Two machines make almost every custom shirt in America, and they disagree about everything: setup, color, cost curves, and feel. Pick by design and quantity, and both are excellent; pick blind, and you pay double or lose your photo's gradients. Five minutes here saves both.
How each method works
Screen printing pushes ink through a stenciled mesh screen, one screen per color, laying thick pigment that cures into the fabric's surface. It is a stamping press for cloth: expensive to set up, nearly free to repeat.
DTG (direct-to-garment) is an inkjet printer for shirts: no screens, no setup, any number of colors, sprayed as droplets into the fiber. Every shirt costs the same whether you print one or one hundred.
Side by side
| FACTOR | SCREEN PRINT | DTG |
|---|---|---|
| Colors | 1-4 practical | unlimited, photos included |
| Setup | $18 per color screen | none |
| Best at | 50+ shirts | 1-50 shirts |
| Feel | ink sits on fabric | soft, in the fiber |
| Solids and brights | unbeatable | very good |
| Gradients and photos | halftones only | native |
| 100 shirts, 1 color | about $7.80 each | about $10.80 each |
| 12 shirts, full color | impractical | about $16.40 each |
The cost crossover
The crossover sits near 50 shirts for typical designs. Below it, DTG's zero setup wins even on simple logos. Above it, screens amortize fast: at 250 shirts a one-color screen print runs about $6.10 a shirt while DTG holds near $9.60. Each added screen color moves the crossover higher, which is why 6-color designs at 30 shirts are always DTG jobs.
Durability, washed honestly
Cured plastisol screen print is the cockroach of garment decoration: 100+ washes, usually outliving the seams. DTG is genuinely wash-fast for 50+ cycles washed inside-out on cold, then fades evenly rather than cracking. For uniforms worn weekly for years, screens. For everything else, the difference rarely surfaces before the shirt retires.
Which to pick
Bold design, few colors, 50+ shirts: screen printing. A photo, a complex illustration, or fewer than 50 shirts: DTG. Genuinely torn? Send the art through the quote tool and the proof prices both paths side by side, which settles it in one email.
Common questions
Is screen printing or DTG better quality?
Different, not better: screen printing lays thicker, more durable ink with brighter solids; DTG reproduces photos and unlimited color with a softer hand. The design decides, not the method.
Which is cheaper, screen printing or DTG?
Screen printing wins from about 50 shirts up for designs under 4 colors, because screens amortize. DTG wins under 50 shirts and any photo, because it has no setup at all.
Which lasts longer through washing?
Cured screen-print plastisol survives 100+ washes and usually outlives the shirt. DTG holds strong for 50+ washes inside-out on cold, fading gently and evenly after.