DTG vs SCREEN PRINTING
DTG or Direct To Garment printing is a much different method to printing on garments than Screen Printing. At Healthy Merch we specialize in DTG prints. We do offer some screen print options depending on an order. But those are only special cases. We primarily focus on the DTG print technology. Lets learn more!
WHAT IS DTG?
DTG is a print technology that allows for full color spectrum prints. With DTG we can literally print even photographs onto a shirt. This is something that screen printing can not boast of. We prep the shirt with a pre-treat solution first and then send the T - Shirt through the DTG printer. This printer works like a desktop printer you have attached to your computer. But, instead of printing on paper, we print on a garment. At Healthy Merch we utilize the Ricoh Ri-1000 printers for these high quality DTG prints. The DTG prints have a very long lasting and durable print that can sometimes even outlast the garment itself.
SCREEN PRINTING
Screen Printing is a great tried and true print technology. Screen printing prints in high quality layers. Each color of your graphic will be a layer. Unfortunately, it limits how many colors you can print on a garment. This can be severely limiting for high resolution full color prints. The more layers that have to be printed the higher the price of your finished work. Screen printing is great for high volume orders with only a few layers. It can bring the cost down and is a very fast print method.
WHICH IS BETTER?
Each print method has it's advantages. DTG is better for full color prints. It's also better for low quantity orders. Even just single 1 order print offs. This makes it advantageous to online selling like we do here at Healthy Merch. We can sell single print offs with ease.
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Screen Printing is better for high volume orders with images that are either single color or only a few colors. There is a set up fee for your order. But, when you have 50+ shirts to be printed this brings your overall cost down. Screen printing is a much faster print method, with the right equipment, compared to DTG.
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The takeaway? If you have only a few shirts to print, no matter how many colors the print, DTG will be a better method for you. If you have a single color logo you need printed on a high volume order then Screen Printing is your go to method. But, if you have a high resolution image with a lot of color then it will be necessary to utilize the DTG method no matter the volume as Screen Printing can't print these images.
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