Screen printing and digital printing are the two most common forms of t-shirt printing. These two printing types make t-shirt printing easy and perfect. The best thing about these printing types is that they bring the thoughts into reality, meaning whatever you think will be printed on the t-shirt. This is why people are unable to decide which t-shirt printing option they should choose. They don’t know the criteria to differentiate between the printing types and choose the right option themselves. This is a bit challenging. So, to help you out, we will discuss the differences between screen printing and digital printing in this post.

Digital Printing:

Also known as direct-to-garment printing, digital printing works like a home desktop printer. You just have to hit the “print” button on the computer screen and things get printed on the t-shirt, slowly exiting from the printer. For digital printing, cartridges of ink are used to print.

Screen Printing:

Screen printing is the more traditional form of the t-shirt printing process. In this process, the colors in the images are separated and individual stencils for each one of those colors are made. Then, separated inks for each one are mixed and pushed through the stencils one after another to print the design on the t-shirt. You got to know about digital printing and screen printing and how they work for t-shirt printing. Now, we will discuss the differences between these two printing types based on different factors.

Quantity Printed: 

Here, the quantity refers to the number of t-shirts printed with the same design; the type of apparel can change but not the design. With digital printing, there is no such minimum quantity because it is easy and quick to set up. The companies offering t-shirt printing in Dubai don’t have to waste hours preparing for digital printing.

On the other hand, screen printing has a minimum quantity requirement of 12 pieces because of its extensive preparation and setup time. It’s the best option if you want to print above 25 or 30 pieces. No printing company would prefer preparing and setting up for hours to print a few pieces. It isn’t cost-effective for the company.

Apparel Used: 

For digital printing, the best apparel is 100% cotton or other cotton blends. As it is printed directly, the apparel type matters a lot in digital printing. On the other hand, screen printing offers a much wider variety of apparel options along with different apparel colors to print on. Screen printing works on fabrics like 100% polyester, performance fabric, and a lot of other synthetic blends.

Design Implemented:

With digital printing, you can get photographs and designs with lots of colors on the t-shirt. It’s because digital printing easily reproduces photographic images. Also, this printing type uses ink to make all the colors. On the other hand, screen printing is a better option if you have fewer colors in your design. It’s because screen printing requires separating the colors in your design and printing them individually. In this technique, the cost depends on the number of colors in your design.

This is how screen printing and digital printing are different. So, you should choose wisely. Also, you should connect with one of the reputable companies for t-shirt printing in Dubai.