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DTG vs Screen Printing - What is the difference?

When you're getting custom garments printed the process can matter as much as the artwork. The print method affects how your design looks, how it feels, how long it lasts and ultimately what it costs.

At Live Ink we specialise in screen printing, embroidery and direct-to-garment (DTG) printing, so we are always able to guide you towards a method that best suits your project. Here is how screen printing and DTG compare and how to know which one is right for you.

What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is our most popular process for bulk orders and it has been the primary method of garment decoration for decades. Ink is pushed through a mesh screen onto fabric one colour at a time, building up a print that is deeply integrated with the garment. The result is vibrant, durable and capable of finishes that digital methods can not currently replicate well such as discharge printing, metallic inks, neons and high-gloss effects.

Because screens need to be prepared for each colour, screen printing involves set up and clean down that digital prints don't require. That makes it most cost-effective at higher quantities, typically 50 or above although at Live Ink our minimum order quantity for screen printing is 20 garments. Colours are mixed to Pantone references and printed as spot colours so what you specify in your artwork is what you get on the garment.

Screen printing is also where our sustainability credentials are most visible. We use water-based inks across all of our screen printing work. These are softer to the touch than plastisol and they do not contain PVC or phthalates. Combined with our GOTS-certified organic garment range and our renewable energy setup in Bristol, screen printing with Live Ink is as respectful to the environment as we can make it.

Click to find out more about our eco-friendly screen printing

What Is DTG Printing?

DTG stands for direct-to-garment and is essentially an industrial-grade inkjet printer built for fabric. Your design is printed straight onto the garment with water-based textile inks which bond to the fibres giving the print a relatively soft hand finish that on dark coloured garments and almost no hand feel at all on white or very light coloured garments.

Because the process is fully digital there are no screens to prepare, no setup charges and no minimum order quantity. You can print one garment or a thousand and the artwork can contain as many colours as you like. That makes DTG excellent for reproducing photographs, illustrations and intricate full-colour designs that would traditionally need a high number of screens and careful artwork separation to print.

Our DTG inks are GOTS certified, OEKO-TEX certified and CPSIA compliant, and they score 4 or higher on every AATCC wash test, so a digital print from us doesn't mean compromising on the eco credentials or the durability although screen printing will outperform DTG on the number of washes the print will stand up to before it starts to degrade.

DTG works on both light and dark garments. On coloured fabric a white underbase is laid down first with your artwork printed over the top. On white garments no underbase is needed at all which gives an even softer feel.

The main limitation is fabric because DTG inks bond best with natural fibres so we recommend garments that are at least 80% cotton. Designs will print onto polyester and viscose blends but the washability may not hold up in the same way it does on cotton.

Click to find out more about our DTG printing

How Screen Printing and DTG Compare

Colour depth and special effects: Screen printing wins for bold and punchy spot colours. Pantone mixing, discharge, metallics and neon inks are all possible. DTG works in full colour from a digital file so it handles gradients, shading and photographic detail effortlessly, but it cannot reproduce those specialist ink finishes and exact Pantone matching is not guaranteed.

Detail and complexity: This is where DTG shines. A design with twelve colours, soft gradients or photographic elements prints in a single pass with no extra cost per colour. The same artwork screen printed would need a screen for every colour which quickly becomes impractical and expensive.

Order size: Screen printing becomes increasingly cost-effective as quantities rise because the setup cost is spread across the run. DTG carries no setup cost at all making it the obvious choice for small runs, samples, print on demand and one-off pieces.

Print feel: Both methods produce a soft print which is one of the reasons we favour them. Water-based screen printing has a soft hand that improves with washing, while DTG ink sinks into the fabric too in a similar way and feels just like part of the shirt on white garments where no underbase is needed.

Fabric compatibility: Screen printing is at its best on natural fibres but can be printed onto synthetics with a more complex setup, such as dye sublimation blockers printed as an underbase to stop the garment colour bleeding back into the ink. DTG really wants cotton, ideally 80% or higher, so for performance fabrics and polyester-heavy blends neither method is the first choice and we would talk to you about alternatives.

Sustainability: Honours are fairly even here. Both processes at Live Ink use water-based, PVC-free and phthalate-free inks and both can be printed onto our GOTS-certified organic garment range using renewable energy at our Bristol studio. DTG has the added benefit of producing zero waste from unsold stock when used for print on demand, because every garment is printed only after it has been ordered.

When We Recommend DTG at Live Ink

DTG is the backbone of our print on demand service and our one-off prints, but it earns its place on plenty of other jobs too. Common situations where we recommend it include:

  • Designs with photographic detail, smooth gradients or many colours that would require too many screens to make screen printing practical or cost-effective.
  • Orders below our screen printing minimum of 20 garments, including single pieces and samples.
  • Print on demand stores on Shopify, Etsy, Squarespace or WooCommerce where garments are printed individually as orders come in.
  • Brands that want to test a design on a small run before committing to a larger screen printed order.

For DTG you will need to supply your artwork as a 300dpi PNG with a transparent background at the correct print size, with a maximum standard print area of 40 x 45 cm. When you upload your design to our website the resolution is checked automatically and you will see a warning if the quality is too low.

Not Sure Which Process Is Right for Your Design?

The best print method depends on your artwork, your fabric, your quantities and your budget. A full colour illustration on a 10 piece run calls for a completely different approach than a two colour logo on 100 organic cotton t-shirts.

The easiest way to find out is to send us your artwork. We look at the design and the garment you have in mind and we tell you which process makes the most sense.

Send us your artwork and we will come back to you with a recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Screen printing pushes ink through a mesh screen onto the fabric one colour at a time, with a separate screen prepared for every colour in the design. DTG (direct-to-garment) is a fully digital process, essentially an industrial-grade inkjet printer built for fabric, printing your design straight onto the garment with water-based textile inks in a single full-colour pass with no screens, no setup charges and no minimum order.
It depends on your artwork and quantity. Screen printing wins for bold spot colours, Pantone matching, specialist finishes like discharge, metallic and neon inks, and becomes increasingly cost-effective as quantities rise. DTG shines for photographic detail, gradients and multi-colour designs, with no setup cost and no extra cost per colour, making it the obvious choice for small runs, samples, print on demand and one-off pieces.
Screen printing will outperform DTG on the number of washes the print will stand up to before it starts to degrade. That said, DTG is still a durable option – quality DTG inks score 4 or higher on every AATCC wash test, so a digital print doesn't mean compromising on durability.
Yes. DTG works on both light and dark garments. On coloured fabric a white underbase is laid down first with your artwork printed over the top. On white garments no underbase is needed at all, which gives an even softer feel with almost no hand feel to the print.
DTG inks bond best with natural fibres, so garments that are at least 80% cotton are recommended. Designs will print onto polyester and viscose blends but the washability may not hold up in the same way it does on cotton. For performance fabrics and polyester-heavy blends, talk to your printer about alternative methods.
Exact Pantone matching is not guaranteed with DTG because it prints in full colour from a digital file. If precise Pantone colour matching is essential, screen printing is the better choice – colours are mixed to Pantone references and printed as spot colours, so what you specify in your artwork is what you get on the garment.
Supply your artwork as a 300dpi PNG with a transparent background at the correct print size, with a maximum standard print area of 40 x 45cm. When you upload your design the resolution is checked automatically and you will see a warning if the quality is too low.
Honours are fairly even. Both processes at Live Ink use water-based, PVC-free and phthalate-free inks and both can be printed onto GOTS-certified organic garments using renewable energy. DTG has the added benefit of producing zero waste from unsold stock when used for print on demand, because every garment is printed only after it has been ordered.
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