Screen Printing vs DTG: Best for Custom T-Shirts?
Screen printing accounts for roughly 60% of all UK custom t-shirt orders. It is the wrong choice for at least half of those buyers. Pick your method based on one number: how many pieces you need. For custom t-shirts, screen printing costs less per unit at 12 or more pieces; DTG suits single items, photo-quality artwork, and small prototypes runs under 12 pieces. Everything else follows from that.
What Is Screen Printing?
Screen printing pushes ink through a fine mesh stencil directly onto fabric. Each colour in the design requires a separate screen. Before the press even starts, the shop coats, exposes, and rinses every screen, a process that typically costs £15 to £30 per screen at a UK print shop.
Once setup is done, production moves fast. A two-colour logo on 50 shirts takes under an hour on press. The ink sits on top of the fabric with a slightly raised texture, and properly applied plastisol ink holds through 50 or more machine washes without cracking. That durability is why screen printing remains the default for bands, sports clubs, and branded workwear.
The limitation is colour count. Gradients and photographic images require many screens. Four colours mean four screens, so setup alone can exceed £100 before a single garment is printed. Add a fifth colour and the economics shift noticeably.
Blank quality matters here. The Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton T-Shirt is one of the most common blanks used by UK print shops for screen printing. Its 180 g/m² tight weave delivers sharp ink coverage and consistent colour absorption across a run of any size.
What Is DTG Printing?
DTG (direct-to-garment) uses a modified inkjet printer to spray water-based ink into the fabric fibres. There are no screens, no setup fees, and no minimum order. Printing one shirt costs the same per-unit as printing ten.
The biggest strength is colour range. A DTG printer reproduces a 40-colour gradient or a photographic portrait with no additional charge. That makes it the right choice for merch with complex artwork, limited drops of under 15 pieces, or samples you want to assess before committing to a bulk run.
Dark garments present a challenge. DTG ink is semi-transparent, so dark fabric absorbs the colour and mutes the image. Printing on black or navy requires a white underbase layer, which adds £2 to £5 per garment and changes the hand-feel of the finished print slightly.
DTG also performs best on 100% cotton. Polyester blends and performance fabrics resist water-based ink, and prints on those materials can fade after as few as 10 to 15 washes. Water-based inks used in DTG are generally less environmentally harmful than the plastisol inks common in screen printing, which is a consideration for brands building a sustainability-focused range.
Cost Comparison: The Numbers That Actually Matter
Below is a typical UK breakdown for a two-colour, left-chest logo design on a standard cotton tee. Blank cost is excluded.
Screen Printing
- Setup: £40 (2 screens)
- Per shirt at 12 pcs: ~£8.50
- Per shirt at 50 pcs: ~£4.00
- Per shirt at 100 pcs: ~£2.80
DTG
- Setup: £0
- Per shirt at 1 pc: ~£14
- Per shirt at 12 pcs: ~£13
- Per shirt at 50 pcs: ~£12
The break-even sits at roughly 10 to 12 pieces for a two-colour design. Above that, screen printing is cheaper per unit. Below it, you avoid the setup cost entirely. These figures are for print only. Add £2.50 to £6 per shirt for a standard cotton blank, or £8 to £14 for a quality hoodie.
Which Method Suits Streetwear Brands?
Streetwear design leans toward bold graphics, high ink opacity, and heavyweight blanks. That combination favours screen printing for any production run of 20 or more pieces. A brand doing a 50-piece seasonal drop with a three-colour chest print will consistently get a lower cost per unit from screen printing than from DTG.
DTG earns its place in streetwear for three specific scenarios. First, prototypes: print 2 or 3 samples via DTG to check placement and colour accuracy before committing to 100 pieces. Second, photographic designs: hyper-detailed graphics and realistic imagery simply cannot be screen printed at an affordable price per screen. Third, personalisation: adding individual names or numbers to each garment requires digital printing by definition.
For hoodies specifically, the Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend Hoodie is a popular blank sourced by UK streetwear brands for screen printing runs. At 271 g/m², it takes ink well and holds shape through heavy use. If you are building a brand, buying blanks in bulk and negotiating a standing rate with a shop that handles both methods will reduce your cost per unit further over time.
Some designs work across both methods depending on colourway. A bold two-colour logo on white runs cheapest through screen printing at 20 or more pieces. The same logo on a dark custom hoodie may actually be more economical via DTG once you account for the dark-fabric underbase screen that screen printing requires.
FAQ
What is the minimum order for screen printing?
Most UK screen printers set a minimum of 10 to 25 pieces per design. Some will accept as few as 6 for a premium rate. The minimum exists because setup costs are fixed regardless of how many shirts you order, making very small runs unprofitable for the printer at standard pricing.
How long does custom t-shirt printing take?
Screen printing typically requires 7 to 14 business days from artwork approval, including screen preparation and press time. DTG orders under 20 pieces are often ready in 2 to 5 business days. Rush turnaround is available at most shops for an additional fee, usually 25 to 50% on top of the standard rate.
Will my custom print crack or peel after washing?
Professional screen prints done with plastisol ink resist cracking for 50 or more washes when cared for correctly. DTG prints on cotton hold well when washed inside-out at 30 degrees Celsius. Cheap iron-on heat transfer vinyl is the category most prone to early peeling, not professional screen printing or DTG.
Can I print on any colour t-shirt?
Yes, with one caveat. Both screen printing and DTG on dark garments require a white underbase layer, which adds cost and slightly alters the finished print feel. The cleanest results from either method come from printing on white or light-coloured blanks, which removes the underbase requirement entirely.
What file format do I need to send my artwork in?
For screen printing, vector files (AI, EPS, or SVG) are standard because they scale without quality loss. For DTG, send a high-resolution PNG at 300 DPI with a transparent background. Most UK printers accept high-resolution PDFs for both methods. Avoid supplying low-resolution JPGs exported from social media; the results on print will be noticeably soft.
Related Products
Three popular blanks used by UK custom print shops for screen printing and DTG orders.