How many pieces, what fabric, what colour, what artwork, what matters most to you: PrintPick tells you which technique to choose and why, with the alternative worth considering.
The fabric rules out some techniques straight away: sublimation needs light polyester, DTG works best on cotton, DTF goes on everything.
Screen printing screens pay off when there are many pieces and solid colours; gradients and photos call for digital printing.
Cost, durability, timing or versatility decide between the remaining techniques, and we also suggest the closest alternative.
Ink is pushed through a screen, one for each colour. Solid, opaque colours that stand up well to washing.
An inkjet printer prints directly onto the garment. No screens, every colour and gradient.
The artwork is printed onto a film with a white base and applied to the garment with a heat press.
Heat turns the ink into a gas that enters the polyester fibres: the print becomes part of the fabric.
The logo is stitched with thread. A raised look, very durable.
Anyone, without an account. To download the result as a PDF you need a Custoomy account.
These are general industry rules. Every printer has their own machines and price lists: use the result to talk to them knowing what to ask, and always have the file and garment checked.
Because they vary a lot by country, printer, garment and number of colours, and we don't have a reliable source to quote. Instead, we tell you which techniques have setup costs and from what quantity they pay off.
Choose «Use it on different garments» as your priority: PrintPick will point you to the technique that works across more fabrics and colours with the same process.
Five questions, one reasoned answer to take to your printer.