Where to Buy Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl

If you have recently discovered the wonders of heat transfer vinyl, you’re probably still reeling from all the possibilities. You have an entire new world of projects in front of you, whether you are making them for your kids or selling them on your own store.

When it comes time to restock on printable heat transfer vinyl, you need to find the best spot to purchase what you need. You don’t want to spend more than what’s necessary and you also don’t want to skimp on quality materials.

What Is Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl?

If you are still curious about the material, printable heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is a special type of crafting material used for crafting and cutting. You might construct decals or stickers with it. You could do this at home, in a classroom, or as a job.

For anyone interested in full color projects, HTV is the perfect fit. You don’t have to be a master crafter to enjoy working with this material. In fact, it’s one of the easiest materials to work with for people new to art and crafting.

You’ll need several pieces of equipment to get the most out of your printable HTV, which you can explore in detail below.

Where is the Best Place to Buy Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl?

If you’re looking stock up on printable heat transfer vinyl, the number of places you can buy it might seem a little intimidating. You can find them online, in-store, or a combination of the two.

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Amazon.com

Not surprisingly, Amazon carries printable HTV from several different manufacturers. You can find brands such as Colorful Eden, imPRESSED Vinyl, and Sisrer all directly sold through the website. Whether you are looking to purchase black, white, or an assortment of colors, Amazon carries everything you could want.

While there are many options with free shipping available, only those that are sold or verified through Amazon can qualify for Prime shipping. You’ll want to remember this if you need any packs of vinyl for an immediate classroom substitution, or an express client order that needs fulfillment right away.

If you aren’t buying huge quantities of HTV on Amazon, you might find that it can only get shipped as an add-on item. This means that you’ll need to buy at least $25 worth of products before you can have it sent to you. Amazon has some excellent options, but if you only need a few sheets, it might be beneficial to look elsewhere.

Michael’s

One of the go-to stores in the United States for art and crafting supplies, Michael’s maintains plenty of physical stores as well as an extensive website. Their brand availability includes Oracal, Sister, and Cricut. Along with shopping online, you can check to see if each item is available in your nearest Michael’s store.

Michael’s offers free shipping on orders of certain products that exceed $35 or more. In some cases, the inventory information for your local store might not be available. You’ll want to call the store to see if they have the HTV you need, potentially saving you a trip.

Depending on your location, you may want to speak to a representative to confirm the amount available. If you’re working on an important project and run out of HTV, the last thing you want is to enter the store and find out that the inventory count was off.

Staples

Even though they are typically reserved for office supplies, Staples might come through if you are desperate. You can find Avery products available on their website, as well as one of their many stores in the U.S. Be sure to check the product description to ensure that it’s the right type of HTV you need.

Staples offers several different methods of shipping. You can also choose to pick up anything you buy at your nearest store location, where they guarantee your order in an hour. If you plan on purchasing HTV or anything else from them on a regular basis, you can save 5% by scheduling automatic deliveries.

Heat Transfer Warehouse

A specialty vendor, Heat Transfer Warehouse is known for its incredible variety of options. Just clicking on “heat transfer vinyl by brand” shows brands like Siser, ThermoFlex, WALAKut, and others.

If you plan to order in bulk, Heat Transfer Warehouse offers free shipping on orders totaling $150 or more. Their standard rates for shipping on smaller orders are $10.95 for regular ground shipping and $12.95 for 2-day. It’s also possible to find next-day shipping in certain areas for $18.95.

What Can Be Used with Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl?

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To properly craft anything with printable heat transfer vinyl, you need the correct equipment to go with your materials. After finding the best brand of printable HTV for your project, you can move on to the other portions of planning.

For printing, an inket printer is the best choice. You might be able to use printable HTV with some laser models but plan to pick up an inkjet model if you don’t have one. Make sure that your ink levels are topped off before starting. This could make the difference between a happy or sad client or child.

inkjet printer

Find your design that you want to use with your project. Some types of software allow you to create one from the beginning, while others need you to import an existing image. While searching, you can grab anything you need from Google Images of Pinterest for some ideas.

Since you’re using vinyl, you have a couple options for cutting. Professionals will want to pick out a cutting machine. You might consider the Silhouette Cameo, or something by Cricut. If you’re just doing this for fun, you should be okay with a basic pair of sharp scissors.

Depending on where you want to put your design, you’ll need the fabric or material to paste your image. Make sure you have a freshly-laundered shirt for your picture, or one of your electronic devices ready to get a new decoration.

Professionals who plan to turn printable HTV into a business will want to invest in a heat press. If you’re just starting out, you might be able to get by with a simple iron. Finally, get out the ironing board, or a cookie sheet, or something that will give you support while allowing you to press down.

How Do Images Appear on Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl?

T-Shirt design software

If you want some extra bling with your printable heat transfer vinyl, you should go all out and use software with a cutting machine. In this case, the directions follow what you would do after picking up a Silhouette Cameo 3.

Using the Silhouette Studio software, you’ll first need to trace your image along its outer edges. Adjust the side bars until your outline looks perfectly aligned with the image you want to cut. This might take some time, but be patient with the mouse and it will turn out perfectly.

You won’t need anything more than the outline for the outside, so you can move the line to the side and remove anything extra from the image that isn’t necessary. Once this is done, you can center the image with your outline, and bring it all together into one project.

From here, you can add whatever else you want to the image. After finding some fonts to work with, you can dress up your image with some text. This is perfect for printable HTV that you want to turn into a shirt, or a decal for your phone.

You can do this through Silhouette Studio with the Kiss Cut feature. You’ll cut the lines so that they just barely make it inside the outline, leaving no extra white space. When you are ready to print, remember to keep the registration marks in place so the machine knows where to cut.

Buying Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl

When you have found the right place to buy it, remember to keep a steady supply of printable heat transfer vinyl. Whether you decide to have it shipped to you or pick it up in a physical store, there’s an endless amount of ideas waiting in your mind.

If you’re a teacher or a professional, you might want to take advantage of auto delivery. This is available on certain products through Amazon, and Staples offers this on just about anything in their store. You’ll thank yourself later for never running out of material when it matters the most.

Keep an eye on the price of each printable HTV pack that you purchase. You might notice that it goes up and down over time, and you might be able to get it matched by someone else. Most of the time, auto delivery gives you a slight discount, so factor that in as well.

Most importantly, have fun with your HTV projects. Any time you create a new image, know that part of it came from you finding the best deal you could on the material you used.

Last update on 2023-09-17 at 21:43 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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