As a designer, (albeit a newbee to this industry and with little experience) screen printing is the art and craft, while transfers scream hobby.
In other words, I'd pay 25-30 for a screen printed shirt then 10 for a transfer.
That may be an ignorant comment, but there it is.
There are many different types of transfers out there besides the stereotypical ones that come to mind such as plasitol that are screen printed and considered a professional product, not hobby. There are also many different garment printing techniques besides standard transfers and screen printing. I myself do DTG printing which is neither of those
Like I mentioned, im a bit ignorant on all this. Is that like the Steve and Barry's t-shirts?
Can we get middle of the road pricing ideas for each of these methods too? that'd help me (and maybe others) decide on a process.
The most common way to decide in the process is determined by the volume and function of your shirt orders. If your goal is to sell a lot of shirts per order than screen printing is the way to go. If you are interested in personalized shirts sold over the web then I would consider DTG. If you are using the shirt process to accent another process like embroidery and just do single shirts or really small orders that are incentives and not meant to last long than digital transfers are okay. And if you want quick names and numbers than cut vinyls are the way to go.
If you don't know which route is best than it is a good idea to formulate a business plan that is developed from a marketing perspective... How do you plan on marketing your business and what orders does the niche that you're targeting typically require?
Then you can formulate the product fulfillment section of your business from this information.
One word of caution: consult an accountant and run some serious ROI's for your plan and the equipment that you are getting - do the research!! Many of the DTG machines out there don't have an ROI... What this means is that by the time you make your money back the machine will have burned out a printhead or broken and the costs will never add up. When you factor in the heavy ink costs and the low volumes that DTG can produce it is tough to justify a current model unless it is a "cost of doing" other kinds of decorating - Don't get me wrong - some are making good money, just remember that it is hard to put a return on a machine that won't last a year. Check with people that are doing what you want to do and see if the money works out first.
Thomas, I make a profit every month on my dtg, but then again it is a perfect fit for my business model. The thing with dtg is that the money is out there as long as you go out and get it. If you sit and wait for the customers to come to you then you will not make money. I think it all depends on how well you market your self. For myself I do website sales and small run orders of contract printing and I dont have any issues with making a return on my investment. As far as the machine lasting a year, I dont know where you would get this info these machines are built very well. As long as you take care of it, it will take care of you
Yes - you are one of the lucky ones! The model is the issue - the machines are best suited for web sales of 50 or less shirts that have personalization and VDM - the year that I am talking about is based on continuous printing of X amount per day - the top of the line machines claim to have a head life of 12-18 months based on continuous heavy usage. Not a dozen shirts per day, but constant printing. This may have changed and if you have gotten 2-3 years from a print head under those conditions it is worth note for sure.
Thanks for the feedback
I have been screen-printing for 23 years, and while I have no experience with any other method, I can say that screen-printing would probably NOT be the best method for your business plan. From what I have read in these forums, sounds lik DTG would be your best option. Good Luck.
Well, I havent written my business plan yet, so who knows what I should do...except not assume anything at this point. Give me a couple weeks or so and let me form an outline of sorts, then we ccan figure out what to do.
Okay so I've been reading through this post and many others but am not completly sure on the best method. We are going to be printing on dark colored shirts for the most part, with detailed designs. I seem to like the DTG method, because of the no hand aspect. Quality will be important too.
It seems as though some are having some success with DTG w/dark colors. Which is encouraging. I'm looking to get into the business of printing 100's of shirts though, and DTG seems to have some drawbacks in this area. Is the turnaround time longer for DTG vs. screen? I'm not planning on buying the machine but sub contracting it to a local business. What else should I know now, rather than later on restrictions of DTG.
Also we visited a company that did some really cool heat transfers, but their drawback is that it's only the lighter colors. Is anyone having success doing heat transfers on darks yet?
Have any of the screen printers out there been able to master the "no hand" feel that seems to hold them back, in my opinion? Many of our clientle will be into the future of printing, and it seems that screen printing is starting to get challanged in that area. Maybe I'm wrong, so let me know your thoughts.
If your quantities are 100 or more per design on dark shirts, look for a contract screen-printer that uses an automatic press, and prints w/ discharge ink. Discharge ink is generally used in place of a white ink base, and only works on 100% cotton, but basically dyes the color out of the shirt where the base white ink would normally print in a particular design. This allows the other ink colors to sit & blend directly on the shirt fabric, and not on a layer of ink. The feel of the print is somewhat softer, as the color ink coats are not sitting on top of a white ink layer, but rather the shirt itself.
Don't know what area you are in, but we use a very good contract printer out of Texas that has a great art dept, and artist that knows how to setup for discharge ink use. If interested, send me a PM, and I give you contact info. You'll find that even though you pay for screen setup in the beginning, your running costs will be much less overall than DTG, and you'll get a far better end result. DTG is great for small quantities, but whether you print 1 or 1,000 pcs on a DTG, your cost pretty much remains the same, as the printer is putting down the same amount of ink every time, and you're only printing 1 shirt at a time, so your production is only as fast as the printer will print. A screen-printer with an auto press can print 60-100 shirts multi color per hour. My contract printer charges for a 6 color print 100 pcs only $1.60 per shirt. I know that DTG can print unlimited amount of colors, but a good artist & screen press can blend 5-6 colors to create more colors, so I guess it's just a matter of how you want your print to look, verus how much you want to pay for a print.
I guess after reading a few more postings it seems that water based ink is the way screen printers are getting some of that less/no hand feel. What are the limitations to water based inks? Can they do all over printing or be used in belt printing?
Also if I were to go with a water based ink what is the best type of shirt for that? Cotton, polyester, etc?
As well does anyone have experience with discharge inks? It seems that they could be an alternative, but I don't know a lot about them yet.... anyone care to share?
Yes, water based ink will give you that "soft feel" but it's best suited for light colored shirts, 100% cotton is better.
As fas as an all over print, then belt printers are what you need. You could go to the sgia.org website...they have lots of info on all these print methods, and you could contact them for a list of printers that do specialty prints, such as belt printng, water based, & discharged. Actually, DTG is water based inks, so when printed on a lite shirt with no white underbase, you get a very soft print....almost like you barely feel the ink. These inks are transparent, so when printing on dark shirts, you MUST use a white base so the inks print bright. That's when sometimes you begin to get a heavier feel of the print, as the white ink is thicker than the colors. Also, there are different brands of ink for DTG printers, so that affects the print also to a certain degree. However, it appears that based on your quantity requirments, screen-printing is going to be what you need.
Because I am so new I have to ask a simple question,
what is the type of printing that looks a little raised and has a matte finish?
Are Vynal cutters flat and shinny?
I'm looking for raised lettering with a matte finish for my t-shirts. what do I ask for?
thanks
This is a discussion about Pros and Cons of Each T-Shirt Printing Method that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Re: Pros and Cons of Each T-Shirt Printing Method 
