Which is better screen printing, digital printing or heat transfer printing on fabrics?
By Logan Roberts
There are several factors to consider when determining which print application is right for your project.
The ones I‘ll touch on include: durability, cost, and order size.
The single most important determining factor, however, is probably going to be the type of artwork you want to print.
Artwork
Generally speaking, screen printing is best for artwork that has solid colors, is non-photographic, and has a limited number of colors
(depending on your print shop this could be anywhere from 1-10 colors). Things like gradients are definitely possible in screen printing
and can look great, but if there are lots of shades of various colors and fades, etc., or if the graphic is photo-realistic, you‘ll want to look
to digital printing.
DTG (direct to garment) is essentially an inkjet printer that prints on garments. The size capabilities and ink compositions vary,
but generally they use waterbased inks that work best on 100% cotton garments (or at least 50%), and, just like a computer printer,
can capture stunning detail. We use DTG for all of our photorealistic prints.
One limitation of many DTG printers is that they only print on white or light colored garments. This is because many machines
do not have the capability of printing white ink. But we can solve this problem by printing white paste as a base in advance when printing on black and dark color materials.
Heat transfers can also be used for photorealistic prints, and are easy to do at home for a few pieces, but tend to lack durability when compared to the other processes.
Cost & Order size
If you can only afford to do a few pieces or only need a few pieces, DTG may be your best bet. Most print shops have a minimum of at least 12 garments, and if you‘re below that or even around it you may be paying far more than if you could place an order for even just 24 pieces.
Durability
If cared for well, screen prints can be quite durable, however, they can crack over time, particularly if your artwork contains large swaths of ink coverage. The soft-hand inks of DTG won‘t be prone to cracking but can fade over time. It‘s best to wash all garments inside out to avoid these issues!
Yuki Wong
CNY-yuki
'yuki@cnyprinter.com'
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