Screen Printing Vs DTG (The Big Showdown)
Screen Printing Vs Digital Printing (DTG)
Contrary to popular belief, screen printing is still the most common form of shirt production today.
Ever since we entered the industry in 2015, Global Threads has fulfilled most of its orders mainly by means of screen printing.
And who could complain? It's cost-effective for the majority of designs, generally has a quick run time, and can be cleaned up and set up fast…
However, setting up and cleaning screens day in and day out can get a bit monotonous…
Additionally, if you have ever ordered custom shirts from another t-shirt design company, you may have felt a bit nickel and dimed with screen charges, setup fees, and other miscellaneous fees...and you’re absolutely right!
At Global Threads, we provide all-inclusive pricing on T-shirts so you know what you will pay out the door.
Customers frequently share their surprise with our prices being highly competitive, yet, lower than the competition that prices in several small fees.
THE PROCESS: Screen Printing
With screen printing, one needs to determine how many different Pantone/colors are within the design and then comes the setup.
Identifying the proper Pantone is no easy task, so at GT we identify the Pantone and put them on our mockups to show the client.
That way the client can sign off and approve that those are the exact Pantone colors they want.
The longer you’re in this industry one begins to understand how important attention to detail is. Now and again you’ll get some overly picky clients and you’ll need to present every fine detail to them so they can approve it.
“The longer you’re in this industry one begins to understand how important attention to detail is.”
Screen printing is also quite cost-effective for both providers and customers.
Naturally, the more t-shirts the customer purchases, the better price breaks we can provide.
Moreover, the types of printing we do at GT involve plastisol and water-based printing.
While water-based inks cost more than plastisol inks, in this age of tri-blend shirts, because water based inks sit way better on blended T-shirts, there’s only one way to go.
I still know of some printers that print plastisol on tri-blends, with that said, it’s not always pretty. But, if you have customers that want to be cheap as possible, then printing plastisol is what you will have to do, however, water-based is always the better move on tri-blend T-shirts.
THE PROCESS: Digital to Garment (DTG)
While its been around for 15 years, technological advancements have enabled Digital to Garment printing or DTG to begin making some major headway in the shirt industry.
With players like Kornit calling shirt providers like Global Threads monthly and, sometimes, even weekly, to purchase a machine from them, you begin to see their effect in the industry.
These machines can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $250,000.
Most T-shirt companies don’t have that type of liquid cash so these machines are often financed.
With that being the case, the machinery is then priced into production expenses.
From a margin of profit standpoint, digitally printing makes a lot of sense for orders of a smaller quantity – perhaps 100 units or less.
As for shirts with more detailed designs and colors, there’s a fixed price for each shirt.
As for the mechanics, it’s just a matter of uploading the logo and letting the machine do the majority of work.
However, some DTG pricing scares away first-time customers looking to digitally print.
If you’re used to screen printing costs, then digital printing may catch you off guard initially. With that said if you’re doing a lower quantity and have lots of detail your probably better off running DTG.
One final, key difference between DTG and screen printing that graphic designers and artists boast about is its ability to effectively replicate your graphic without any loss of quality.
Traditional screen printing can result in a variation of colors if the design involves extreme shading or CMYK colors are used.