For a UK buyer, the decision should be based on the complete job: quantity, garment, artwork, number of print positions, colour requirements, deadline and the finish you want. This guide explains those trade-offs without treating either process as the answer to every order.
Quick comparison: DTG vs screen printing
| Factor |
DTG printing |
Screen printing |
| Best fit |
Small and flexible runs |
Repeated medium-to-large runs |
| Artwork |
Photographs, gradients, many colours |
Bold graphics, spot colours, repeat designs |
| Setup |
Digital workflow; no physical screens per colour |
Separate screens and setup normally required for colours/positions |
| Personalisation |
Easy to change digital artwork between garments |
Less practical when every garment has different artwork |
| Fabric |
Particularly strong on suitable cotton/cotton-rich garments |
Works across many suitable textiles with the correct ink system |
| Dark garments |
Usually needs pretreatment and a white underbase |
Often uses a white underbase for bright colours on dark fabric |
| Feel |
Can be soft, especially with artwork using negative space |
Depends heavily on ink system and coverage |
| Economics |
Strong for one-offs and short runs |
Setup becomes easier to spread across larger repeated quantities |
These are tendencies, not rigid rules. A professional printer should look at the actual job before deciding.
What is DTG printing?
Direct-to-garment printing is a digital process in which textile ink is printed directly onto a suitable garment. It works conceptually like a specialist inkjet printer built for clothing rather than paper.
The artwork is prepared digitally and the garment is loaded onto the printer. On suitable light garments, colour inks can be printed directly. On black and other dark garments, the production workflow commonly includes pretreatment and a white ink underbase before the colour layer.
UK equipment supplier Xpres describes dark-garment DTG in the same way: white ink requires pretreatment so it can sit correctly on the garment rather than simply penetrating the fabric.
The absence of physical screens is what gives DTG much of its flexibility. If you want five shirts with one design and five with another, changing the file does not require a new set of physical screens for each colour in each design.
What is screen printing?
Screen printing uses a mesh screen and stencil to push ink onto the garment. Each required colour is normally prepared as part of a separated production workflow, and additional print positions can create additional setup.
Once the screens are prepared and the press is running, the same design can be reproduced efficiently across a large quantity of garments.
That setup explains both the main strength and the main limitation of screen printing. The first garments carry the burden of preparation; as the same design is repeated across more garments, that setup can be spread across the run.
Current UK supplier pricing illustrates this pattern. Custom Planet, for example, publishes screen setup charges per colour and a price table where the print cost per item falls significantly as quantities rise. Those figures belong to that supplier rather than the entire market, but they demonstrate why screen printing is often associated with repeat volume.
Which is better for small T-shirt orders?
For one-offs, samples and small batches, DTG is often the more natural option.
Imagine you need six T-shirts for a new clothing-brand test. The artwork contains a photograph, gradients and many colours. With DTG, the file can move through a digital workflow without making a separate physical screen for every colour.
With screen printing, a complex multi-colour design can require more pre-production work before the first garment is printed. On a tiny order, there are not enough units over which to spread that setup efficiently.
That does not mean a screen printer cannot print a small order. It means the economics and setup may make digital production more sensible.
This is also why DTG supports no-minimum and low-minimum custom clothing particularly well: one garment can be treated as a viable production job rather than a fraction of a long identical run.
Which is better for larger quantities?
As the number of identical garments rises, screen printing becomes increasingly worth comparing.
Suppose a festival needs 300 black T-shirts with the same two-colour front design. The screens only need to be prepared for that specification, while the print is repeated hundreds of times. In that scenario, the setup represents a much smaller share of the cost of each shirt.
By contrast, DTG continues to digitally print each garment. Industrial DTG equipment can be highly productive, but it does not gain the same setup-spreading advantage simply because the design is repeated.
There is no universal crossover quantity. It changes with the artwork, number of colours, garment colour, print area, number of positions, ink system, equipment and supplier pricing. Treat claims such as “screen printing is always cheaper above 25” or “DTG is always best below 50” as rough examples, not industry laws.
Ask for a like-for-like quote on the actual order.
What if your design has lots of colours?
This is one of DTG's clearest strengths.
A full-colour illustration, photograph, soft gradient or artwork containing many shades fits naturally into a digital print workflow. The job does not normally become a separate physical-screen setup for every visible colour in the same way as conventional spot-colour screen printing.
Screen printers can still reproduce sophisticated multi-colour artwork using techniques such as halftones and process separations. Excellent photographic screen printing exists. But it requires more specialist pre-production and is not necessarily the most economical route for a short run.
For a creator releasing 20 detailed art T-shirts, DTG may therefore be the simpler commercial choice. For a brand ordering 1,000 pieces of a carefully separated repeat design, screen printing may deserve a different calculation.
What if the artwork only has one or two colours?
Simple artwork can make screen printing particularly attractive at volume.
Company logos, event graphics, typography and bold merchandise designs often use a small number of solid colours. Once those screens are prepared, repeating the design can be efficient.
Do not confuse “simple” with “low quality”. A clean one-colour screen print can be exactly the visual result a brand wants.
DTG can also print simple graphics perfectly well, especially when the quantity is small. The key question is whether the order volume justifies the extra screen setup.
DTG vs screen printing on black T-shirts
Black garments add another production consideration: opacity.
With DTG, dark garments commonly require pretreatment and a white underbase so the coloured inks remain visible. With screen printing, a white underbase may also be used beneath bright colours on dark fabric.
This means a design that looks simple on screen can involve additional production steps when moved from a white garment to black.
Garment colour can therefore affect both method choice and pricing. Always quote the actual colourway rather than assuming the same production specification applies to white and black shirts.
Which method feels better on the garment?
There is no single answer because print feel depends on ink, garment, artwork coverage and production recipe, not merely the method name.
DTG can create a relatively soft result because water-based ink is printed into the textile surface. Large solid areas on a dark shirt can feel more noticeable because the job may use a substantial white underbase.
Screen printing can range from soft water-based prints to more noticeable ink deposits and specialist effects. A small one-colour print and a large multi-layer graphic will not feel the same even though both are screen printed.
If hand feel matters to a retail clothing brand, order a sample on the exact garment and artwork rather than making the decision from a generic comparison table.
Which method is better for photographs and gradients?
For small and medium runs of photographic or gradient-heavy artwork, DTG is usually the easier route to investigate first.
Digital printing is designed to reproduce tonal transitions directly from the artwork file. That makes it useful for photographs, illustrations, shadows and artwork that would be cumbersome to separate into many conventional spot colours.
Screen printing can reproduce tonal work using halftones, but the result depends on separation skill, mesh, ink and production setup. It can be excellent, but the job is technically different from pressing “print” on a digital file.
If the design's appeal depends on photographic subtlety and the run is not very large, ask to see a DTG sample.
Which method is better for brand colours?
This is more nuanced.
Screen printing is well suited to jobs built around defined spot inks and can be useful where a specific solid brand colour needs to be mixed and repeated under a controlled workflow.
DTG uses a digital colour process. It can reproduce a very broad range of colours, but a phone or laptop display should never be treated as a physical colour proof. Garment colour, pretreatment and the printer's colour management all influence the result.
If a precise brand colour is commercially important, tell the printer before production. Ask what matching process the chosen method supports and whether a physical sample is appropriate.
What about personalisation?
DTG has a strong advantage when the artwork changes from garment to garment.
For example, a creator might want the same illustration with ten different names, or a brand might test several design variants in tiny quantities. Because DTG starts from a digital file, variable artwork can be handled without rebuilding physical screens for each version.
Screen printing is strongest when the design stays the same. If every shirt needs a different name or number, printers often combine screen printing with another process for the variable element rather than creating a new screen for each person.
When requesting a quote, make it clear whether the artwork is identical across the whole order.
Which fabrics suit DTG and screen printing?
Standard DTG is particularly associated with suitable cotton and cotton-rich print surfaces. The fibre and garment finish affect how pretreatment and ink behave, so not every shirt that contains cotton will produce identical results.
Screen printing is highly versatile because different ink systems can be selected for different textiles, but the printer still needs to know the exact fabric and garment construction.
For polyester sportswear, technical fabrics or difficult blends, a different process such as DTF or sublimation may be more appropriate depending on the product. The useful question is therefore not simply “DTG or screen?” but “Which process is right for this exact garment?”
How does the artwork file differ?
DTG handles raster artwork naturally, provided the file has enough resolution at the intended print size. A high-resolution transparent PNG is common for digital garment printing, while vector artwork remains useful for logos and scalable graphics.
Screen printing often benefits from clean vector artwork because colours may need to be separated accurately. Current Custom Planet artwork guidance, for example, requests vector files for multi-colour screen-print work and recommends high-resolution artwork at final size for raster jobs.
Whichever method you use, do not send a tiny screenshot and expect production software to invent missing detail.
Does screen printing last longer than DTG?
Blanket durability claims are not very useful without test conditions.
A professionally produced print from either method should be designed for normal wear and laundering, but longevity depends on the garment, ink system, curing, artwork coverage and how the customer washes and dries it.
High heat, bleach, harsh chemistry and repeated abrasion can accelerate wear. For printed garments generally, washing inside out at a cool temperature and avoiding direct ironing over the decoration are sensible conservative habits, subject to the garment's own care label.
If you are ordering uniforms that require industrial laundering, explain that requirement before choosing the decoration method. A consumer fashion print and a high-temperature workwear programme are different jobs.
Which is more sustainable?
It is risky to label one process universally “eco-friendly”. Environmental impact depends on much more than the name of the print method.
Relevant factors include garment production, ink chemistry, pretreatment, screens and cleaning, energy, water, spoilage, order quantity, transport and whether the finished products are actually used.
A short DTG run can reduce the risk of producing hundreds of unsold shirts. A well-planned screen-print run can be efficient when genuine demand for a large identical quantity already exists.
The commercially sensible principle is also a useful waste principle: produce the right product in a quantity you realistically need.
DTG vs screen printing for common UK orders
One personalised birthday T-shirt
Start with DTG. There is little value in setting up screens for one detailed full-colour garment.
Twenty creator-merch T-shirts with a detailed illustration
DTG is usually worth pricing first, particularly if the art uses many colours or gradients.
One hundred staff T-shirts with a simple two-colour logo
Compare both. The quantity may be large enough for screen-print setup to become commercially attractive, while the garment, deadline and print positions can still change the answer.
Five hundred event shirts with the same bold design
Screen printing deserves serious consideration. Repeating an identical limited-colour design is where its production model can become especially efficient.
A mixed order where every garment has different artwork
DTG or another digital process is usually more practical. Screen printing is built around repetition, not constant artwork changes.
Questions to ask before choosing
Before approving a quote, answer these questions:
- How many garments use the exact same artwork?
- How many colours or tonal effects are in the design?
- Is the artwork photographic, gradient-heavy or built from solid spot colours?
- What is the exact garment fibre and colour?
- Is the print one position or front and back?
- Do any garments need different names, numbers or designs?
- Is exact brand-colour matching important?
- What deadline must the order meet?
- Is print feel important enough to justify a physical sample?
- Will the garments need unusual or industrial washing conditions?
Those answers give a printer far more useful information than simply saying, “I want screen printing because I heard it lasts longer.”
Frequently asked questions
Is DTG cheaper than screen printing?
For one-offs and many small runs, DTG can be cheaper because it avoids physical screen setup. For larger quantities of an identical limited-colour design, screen printing can become more economical. Get a quote for the exact specification rather than relying on a universal quantity threshold.
Is DTG good for 100 T-shirts?
It can be. Whether it is the best commercial method depends on artwork, garment, colour, deadline and supplier capacity. At 100 identical shirts with a simple design, it is sensible to compare screen printing as well.
Is screen printing better quality than DTG?
Neither method owns the word “quality”. DTG can excel at photographic detail and smooth gradients. Screen printing can excel at bold spot colour, repeatability and specialist ink effects. Quality depends on matching the process to the job and producing it correctly.
Can DTG print on black T-shirts?
Yes. Dark-garment DTG commonly uses pretreatment and a white underbase before colour printing.
Is screen printing suitable for one T-shirt?
Technically it can be done, but the setup often makes it commercially unattractive for a single ordinary custom shirt. Digital methods are normally more practical for one-offs.
Which is better for a clothing brand?
A new brand testing several detailed designs in small quantities may benefit from DTG. An established brand repeating a proven design in larger quantities may find screen printing more economical. Many brands use more than one method across different products and drops.
The bottom line
Choose DTG when flexibility matters: smaller quantities, detailed full-colour artwork, photographs, gradients, samples and changing designs.
Choose screen printing when repetition matters: larger quantities of the same artwork, especially bold designs with a controlled number of colours.
Do not choose from quantity alone. Garment fibre, shirt colour, print area, artwork complexity, personalisation and deadline can move the decision in either direction.
ElitePrints focuses on flexible custom-garment production and can help match the print route to the actual artwork and garment rather than forcing every order into the same method. If you are comparing a one-off T-shirt with a 200-piece run, the most useful next step is to define the complete specification first — then compare the production options on equal terms.
