Branding and decoration
Screen print or digital print: which one your company t shirt order needs
The honest difference between the two methods, and how quantity, artwork and deadline decide it for you.
If you are ordering branded t shirts for a company event, a conference stand or a nationwide staff rollout, you will be quoted for one of two printing methods. Most suppliers will simply pick one for you and quote it. It is worth understanding the difference, because on a run of several hundred shirts the choice changes both the price and the finish.
Here is the plain version, from a factory that runs both.
The short answer
Screen printing suits larger quantities and bold, solid artwork. Digital printing suits smaller quantities and detailed or photographic artwork. The crossover point sits at roughly 100 shirts, and beyond that the gap widens quickly in favour of screen printing.
If you are ordering fifteen shirts for a product launch, digital printing is almost certainly right. If you are ordering four hundred for a company family day, screen printing almost certainly is.
How screen printing actually works
A screen is made for each colour in your design. Ink is pushed through that mesh onto the garment, one colour at a time, and then cured so it bonds to the fabric.
The work sits at the front of the job. Artwork has to be separated into colour layers, screens have to be made, and the ink has to be mixed to your brand reference. Once that is done the run itself moves at pace, which is why the price per shirt improves as the quantity climbs. It is also why a small screen printed order rarely makes financial sense.
The finish is the other half of the argument. Screen ink sits thick and opaque on the fabric. A solid corporate blue comes out as a solid corporate blue, and a bright print on a black or navy shirt stays bright rather than looking washed into the garment. It handles commercial laundering and years of wear.
How digital printing works
Digital printing puts the design onto the garment directly, more like a very capable printer than a press. There are no screens to make, so there is no setup to absorb, and the price per shirt is broadly the same whether you order five or fifty.
That makes it the right tool for small runs, for artwork with photographs or gradients, and for anything where the garments are not all identical. If every shirt needs a different name on the back, digital is the only sensible answer.
| Screen printing | Digital printing | |
|---|---|---|
| Best quantity | 100 shirts and up | 1 to 100 |
| Colours | Spot colours, matched to Pantone | Full colour, photographic |
| Cost behaviour | Setup per colour, then price per shirt drops as volume rises | Flat rate per shirt at any quantity |
| Lead time | Two to three weeks for a first order, five to ten days on a repeat | Shorter, no screens to make |
| On dark garments | Thick and opaque, stays bright | Good, softer finish |
| Personalisation | Same design on every shirt | Names and numbers per garment |
Where the decision actually gets made
Five things decide it, and quantity is only the first.
Quantity
Below roughly 100 shirts, digital printing usually wins on cost. Above that, screen printing pulls ahead and keeps pulling ahead. At several hundred units the difference is not a rounding error, it is the difference between a budget working and not working.
Colour count
Screen printing charges setup per colour. A one or two colour logo is ideal. A design with eight colours, a photograph or a gradient will either cost a fortune in screens or simply not reproduce well, and that is a digital job.
Brand colour accuracy
If your brand guidelines specify a Pantone and someone in marketing will notice if it is off, screen printing has the edge. The ink is mixed to the reference before printing rather than approximated from a colour profile.
Garment colour
On white and light garments both methods perform well. On black, navy and dark greens, screen printing with a white underbase gives you a brighter, more opaque result that holds up over time.
Lead time
This is the one that catches people out. A first screen printed order with no artwork on file takes two to three weeks, because the artwork has to be created, separated into colour layers and approved before any screens are made. Once that groundwork is done and the design does not change, repeat orders turn around in five to ten days.
Digital printing has no screens to make, so it is quicker off the mark. If your event is three weeks away and you have never printed with us before, say so early and we will tell you honestly which method your deadline allows.
Those are standard turnaround times rather than hard limits. If you are up against a date, it is still worth asking. We can often do something at short notice, particularly where the artwork is already print ready, and because the presses are ours we can prioritise a job rather than wait on somebody else’s schedule.
What about embroidery?
Worth saying, because a lot of corporate orders end up using more than one method. Embroidery is the durable, formal option and it is what most Irish company uniforms are built on. It suits polos, softshells, fleeces and shirts, and it reads as more established than print.
It is not the right answer for a run of event t shirts. Stitching a large design onto a light cotton tee is expensive and heavy on the garment. Print for the t shirts, embroidery for the uniform layer. Plenty of our corporate clients order both in the same job.
A worked example
Three hundred shirts for a staff family day
A company needs three hundred t shirts in the company colours, logo on the front, sponsor logos on the back, all in the one design, in a size range from kids to 3XL.
That is a screen print job in every respect. High volume, a fixed design across every shirt, a small number of solid colours, a brand colour that has to be right, and two print positions. The setup is spread across three hundred units, so it barely registers per shirt, and the back print costs the same to run whether it is small or full width.
Now change one detail. Each department wants its own name printed on the back. The design is no longer identical across the run, so the answer shifts toward digital printing, or a hybrid where the front is screen printed and the backs are printed digitally.
Being the ones running both machines, we can split a job across methods where it saves you money.
What to send us
The fastest route to a real price is to send the brief rather than ask for a rate card, because the colour count, garment and volume all move the number. Send us four things.
- Your artworkVector is ideal, though a high resolution logo file is enough to start.
- QuantitiesTotal units, and the size split if you have it.
- The garmentT shirt, hoodie or polo, or just tell us the look you are after.
- Your requirementsPrint positions, brand colour references, the date it has to land, and where it is going.
We will come back with the colour separation, the price breaks and a straight answer on whether your deadline is achievable. If digital printing would serve you better than screen printing, we will tell you that too, even though it is the smaller job.
Printed in Limerick since 1994
Everything happens in our own factory at 7 Ashbourne Business Park on the Dock Road. Screens, ink mixing, printing, curing and packing. Nothing is sent to a third party, which is why we can commit to a date when your event will not move.
Read more about our screen printing service for corporate and large scale orders, or browse the t shirts we stock in volume.
Send us your artwork, quantities and requirements
We will quote it properly, tell you which method your job actually needs, and give you an honest answer on the date.
Request a quote(061) 305760 · info@hivisworkwear.ie · Dock Road, Limerick
