Screen Print, DTF or Embroidery?

Three ways to put a logo on a garment, and the right answer depends almost entirely on how many pieces you need and how many colors are in the artwork. Here is the honest version, including when the cheapest option is also the best one.

The short answer

Screen printing

Ink pushed through a mesh screen, one screen per color. It is the cheapest method at volume and nothing else matches it for a solid, opaque print that survives a hundred washes.

The catch is setup. Each color needs its own screen, so a four-color design costs four times the setup of a one-color design — which is why our grid starts at 12 pieces and why the price per shirt falls off a cliff as quantity climbs. At 12 pieces a one-color front is $7.03 a shirt; at 500 it's $1.99. Same print.

DTF transfers

The design is printed onto film, then heat-pressed onto the garment. Full color, unlimited detail, no screens and therefore no minimum.

We price DTF by the area of the transfer — $5.50 a square foot plus a $0.50 press charge — so a small left chest is about a dollar and a full front around five. That price does not drop with quantity, because the film does not get cheaper. Which is exactly why the two methods swap places: DTF wins on small runs, screen printing wins on big ones.

DTF is also the honest answer for photographic artwork, gradients, or anything with more colors than you want to pay for screens. Our uploader will tell you if your file is one of those.

Embroidery

Stitched, not printed. It is the only thing that looks correct on a polo, a jacket, a cap or a bag, and it will outlast the garment.

Priced by stitch count at $1.00 per 1,000 stitches with an $8.00 minimum per placement, so a standard left chest logo lands right on the minimum and a big back design costs more. There is a one-time $35 digitizing fee to convert your logo into a stitch file, and that file is yours — reorders never pay it again.

What embroidery cannot do is fine detail. Thread has a physical width, so small text, hairlines and photographs do not survive. If your logo has type below about a quarter inch we will usually suggest simplifying it, and we will show you before we stitch 50 of them.

Where the crossover actually is

For a one-color left chest, DTF is cheaper up to around 20 pieces and screen printing is cheaper above it. For a four-color full front the crossover is higher, because you are paying for four screens. The builders price both instantly, so the reliable way to decide is to put your real numbers in and look.

Mixing methods on one order

Perfectly normal. A common order is embroidery on the left chest of the polos and screen printing on the tees, in one job with one proof and one invoice. You can also mix within a garment — an embroidered left chest and a printed back — and each location prices separately.