Guides // Decoration
Screen print vs embroidery vs DTF
Short answer
Choose screen printing for large runs with a few ink colors, because it is the most cost-effective at volume. Choose embroidery for a premium, durable logo on polos, hats, and jackets, especially anything customers see up close. Choose DTF transfers for full-color art, photographic designs, or small quantities where screen printing setup would not pay off.
Screen printing
Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil, one screen per color. It produces bright, durable prints and gets cheaper per piece the more you order, which makes it the standard for big tee runs. The tradeoff is setup cost per color, so it is less efficient for small orders or designs with many colors.
Best for: event tees, crew shirts, spirit wear, and any large run with a simple few-color design.
Embroidery
Embroidery stitches your logo into the garment. It reads premium, survives years of washing, and is the right call for polos, hats, and jackets. It is the standard for anything a customer sees up close, like a tech's polo. The tradeoff is that fine detail and small text do not stitch well, and large fills cost more.
Best for: company polos, hats, jackets, and any customer-facing gear.
DTF transfers
DTF, or direct-to-film, prints your full-color design onto a film and heat-presses it onto the garment. It handles photographic and many-color art that screen printing cannot do affordably, and it has no per-color screen setup, so it wins on small runs and complex designs.
Best for: full-color logos, gradients, small quantities, and one-off designs.