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How to price DTF gang sheets: the cost formula and the nesting margin

Most shops price by the metre of film and hope. The numbers below are the ones that actually move: what a metre costs you, what nesting saves, and what to charge per transfer so the small orders do not lose money.

6 min read · Updated 2026-09-21
In short
  1. Compute your cost per metre of film (film + powder + ink + labour)
  2. Measure how much film nesting saves on a typical order
  3. Set a per-transfer price with a minimum, not only a per-metre price

Cost per metre (30 cm roll)

  • Film: €1.5–2.5 per metre depending on brand and roll size.
  • Powder: €0.3–0.6 per metre at normal coverage.
  • Ink: about 10 ml/m² with a full white underbase — 3 ml per metre of 30 cm roll — at €0.30–0.50/ml → €1–1.5. Colour-only designs use a third of that.
  • Labour and machine time: 6–10 minutes per metre incl. powdering and curing. At €15/h that is €1.5–2.5.
  • Typical all-in: €4–7 per metre before margin.

Nesting is the margin

A customer sending 12 designs in a column uses 1 m. Auto-nested with rotation the same designs use 65–75 cm. That 25–35 % is pure margin — or a lower price than the shop next door at the same profit. The ZoroPrint Studio shows the “film saved by nesting” number on every job; watch it.

What to charge

  • Per metre for shops that send ready gang sheets: 3–4× your cost (€18–25/m in Europe, $25–35 in the US).
  • Per transfer for small customers: cost per metre ÷ transfers per metre, ×3, with a minimum order of €10–15 to cover handling.
  • Rush and same-day: +30–50 %.
  • Never take a percentage cut on your own store: builder apps that charge 3–5 % per order cost a typical shop €300–1 000 a month. A flat-fee tool wins from the first month.

Print it right with ZoroPrint

Free for one printer. The channel test, preflight and white underbase from these guides are built in.

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