Screen Printing vs DTF: Which Is Cheaper for Your Order?

The honest answer comes down to two things, how many pieces you order and how many colors are in your design. We run both screen printing and DTF in house at our Chatsworth shop, so we have no reason to steer you toward one or the other. Here is exactly how the math works.

How screen printing is priced

Screen printing carries real upfront cost. We burn a screen for every color in your design, plus a one time setup to line up the press. Those costs are fixed. They do not change whether you order 12 shirts or 200. But once the press is running, the cost to print each shirt is low. Screen printing is expensive to start and cheap to repeat.

That is why your price per shirt drops as quantity climbs. The setup and screen charges spread across more pieces, so a big run gets the fixed cost down to pennies per shirt.

How DTF is priced

DTF, direct to film, works the opposite way. There is no setup and no screen charge, so a small order carries no upfront cost. Instead you pay a higher price per piece, based on the size of the print. And because DTF prints full color in one pass, a ten color design costs the same as a one color design. Color is free.

So DTF is cheap to start and flat to repeat. It barely gets cheaper at higher quantities, because there was never a big fixed cost to spread out.

Where they cross over

Picture a basic tee with a one color print on the front. At low quantities DTF wins, because screen printing is still paying off its setup and screens. Somewhere around 20 to 25 shirts, screen printing catches up and passes DTF, and from there it keeps getting cheaper per shirt while DTF stays roughly flat. By 100 shirts it is not close. Screen printing is far cheaper.

Now add colors. Every color adds a screen to the screen printing side, which pushes the crossover higher, you need a bigger order to justify it. DTF does not care how many colors you use, so full color and photographic art land on the DTF side unless your run is large.

Quick rule of thumb

• Under about 24 shirtsDTF is usually cheaper
• 24 or more, 1 to 3 colorsScreen printing usually wins
• Full color or photo art, small runDTF
• Large run, 100 plus, few colorsScreen printing, by a lot
• One small left chest logo, low qtyDTF

It is not only about price

On a big run, screen printing gives you the softest hand and the most durable print, especially with water based ink. DTF gives you unlimited color and fine detail with no setup, which is perfect for small batches, samples, and full color designs. For most orders the cheaper option is also the right one. If you are unsure, tell us the quantity and the art and we will tell you straight.