How to Choose a Print Method: DTF, Screen, DTG & More (2026)

The best t-shirt printing method depends on four things: what fabric you're printing on, how many you need, how many colours are in your design, and what you're willing to spend. There is no single winner because each method was built for a different job.

We run every method except sublimation out of our East London workshop (we outsource sub to a trusted partner when a customer specifically needs it). After printing thousands of garments a year across DTF, screen, DTG, vinyl and embroidery, I've learned that the right method is almost never the one customers ask for first. This guide walks you through the real decision, with actual UK prices, honest limitations, and the questions I ask every customer before I recommend anything.

The First Question I Ask Every Customer

When someone emails us saying "I need custom t-shirts", I don't start with the print method. I start with this: what are they for, and what's your budget per piece?

A café owner kitting out 15 staff in branded polos has completely different needs from someone launching a streetwear brand and pressing 5 samples for a photoshoot. The café owner probably wants an embroidered chest logo that survives a commercial laundry. The streetwear founder wants a full-colour back print that photographs well on Instagram. Same question, completely different answers.

After that, I need to know the garment fabric (cotton, polyester, a blend), the design (how many colours, how complex, how big), the quantity, and the deadline. Once I've got those five things, the right print method usually picks itself.

If you want to jump straight to prices, scroll down to the cost comparison table. If you want to understand why one method fits your situation better, keep reading.

What Does Each Method Actually Cost in the UK?

Pricing depends on the garment, the print size, the number of colours, and whether there's a setup fee. These are realistic UK prices for a mid-weight cotton or poly-cotton t-shirt with a standard A4-sized chest or front print. All prices include the print but not the blank garment (add roughly £2.50 to £5 for a decent blank depending on brand and weight).

Prices are print-only, ex-VAT, and reflect standard turnaround. Rush jobs, multiple print positions, and heavier garments cost more. For a complete breakdown of finished garment costs including blanks, see our full UK t-shirt printing cost guide.

The crossover point where screen printing starts beating DTF is around 50 to 75 units for a simple one or two-colour design. Below that, DTF wins on cost almost every time because there's no screen setup fee. Above 100 units with a simple logo, screen becomes noticeably cheaper per piece.

Here's how screen setup works in practice. Each colour in your design needs its own screen, and each screen costs £20. A one-colour logo is one screen (£20 setup). A three-colour design is three screens (£60 setup). That setup fee is a one-off for the job, so it gets absorbed into the per-unit cost as your quantity increases. On a reorder of the same design, we can often reuse the screens if it's within a reasonable timeframe. That's why screen printing really sings on repeat orders for uniforms and branded workwear where the design stays the same.

For embroidery, we charge a flat £20 digitising fee per design (that's the one-off cost to convert your logo into a stitch file for the machines). If you're sending us multiple designs in the same order, we'll discount that. On large orders we sometimes waive it entirely. Once that file exists, it's yours forever. On orders of 25 or more polos or hoodies, embroidery per unit drops fast and sits alongside DTF pricing.

Which Method Works on Which Fabric?

This is where most customers get caught out. They pick a method based on price, then find out it doesn't work on their garment.

Sublimation's biggest limitation catches people every single time: it only works on white or very light polyester. If you send us a design for a black cotton hoodie and ask for sublimation, we have to steer you somewhere else. The dye is transparent, so it disappears into dark fabric. And on cotton, it simply doesn't bond because the sublimation process needs polyester fibres to open up and accept the dye.

DTG is the opposite problem. It's brilliant on 100% cotton, where the water-based inks soak into the fibres and feel like part of the fabric. On polyester, the ink sits on the surface and washes off. We've had customers send us polyester sports shirts asking for DTG, and we always redirect them to DTF instead.

For a deeper technical comparison of DTF against DTG and screen printing, see our DTF vs DTG vs Screen Printing vs Vinyl guide.

Which Printing Method Lasts Longest?

Durability is one of those questions where the honest answer isn't what most people expect.

Embroidery outlasts everything because thread doesn't crack, peel, or fade in the wash. A well-digitised embroidered logo on a decent polo shirt will look the same after 100 washes as it did on day one. That's why hospitals, construction firms, and corporate uniforms almost always choose embroidery for their badge logos.

Screen printing comes next for long-term durability, especially water-based or discharge prints on cotton. The ink physically bonds into the fabric rather than sitting on top. We've seen screen-printed workwear hold up through years of industrial laundering. The trade-off is that screen prints on heavy designs (big solid blocks of colour) can feel stiff.

DTF sits comfortably in the middle. In our own wash testing, a properly pressed DTF transfer on cotton holds colour and adhesion past 50 washes with no visible cracking. On polyester, we press at a lower temperature (around 130°C to 140°C instead of 160°C to 165°C for cotton) and the results are comparable. The print does have a slight feel on the surface, similar to a thin screen print. It's not invisible like DTG, but it's far less plasticky than vinyl.

DTG feels the softest on day one, but fades faster than DTF or screen printing over repeated washes, particularly on dark garments where the white underbase gradually weakens.

Vinyl is extremely durable if the design is small (names, numbers, single-colour logos). On larger panels, it can peel at the edges over time and it feels noticeably heavier and stiffer than other methods.

Sublimation is permanent because the dye becomes part of the polyester fibre itself. It will never crack or peel. The only issue is that the fabric around it can pill or degrade before the print shows any sign of wear.

What About Colour Accuracy and Detail?

If you're printing a photographic image with gradients and hundreds of colours, your realistic options are DTF, DTG, or sublimation. All three handle full-colour CMYK printing without extra cost per colour.

Screen printing charges per colour (each colour needs its own screen at £20 per screen), so a photorealistic design with 8 colours means £160 in setup alone before a single garment is printed. Most screen jobs stay at one to four spot colours.

Vinyl is single-colour per layer. You can stack layers for a two or three-colour design, but anything beyond that is impractical and expensive.

Embroidery can reproduce surprisingly detailed logos, but it's limited by stitch count and thread colours. Fine text below about 5mm height gets lost, and photographic images are off the table entirely.

For colour matching accuracy, DTF and DTG both print in CMYK and can get close to your screen colours, but neither will nail a specific Pantone shade without some tweaking. Screen printing can mix exact Pantone inks, which is why brands with strict colour guidelines sometimes prefer screen for their logo work. If you're working with strict brand colours, read our guide on ICC profiles and colour matching for DTF printing for practical tips on getting closer to your target.

When Should You Combine Two Methods on One Garment?

This comes up more than you'd think. The most common combination we do is embroidered chest logo plus DTF back print. Workwear customers love this because the embroidered logo on the left breast looks smart and professional, while a larger design on the back (safety info, company slogan, or a big logo) is cheaper and more practical as a print.

We also do DTF plus vinyl occasionally. A football team might want full-colour crest badges done via DTF, with individual player names and numbers cut from vinyl. The vinyl names are cheap, fast to change between shirts, and very durable for the simple lettering shapes they need.

The key is knowing which method goes where. Embroidery works best in small areas on thicker fabrics (chest, sleeve, collar). DTF and screen work best for larger designs on flat areas (front, back). Vinyl works best for simple shapes, text, and numbers.

Don't try to combine sublimation with other methods on the same garment because the heat required to sublimate (around 200°C) can damage an existing DTF or vinyl print. Press sublimation first, then add other elements at lower temperatures.

From Our Workshop: What We've Learned the Hard Way

After pressing thousands of orders in our East London studio, there are a few things I'd tell anyone trying to choose a method.