that number, pricing becomes a decision instead of a guess: True Job Cost leads to a selling price, the selling price leads to estimated profit, and profit divided by price is your margin.

True Job Cost = Materials + Active Labor + Equipment + Setup + Allocated Shop Overhead + Expected Waste

Purchased transfers vs printing DTF in-house

If you buy gang sheets or single transfers, the supplier invoice is your transfer cost. Your remaining costs are the blank, the time at the heat press, the press itself, and the shop.

If you print in-house, the transfer cost is built from film, ink, and adhesive powder for the printed area, plus printer and curing time. Larger or heavier-coverage designs use more of each, which is why the calculator asks for print size and coverage instead of one flat transfer price.

Pressing labor, equipment, and overhead

Every piece is loaded, aligned, pressed, peeled, and folded by hand. Those minutes are active labor and they add up on every shirt, no matter who made the transfer.

The heat press and printer wear out over thousands of pieces, and rent, power, software, and unbilled hours still have to be paid. PriceMyPrint spreads a share of each across the job so they are not left out of the price.

Waste, reprints, and quantity

A shifted transfer or a scorched blank means paying for that piece twice. The calculator adds an expected waste allowance so a few mistakes do not erase the profit on the order.

Quantity changes the cost per piece because any fixed time for the job is spread over more shirts. It does not change the per-piece film, ink, and press time.

• Blank garment cost per piece
• Transfer cost: supplier price, or film + ink + powder by printed area
• Press time per location
• Equipment and shop overhead share
• Expected waste and reprints

How target margin sets the price

PriceMyPrint prices from margin, not markup. Margin is the share of the selling price you keep; markup is added on top of cost. A 50% markup on a $10 cost gives $15. A 50% margin needs $20.

There is no universal correct DTF price. Two shops pressing the same design on the same shirt can have honestly different costs because of rent, labor rates, suppliers, and equipment. Use the calculator above with your own numbers to see your price at the margin you choose.

Selling Price = True Job Cost ÷ (1 − Target Margin)