Raised 1–3 mm screen printing produced in house. 16 of our 65 production styles use it. Includes the real design limits most suppliers will not tell you before your first sample.
Puff printing uses a plastisol ink loaded with a blowing agent. The design is screen printed flat, then passed through a heat tunnel where the agent expands and lifts the ink 1 to 3 mm off the fabric.
The result reads as dimensional like embroidery but keeps the soft flexible hand of a print, which is why it dominates heavyweight streetwear hoodies. It is a print process, so coverage area costs far less than the equivalent in stitch count.
16 of our 65 production styles use puff printing — 13 hoodies, 2 tees and 1 jacket.
They solve the same brief in different ways and the right answer depends on design size and price target.
Choose puff print for large coverage, lower unit cost, and a soft hand. A 25 cm chest graphic in puff costs a fraction of the same area in 3D embroidery, and the garment stays flexible.
Choose 3D embroidery for small premium logo hits where thread texture signals quality, and for maximum durability. Thread outlasts ink.
Here is how puff sits against every other method we run.
| Method | Texture | Best for | Durability |
| Puff print | Raised 1–3 mm, soft rubber feel | Bold type, thick logo marks | High — flexes with fabric |
| Screen print (flat) | Flush, matte or gloss | Large flat-colour graphics | High |
| DTG / digital | Flush, photographic | Gradients, fine detail, photos | Medium on dark fabric |
| Heat transfer | Thin film layer | Multi-colour detail, small runs | Medium |
| 3D embroidery | Raised 2–5 mm, thread | Premium logo hits | Highest |
Worth knowing before you design rather than after your first sample.
Minimum line width. Lines thinner than roughly 3 mm will not lift cleanly — the ink expands sideways as well as up, so fine detail closes in on itself. Thick block type is the ideal use case.
Maximum height. Around 3 mm. Push beyond that and edges lose definition and the surface starts to crack under flex.
No gradients. Puff is a spot-colour process. Each colour is a separate screen and a separate pass. Photographic artwork needs DTG instead.
Fabric matters. Puff sits best on stable heavyweight knits. Our puff styles run 240 to 600 GSM for exactly this reason — on lightweight jersey the raised ink distorts the fabric around it.
Published figures from our own product pages.
| Spec | Our terms |
| MOQ | 5 pieces on hoodies and tees, 10 on jackets |
| Sample fee | US$25–80 depending on garment construction |
| Bulk lead time | 7 days on 57 of 65 catalogue styles |
| Screen setup | Charged once in the sample fee, reused in bulk |
| Max puff height | Approximately 3 mm before edge definition suffers |
| Fabric weights used | 240–600 GSM across our puff-print styles |
| Colours per design | Each colour is a separate screen and pass |
All 16 are in current production. Each link goes to the real product page with its MOQ, price tiers and fabric weights.
Vector with outlined text, separated by colour. Each colour becomes its own screen, so a 3-colour design means three screens and three passes — this is the main driver of your print cost.
Design-side guidance that saves a sample round: keep strokes above 3 mm, avoid overlapping thin elements, and decide early whether you want the whole design raised or only part of it. Mixing puff and flat screen print in one design is possible and often looks better than raising everything — but it needs to be specified as separate layers in the artwork, not described in an email.
Properly cured puff print is durable — it flexes with the fabric rather than sitting on top as a rigid film, which is why it outlasts heat transfer on garments that get worn hard.
Failure in puff printing is almost always a curing problem, not a material problem. Under-cured ink cracks at the first wash. We check cure on the approved sample and again during the bulk run against that sample.
Care guidance worth printing on your own labels: wash inside out, cold, and do not tumble dry on high. This applies to any raised print from any factory.
5 pieces per style and per colourway on hoodies and tees, 10 pieces on structured jackets.
Around 3 mm. Beyond that the edges lose definition and the surface can crack under flex, so we cap it there rather than overpromising.
No. Puff is a spot-colour screen process — each colour is a separate screen. Photographic artwork needs DTG, which we also run in house.
Properly cured puff flexes with the fabric and holds up well. Cracking is a curing fault, which is why we check cure on the approved sample and during the bulk run.
Yes. Both are stations in our factory, so one garment can carry a puff chest graphic and an embroidered sleeve logo in the same production run.
Send your style, target quantity and artwork to duocaiyears@gmail.com or WhatsApp +86 139 6021 7862. Our full numbers are on the manufacturing FAQ.
Request a Quote
DUOCAIYEARS