What is the difference between screenprint and DTG printing?
This is the question we get more than any other. Someone has a logo, a garment in mind, and a quantity, and they want to know which printing method to use. The honest answer is that it depends on four things: how many pieces, how many colors, what the fabric is, and when you need it.
We run all three methods in house, so we have no reason to push you toward one over another. Here is how we actually decide.
The short version
Screen printing for volume. If you are ordering 50 or more pieces of the same design, this is almost always the cheapest per piece and the most durable result.
DTG for small runs with lots of color. Photographic detail, gradients, one-off designs, event shirts. No setup cost, so small quantities stay affordable.
DTF for difficult fabrics and difficult placements. Polyester, blends, performance material, hat fronts, sleeves, inside-neck tags. Full color, no weeding, and fast.
Screen printing
Screen printing requires a physical screen for each color in your design. Those screens have to be made, mounted, and registered on the press before the first shirt is printed. That setup is why small orders do not make sense here, and also why large orders get cheap fast.
Once the press is running, we can produce between 100 and 500 pieces per hour depending on the number of colors. That throughput is the whole argument for screen printing. A 500-piece order is not meaningfully harder than a 200-piece order.
It is also the only method where we can truly Pantone match. We have access to over 2,000 screen print colors, so if your brand guide specifies a particular Pantone, we can hit it. Screen printing also opens up specialty inks that no other method offers: metallic shimmer, puff, stretch, and UV reactive.
Minimum: 24 pieces. Typical turnaround: 10-21 days, most jobs land in 10-14.
DTG printing
Direct to Garment works like a very good inkjet printer aimed at fabric. There are no screens, so there is no setup cost and no reason a six-piece order should be expensive.
The trade-off is speed. DTG produces roughly 20 pieces per hour per printer, compared to hundreds for screen printing. That is why we usually recommend it for orders of 100 pieces or fewer.
The other trade-off is color. DTG uses a CMYK ink system, which means no specialty effects and no true Pantone matching. We will always get you the closest possible color, but if exact brand color matching is critical, screen printing is the better tool. DTG prints at 1200dpi, so it handles photographic detail and gradients that screen printing would struggle with.
Because there are no screens to change, we can switch between completely different designs with no meaningful setup. If you need 40 shirts with 12 different graphics, DTG is the obvious answer.
Minimum: 6 pieces. Typical turnaround: 7-10 days.
DTF transfers
Direct to Film is the newest of the three and has quietly taken over a lot of the work that used to be difficult. Your design is printed in full color onto a film, coated with adhesive powder, cured, and then heat pressed onto the garment.
Two things make it useful. First, because the design is printed rather than cut, there is no weeding step, so intricate artwork and gradients are no problem. Second, it works on fabrics that fight other methods: polyester, blends, performance wear, nylon.
It also reaches places other equipment cannot. Hat fronts, sleeves, inside-neck printed tags, bag panels, swimwear. If you have ever been told a placement is not possible, DTF is usually the reason it now is.
Minimum: 6 pieces. Typical turnaround: 3-5 business days, with a 48-hour rush option when you are against a deadline.
Side by side
| Screen Printing | DTG | DTF | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | High volume | Small runs, full color | Small Runs,Full Color, Hard fabrics and placements |
| Minimum | 24 pieces | 12 pieces | 6 pieces |
| Speed | 100-500/hour | ~20/hour | 20-50/hour |
| Pantone matching | Yes, 2,000+ colors | No, CMYK only | No, CMYK Only |
| Specialty inks | Metallic, puff, stretch, UV | None | None |
| Setup cost | Per color | None | None |
| Turnaround | 10-21 days | 7-10 days | 3-5 days, 48hr rush |
How the decision usually goes
"I need 200 shirts with our two-color logo." Screen printing, without much debate. Two screens, one setup, and the per-piece cost drops hard at that quantity.
"I need 12 shirts with a detailed full-color illustration." DTG or DTF. Screen printing that many colors at that quantity would cost more in screens than the shirts are worth. This decision would come down to graphics, detail level, turnaround needed and tshirt color. DTG on a white shirt will soak into the shirt and there will be virtually no feel at all, DTF is printed on top of the fibers so the print is thicker. So this will vary, but a digital method will almost always make more sense. Note here that this assumes a cotton shirt, if poly, DTF is commonly the easier route.
"I need 30 polyester performance polos with a left-chest logo." DTF. Screen printing on performance fabric is possible but setup can cause the price to exceed DTF, and DTG does not bond well to polyester.
"I need 50 hats with our logo on the front." Usually embroidery, but DTF if the logo has gradients or fine detail that thread cannot reproduce at that size. Our staff will analyze the logo, analyze the hat and determine what makes the most sense.
"I need 100 shirts within 48 hours" DTF, and we should talk today. Quick setup, fast turnaround, price could be higher than screenprint but we make the deadline. There are certain cases where screenprint may be the best option, but in all cases we should analyze the details as soon as humanly possible so we can sort out what is approved and proceed.
What about durability?
Durability can vary, it should be noted that DTG and Screenprinting on light shirts will typically fade a little, but they are there forever, the shirt will fall apart before the image is unreadable. On dark shirts, screenprint, DTG and DTF will all crack eventually, but it will vary by the image printed. Ultra thin lines tend to crack first, super thick letters also tend to spider web due to foldering during washing, there is no exact guarantees, but if you have concerns, please note them to our staff, there are ways to produce forever prints so we are happy to discuss those options.
Still not sure?
Send us the garment, the quantity, and your artwork, and we will tell you which method makes sense and why. If two methods would both work, we will tell you that too, along with what each would cost.
We have been decorating apparel in Miami since 2016 and have completed over 10,000 projects. Most of the time the right answer is obvious once we see the details.
Read more about each method: Screen Printing | DTG Printing | DTF Transfers | Embroidery