If you’ve ever ordered a custom t-shirt and wondered why some prints fade after a few washes while others look great years later, the answer almost always comes down to the printing method.
Not all printing is equal. And depending on what you’re doing – ordering for an event, starting a small brand, or just making one custom piece – the right method varies quite a bit. Here’s a breakdown of the three most common options and what you actually need to know about each.
Screen Printing
Screen printing is the oldest of the three and still the most widely used for bulk orders. The design is separated into individual colors, each applied through a mesh screen using ink and a squeegee. The result is a thick, opaque print that holds up extremely well over time.
The catch: setup costs are high. You need a separate screen for each color in the design, which makes small runs expensive. It’s practically the standard for event shirts, band merch, and uniform orders where you’re printing the same design on 50+ pieces.
Screen printing works best on cotton or cotton-heavy blends. The ink bonds well with natural fibers and gives that classic, slightly raised feel you probably associate with older tees. If you’re thinking about ordering shirts in bulk, screen printing will almost certainly give you the best cost-per-shirt.
Direct-to-Garment (DTG)
DTG printing works like an inkjet printer for fabric. The shirt is loaded onto a platen and ink is sprayed directly onto the material, layer by layer. It’s perfect for detailed, photorealistic designs with many colors.
The advantages are obvious: no minimum order, fast turnaround, and the ability to print complex artwork that would be impossible or absurdly expensive to screen print. The downside is durability. DTG prints tend to fade faster, especially if you skip the right washing habits – cold water, inside out, no dryer.
DTG works best on 100% cotton shirts. Polyester blends don’t absorb the ink as well and can lead to washed-out results. If you’re weighing fabric options for a custom piece, our post on cotton vs. polyester blends is worth a look first.
Heat Transfer
Heat transfer involves printing a design onto a special transfer sheet and pressing it onto the fabric with heat and pressure. It’s the method behind a lot of DIY custom shirts and smaller production runs.
There are two main types: vinyl heat transfers (cut from colored vinyl) and sublimation (which infuses dye directly into the fabric). Vinyl is great for simple, bold designs. Sublimation is excellent for all-over prints but only works on polyester – the dye literally becomes part of the fiber.
Standard heat transfer prints have a reputation for peeling and cracking over time. Quality has improved, but they typically won’t outlast a good screen print.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Screen printing – best for bulk orders, bold designs, long-lasting results
- DTG – best for small quantities, detailed artwork, one-off custom pieces
- Heat transfer – best for simple designs, novelty items, or all-over polyester prints via sublimation
If you’re designing something and want to explore online platforms that handle all three methods, creating custom t-shirts online has become surprisingly accessible – worth reading before you commit to a method.
For plain tees, the printing method is irrelevant. But once you add a design to the mix, how it was printed often determines how long that shirt stays in your rotation – which is also worth thinking about if you’re trying to decide between graphic tees vs. plain tees in general.
