The two most prevalent ways of producing personalized garments are screen printing and digital printing. You may be wondering how screen printing compares to digital printing. The reality is that there is no better option between the two types of printing procedures. It all comes down to knowing your requirements and determining which approach would work best for the fabric material, color, and pattern of the shirts you've decided to decorate. Here's a short overview about screen printing vs. digital printing so you can determine which sort of printing is best for you.
About Screen Printing
The artwork is initially burnt into the mesh screens at the beginning of the process. This generates a stencil of your artwork, which is then applied right over your chosen clothing. The screens are then fed into a printing machine, and ink is added over the stencil. A new screen is made for each color in the artwork. Each color layer is produced in distinct runs. The final step is to allow the inks on the t-shirt to dry.
Screen Printing Pros
Due to the clean way of putting ink over each screen, simple designs may be printed with ease, resulting in high-quality prints. Depending on the size of the screens, this printing technology also allows for a bigger printing space.
The more t-shirts you print, the lower the cost. Because the procedure is largely automated, there is less labor required in the manufacture of each custom t-shirt at live screen printing events.
Screen Printing Cons
Each layer of color is applied one at a time using its own screen in screen printing. When there are several colors in a design, it may be highly expensive to produce screens and put each t-shirt through the machine multiple times for each layer of color. Furthermore, with shading and gradient effects, picture realistic prints become practically hard to create.
As there is a lot of effort involved in burning and preparing screens, screenprints sometimes have a minimum order quantity.
About Digital Printing
Digital printing is a newer technology for printing personalized garments. All colors will be applied directly to the garment in a single layer of ink. The ink used for this form of printing is a lightweight water-based ink that penetrates readily and cleanly into the garment fibers.
Digital Printing Pros
Digital printing is ideal for smaller-quantity jobs since it requires no setup and no screens. Another significant advantage of digital printing is the ability to print real-time photos. Printing direct-to-garment allows you to rock realistic visuals on your bespoke gear, whether it's a photo of a loved one, fresh food, animals, or anything in between.
As the ink is applied directly to the material, you have greater leeway with your custom t-shirt design. Using this printing technology, very complex or elaborate patterns may be completed flawlessly.
Digital Printing Cons
Due to the way digital print ink attaches to clothes, 100% cotton material works best for this printing technology. Any other fabric or fabric blend may yield results of poor quality. Furthermore, digital printing doesn’t last as long as screenprinting and can wear off after a few washes.
