People usually arrive asking for "printing" and are surprised there is a choice to make. There are two methods on the table for most jobs, and picking the wrong one is how an order ends up costing more than it should or looking softer than you hoped.
The short version
Ordering a lot of the same thing in a few flat colours? Screen printing. Ordering a handful, or something photographic, or a design with dozens of colours in it? Direct to film.
The reason is setup. Screen printing needs a physical screen burned for each colour in the design before a single shirt is pressed. That is real work with a real cost, and it happens whether you order twelve shirts or twelve hundred. Spread across twelve, it dominates the price. Spread across twelve hundred, it disappears, and the per-piece cost drops well below anything digital can match.
Direct to film has no minimum order and no set-up fees. There is nothing to burn. Artwork is printed onto a transfer and pressed into the garment, so one piece is a real order rather than a favour.
Colours behave differently
In screen printing every colour is another screen, another pass, another line on the quote. Three colours is routine. A photograph is not practical.
DTF does not care. Unlimited colours cost the same as one, and it holds finer detail than process screen printing, so gradients, photographs and small text survive.
Fabric matters more than people expect
This is where DTF earns its keep. A transfer bonds to cotton, polyester and blends alike, on light and dark garments, so the poly hi-vis vest and the cotton tee take the same artwork. That is the practical difference from direct-to-garment printing, which really only suits cotton. For the cleanest finish we point people at a smooth-faced garment such as the Gildan Softstyle 64000.
Screen printing is less fussy about content and more fussy about shape. It works on most things that can be laid flat: t-shirts, sweatshirts, bags, ball caps, jackets and jerseys. If it can go flat under a screen, it can usually be printed.
Turnaround
DTF skips screen making entirely, so small jobs move quickly. Screen printing takes longer to start and then runs fast, which is why it suits volume.
A rough rule
Under about a dozen pieces, any design with photographic detail, or any garment that is not cotton, DTF almost always wins. Over a few dozen in one to three flat colours, screen printing almost always wins. In between, it is worth asking us to price both, and we will.
The third option nobody asks for
If the garment is a polo, a jacket, a cap or hi-vis, and the logo is going on a chest or a sleeve, embroidery is often the better answer than either. It reads as more finished on workwear and it does not wash out.
Bring us the design, the garment and the count. Send a quote request or call (604) 856-3774, and we will tell you which method your order actually wants, including when that is not the one you asked for.
