In the world of custom t-shirt design there are three main types of printing that are used today: Screen printing, direct digital printing and digital heat transfer. With most t-shirt designers using these printing methods and you might be wondering what the difference between all of them.
SCREEN PRINTING
Screen printing is an age old process when it comes to designing t-shirts. Screen printing uses screens as stencils in order to directly imprint ink onto the facric of the shirt. The original design is printed onto a screen and a different screen is needed for each colour that is used in the design. Once imprinted, the fabric of the t-shirt absorbs the ink, fusing the design and the t-shirt into one entity.
Screen printing is usually used for larger orders. Most custom design companies will use screen printing if you order multiple shirts of the same design. It is easier and more cost efficient to use screen printing to mass produce than it is digital printing.
DIGITAL PRINTING
The other option is called digital printing. This is where the design is fed through a machine similar to normal printer, and the designs gets printed directly onto the fabric. Digital printing is an easier process than screen printing. A customer can get a multiple color design without having to have a screen made for each color. This provides for a significant saving in both time and money. To me, the main problem for this is to get high resolution and sharp designs due to the modified digital printer that currently available in the market.
Finally, we have good old heat transfer, or what is known as iron-ons. There are many companies out there producing haet transfer products, most full-colour designs these days are heat transfers. Iron-ons have a bad reputation due to limitations in the older technology, but they have come a long way to improve the technology. The technology is now much better thatn it was 5 years ago. To me, they preserve the colour and detail in digital prints without the limitations inherent in screen printing, and are much better environmentally due to the solvents and waste in screenprinting. So, that's why I normally choose to use this technology for our low quantity and multiple colours t-shirt printing.
CONCLUSION
There is really no fix answer to what process is better, it depends more on what type of order you need. If you are buying a single t-shirt or having multiple colours design, it is probably more efficient to use the heat transfer process (with high resolution printing). If you are buying in bulk, the screen printing process makes more sense.
We recently bought in Roland Cutter and printer to do the heat transfer process to the apparels, bag, umbrella etc. Now, people are sending in photos, monograms, and all kinds of crazy things and having them digitally printed onto t-shirts. In conclusion, if you are looking for just one or a few t-shirts, digital printing is the probably the process for you. If you are buying in bulk, then screen printing is the process that will likely be used.
