Screen printing, a technique first used by the Chinese nearly 2000 years ago, began with human hair stretched across a wooden frame to create a screen. Stencils made from leaves were attached to these screens, marking the first application of screen printing.
The Japanese later adopted this process, using woven silk to create the mesh for stencils. This innovation led to the alternative name “Silk Screening.”
For apparel printing, screen printing remains the industry standard for top-quality results. Most graphic tees and shirts sold in major retail stores are screen printed.
Modern screen printing involves creating a mesh stencil (called a screen) for each color to be printed on the apparel. Screens must be accurately registered to ensure proper alignment of colors. Inks are then pushed through each screen, one color at a time. Finally, each piece is run through a large conveyor dryer to cure the ink, ensuring a durable and vibrant finish.
We screen print in bulk, the way printing is setup it is designed to print in bulk. The fastest part is the printing. Where all of the time and costs come in to play are in the setup and the time it takes to setup. This is why your cost per shirt goes down when your qty is increased.
A lot of work goes into getting a shirt ready to print. Artwork has to be mocked up, vectored, separated by each color and then films have to be created for each color. After this we burn the films onto each individual screen. Next, we setup the presses to run the shirts. It takes a good bit of time to setup a press to run shirts.
Because of this we cannot screen print 1 shirt at a time as it would easily cost $150+ to do. The smallest order that we screen print of t-shirts is 36 of the same design.
Our other option to do a single piece for a sample would be Direct to garment. To get a direct to garment quote, please fill out the quote form and at the other information section please put that you would like a DTG sample. Pricing for DTG varies between $100-$175 depending on the shirt brand/style.
Yes, we do offer custom inside tagging. With tagging the inside of your shirts with your brand/logo it takes your product and your brand to the next level. Take a look some more info on Custom Tagging & Bagging.
The final cost of a screen printed tee comes with a lot of factors. We try to make things as simple and easy as possible. First we need for you to decide on what garment you would like to print on, how many shirts you want of each design, how many different locations, any finishings and how many ink colors will be in the design.
You can drop us an email and we can send you a full quote. You can also go to our quote page and fill out the details and we will get back to you with a quote.
Picking out a brand and style can sometimes be the hardest part of the process. There are many different options, catered to different situations and personal preferences. We've attempted to help eliminate some of the confusion on our brands and styles pages to make printing shirts easier. Here are some options we have for you to take a look at. These are our most used/requested products.
If you can think of a color, we can print it. The only true way to do this is by providing us with a PMS Pantone color #. To do this you need a Coated Pantone Book. Find the color you want and give us the number next to it. If you point us in the direction of the color family, we can send you over PMS Pantone color options for you to choose from.
We will do our best to pick them out for you but cannot guarantee a perfect outcome (this is called "PMS Color Matching"). Every computer monitor is different, so the colors on your screen will look different when displayed on the monitors in our art department.
Artwork is the key to screen printing. Providing us with the correct artwork and artwork file type is a big step in screen printing. Your print will only be as good as the artwork you provide. All files need to be at least 300 dpi or vector format & sized to the size it should be printed (we can make adjustments to the size for you if needed) Learn more about prepping your artwork files for screen printing.
Have an idea? Bring it to us, and we’ll transform it into your design, logo, or concept for an upcoming event. We specialize in turning ideas into custom shirts, hats, hoodies, and more. Let your imagination soar – maybe we can even turn it into a spaceship. Who knows what’s possible!
