Both put ink on fabric and both last. The right choice comes down to how many you are ordering and how many colours are in the design.
Screen printing
A stencil is made per colour, so setup takes time but each additional shirt is cheap. That makes it excellent above roughly 30 pieces with a design of one to three colours — the classic team shirt or staff uniform.
It is the wrong choice for a photographic design or a run of five.
DTF (direct to film)
The design is printed onto film and heat-pressed on. There is no per-colour setup, so full-colour artwork costs the same as a single colour, and a run of one is viable.
Per-unit cost stays flat, so on very large runs screen printing overtakes it.
Choosing quickly
- Under 20 pieces: DTF, almost always
- Over 50 pieces, 1-3 colours: screen printing
- Photographic or gradient artwork: DTF at any quantity
- Polo shirts and caps: usually embroidery instead
Tell us the quantity and we will price the method that suits it — you do not need to decide this yourself.