A brand owner ordered 50 hoodies for her team launch event. She sent her logo — a detailed illustration with gradients and a dozen colours — to a local screen printer. They quoted her $28 per hoodie and said the job would take two weeks.
She went ahead. When the hoodies arrived, the logo looked nothing like the original. The gradients were replaced with flat bands of colour. Some of the finer details were missing entirely. The screen printer had simplified the design to make it work with their process, and they hadn't told her beforehand.
Had she gone with DTG (direct-to-garment) printing for that specific design, the output would have matched her logo exactly — gradients, details, and all.
Understanding which process to use and why prevents exactly this kind of problem.
What Screen Printing Is
Screen printing (also called silk screening) uses physical stencils — one per ink colour — to press ink directly onto fabric. Each layer of ink goes through its own screen. The ink sits on top of the fabric and, when cured, bonds to it.
It's the dominant method for bulk branded apparel. Walk into any university bookstore, sports equipment brand, or event merch table and you're looking at screen printed goods.
What it produces: Vivid, opaque colours with a slightly raised texture. Especially strong on solid colours and bold graphics.
What DTG Printing Is
DTG (direct-to-garment) printing works like an inkjet printer for fabric. The shirt goes into the machine, and the printer sprays ink directly onto the fabric from a digital file. No stencils, no setup.
DTG handles full-colour images and photographic detail without any additional cost per colour. It's the technology behind most print-on-demand services.
What it produces: Photo-realistic output that captures gradients, fine lines, and complex colour. The ink absorbs into the fibres rather than sitting on top.
The Core Differences
Colour complexity
Screen printing: Each colour requires a separate screen, which costs money to make. A 6-colour design at a typical screen printer adds $20–$50 in setup fees per screen. A logo with 12 colours becomes expensive fast. More importantly, gradients must be approximated using halftone dots — they never look quite like the original.
DTG: Unlimited colours at no additional cost. A photographic gradient prints exactly as designed. If your logo has complex colouration, DTG reproduces it faithfully.
Quantity economics
Screen printing: Has high upfront setup costs (making the screens) that are spread across the print run. For 100+ pieces, the per-unit cost drops significantly and usually beats DTG. Below 24 pieces, screen printing often isn't economical.
DTG: Has no setup fees. Each shirt is printed individually from a digital file. The cost per unit stays relatively flat regardless of quantity. For small runs (1–50 pieces), DTG is usually cheaper.
Logo requirements
Screen printing: Requires your logo as a vector file — separated by colour, with each colour on its own layer. Gradients must either be eliminated or converted to halftone patterns. Thin lines below 0.5pt may not hold up. The logo needs to be in spot colours (Pantone values), not CMYK or RGB hex.
DTG: Accepts high-resolution raster images (PNG at 300 DPI minimum). Your logo needs to be production-ready but doesn't need to be separated by colour. Full-colour PNGs work directly.
Durability
Screen printing: Ink sits on top of and bonds with fibres. Properly cured screen print holds up to hundreds of washes with minimal fade — often outlasting the garment itself.
DTG: Ink absorbs into fibres. On high-quality machines with proper pre-treatment, it lasts well. However, it's more susceptible to fading than screen print over many washes, especially if the garment isn't washed cold and turned inside-out.
Fabric compatibility
Screen printing: Works on almost any fabric — cotton, polyester, blends, specialty materials.
DTG: Works best on 100% cotton (especially white or light cotton). Dark garments require a white ink base coat layer first, which can slightly affect the feel and the colour accuracy. Polyester blends are notoriously difficult for DTG.
Which to Choose for Your Logo
Use screen printing if:
- You're ordering 50+ pieces
- Your logo is 1–4 solid colours
- You need vivid, long-lasting colour
- You're printing on athletic or performance fabric
- Your printer asks for separated vector files (which is standard)
Use DTG if:
- You're ordering fewer than 50 pieces
- Your logo has gradients, photographic elements, or many colours
- You want exact colour accuracy without colour separation
- You're doing on-demand fulfillment (one unit at a time)
- You're printing on 100% cotton
For screen printing, your logo file needs to be:
- A vector file (AI or EPS) separated by colour
- Each colour on its own layer, named by Pantone value
- No gradients (unless you want halftone approximation)
- Minimum stroke width 0.5pt, minimum font size 8pt
If your logo doesn't meet these requirements, screen printers will either refuse the job, simplify the design without asking, or charge you extra for file cleanup. Our logo cleanup service prepares your file for screen printing — separated, vectorized, and colour-correct.
For a full overview of how to prepare logos for merchandise, read our post on AI logos for merchandise.
Get Your Logo Print-Ready for Merch
We prepare logos for screen printing and DTG — clean vectors, colour separation, Pantone values. Ready for any apparel printer.
It depends on your logo and quantity. For simple logos (1–4 colours) at 50+ units, screen printing is better — cheaper per unit and more durable. For complex logos with gradients or many colours, or for small runs under 50 pieces, DTG produces better results at lower total cost.
Screen printing requires colour separation — each ink colour is a separate screen. If your logo has gradients, many colours, or very fine detail, the printer has to simplify it to make it work. To avoid surprises, share your logo file early and ask for a digital proof before printing.
A vector file — AI or EPS — separated by colour, with each colour on its own layer. Pantone colour values for each colour. No embedded images. Fonts outlined. If you give them a JPEG or PNG, they'll either refuse or charge to vectorize it themselves.
Yes, but the process requires a white underbase coat printed first, then the coloured inks on top. This adds cost, can slightly affect the hand-feel of the print, and the colours may appear slightly different than on a white shirt. Test a sample before a full run.
On a quality machine with proper pre-treatment and care, DTG prints last 40–80 washes before noticeable fading begins. Screen printing typically lasts 100+ washes. Washing cold and inside-out significantly extends DTG durability.
Most screen printers have a minimum of 24–36 pieces per design because the screen setup cost is spread across units. Some do lower minimums at higher per-unit cost. Below 24 pieces, DTG is almost always the more economical choice.
Quick Answers
I only need 10 branded shirts for my team. Should I use screen printing or DTG?
DTG. Screen printing has setup costs that make small runs expensive. DTG has no setup fees — you pay per shirt at a flat rate, which is usually much cheaper for 10 pieces.
My logo has gradients. Will it work for screen printing?
Not in its current form. Gradients must be converted to halftone dot patterns for screen printing. Ask your printer for a gradient-to-halftone proof before committing. If you don't like the result, DTG will reproduce your gradient exactly.
What's embroidery compared to screen printing and DTG?
Embroidery stitches the design into the fabric — physically, not ink-based. It's more durable than both screen printing and DTG, but can't reproduce photographic detail or very small text. Best for hats, polos, and workwear.
The screen printer said my file needs to be separated. What does that mean?
Each colour in your logo needs to be on its own layer in the file, with no overlapping colours unless intentional. Screen printers make one physical screen per colour. If your layers aren't separated, they can't produce accurate output.
Can I mix screen printing and DTG on the same order?
Not on the same garment — it's one process or the other. But if you have two different shirt designs in the same order, you could use different methods for each based on which is more suitable.