Since striking my first t-shirt print in 1976 I have been a screen printer at heart. The early years were marked by long days and even longer nights spent pulling a squeegee and squeezing every last drop of possibility out of very primitive t-shirt equipment. Those moments are the foundation of my life quest for better solutions to creating the best cheap custom t-shirts.

At one time printing t-shirts was strictly a manual process in which we relied on brawn and stamina. Nearly twenty years ago we purchased our first automatic t-shirt printer and the technologic revolution began! Today, we have entered a new phase of custom t-shirt decoration, Direct – To – Garment printing or DTG. Today’s DTG printing is a relatively new phase in the history of custom t-shirt printing. Essentially high speed, high resolution ink jet printers for apparel, this new breed of printers are making an indelible mark on the custom t-shirt printing market.

Comparing screen printing and DTG as printing methods is like comparing bicycles and cars. Both are effective modes of transportation with limits and benefits. The same rational applies to screen printing versus DTG as print methods – both are effective methods of creating cheap custom t-shirts with benefits and limitations in the areas of resolution, production volume and latitude of file type that may be processed.

Screen printing is a capital intensive business that requires at least four hands on people per machine to effectively run a volume operation. It requires many ancillary processes, space and time to create good custom t-shirts. Screen printing is a dirty business but a good operation can churn out thousands of prints per day. DTG on the other hand also requires an intense capital investment but requires fewer employees (one) and needs only one ancillary process before printing – file preparation. Due to the sensitive nature of the equipment, DTG must be run in a quasi clean environment. DTG daily production yields are in the hundreds of units per day per machine for industrial equipment. Table top units yield far fewer pieces per day and are the least effective method decorating. Screen printing ink averages about $40.00 per US gallon whereas DTG ink averages $650.00 - $1400.00 per US gallon. Equipment maintenance for both processes requires about the same amount of time. Space requirements also vary greatly when comparing the two mediums in an industrial setting.

Production theory aside the differences are enormous. New DTG technology is capable of printing resolutions twenty-five times higher than screen printing with virtually no loss of detail. With DTG there are no limitations on the amount of colors that can be printed. But most importantly there are no limitations on order size when printing full color graphics. The most outrageous graphics the can be printed in quantities of one as compared to screen printing minimums for full color of 576 shirts in our shop. We have found durability about equal when cured correctly.

From the average customers perspective DTG appears more expensive on a per unit basis. This is misleading in many instances. DTG has only a modest set-up cost of around $10.00 - $15.00 per file. Screen printing set-up cost average $20.00 per color. Amortized over the total cost of a job both mediums are similarly priced on mid-sized orders.

We can guide or customers to the most effective solution based upon need.
12/09/09
Little Falls, New Jersey 07424