Five methods dominate garment decoration, and each one is the right answer to a different question. The method that suits a hundred team jerseys is the wrong one for three printed hoodies, and the fabric you have chosen rules some of them out before you start.
The short answer
| If you need | Use | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Bold artwork, 50+ units, cotton | Screen printing | Cost per unit falls sharply with quantity |
| Detailed or photographic artwork, small runs | DTG | No setup per colour, prints into the fabric |
| Small runs on mixed or synthetic fabrics | DTF | Works on almost any fibre with no setup |
| All-over designs on sports kit | Sublimation | The only method that dyes the fibre itself |
| A logo that must outlast the garment | Embroidery | Thread does not crack, peel or fade |
The five methods
Screen printing
Ink is pushed through a fine mesh screen onto the fabric, one screen per colour. The screens take time and money to prepare, and that cost is the same whether you print ten garments or a thousand.
That single fact explains everything about screen printing. It is the cheapest method per unit at volume and the most expensive at low volume. It lays down a thick, opaque, durable layer of ink that sits on top of the fabric, which is why screen prints look solid and bold and why they can feel slightly raised.
Strong at: flat colour, bold shapes, large runs, durability.
Weak at: photographs, gradients, designs with many colours, short runs.
DTG — direct to garment
An inkjet printer for fabric. Water-based ink is sprayed directly onto the garment and absorbed into the fibres, so the print feels soft and flat rather than sitting on the surface.
There is no per-colour setup, so a full-colour photograph costs the same as a one-colour logo, and printing a single garment is viable. The trade-off is fibre: DTG relies on the fabric absorbing ink, so it works on cotton and cotton-rich blends and performs poorly on polyester. On dark garments a white underbase is needed first, which slows production and stiffens the result.
Strong at: detail, photographs, one-offs and small runs, soft hand feel on cotton.
Weak at: polyester, large runs, very bright colours on dark fabric.
DTF — direct to film
The design is printed onto a film, coated with adhesive powder, then heat-pressed onto the garment. Because the ink never has to bond with the fibre directly, DTF works on cotton, polyester, blends and much else besides.
It is the most flexible of the five, and the reason it spread so quickly: one process, no per-colour setup, almost any fabric. The cost is hand feel. A DTF print is a layer bonded to the surface, so a large solid design can feel like a patch, and it does not breathe the way DTG does.
Strong at: mixed fabrics, small runs, full colour, synthetics.
Weak at: soft hand feel on large designs, breathability.
Sublimation
Ink is printed onto transfer paper, then heat turns it into a gas that bonds with polyester fibres. The dye becomes part of the fibre rather than a layer on top, so there is nothing to crack, peel or fade, and the fabric feels exactly as it did before printing.
Two hard limits. It only works on polyester — cotton has nothing for the dye to bond to. And it only works on light fabrics, because the dye is translucent and cannot lighten what is underneath. Within those limits it is unbeatable: edge-to-edge designs across panels, no print to wear out, no added weight.
This is how proper sports kit is made, and it is the method behind our custom team kits. A sublimated jersey with numbers, names and sponsor logos has no applied layer anywhere on it.
Strong at: all-over designs, sports kit, durability, zero hand feel.
Weak at: cotton, dark base colours.
Embroidery
Thread stitched into the fabric by machine. Not printing at all, and it behaves differently in every respect: it adds texture and weight, it reads as more expensive, and it outlasts every printed method because there is no ink to degrade.
Its limits are resolution. Each stitch is a unit of detail, so fine lines, small text and gradients do not survive. Below roughly 5 mm, lettering starts to fill in. Large embroidered areas also stiffen the garment and cost a great deal, since price follows stitch count.
Strong at: logos, caps, polos, fleece, perceived quality, durability.
Weak at: fine detail, small text, large solid areas, photographic artwork.
All five compared
| Method | Fabric | Setup cost | Best run size | Hand feel | Durability | Colour range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen printing | Cotton, blends, poly with the right ink | High, per colour | 50+ | Slightly raised | Very good | Limited by screen count |
| DTG | Cotton and cotton-rich blends | None | 1–50 | Soft, prints into fabric | Good | Full colour |
| DTF | Almost any fibre | None | 1–100 | A bonded layer on the surface | Good | Full colour |
| Sublimation | Polyester only, light colours | Low | Any, best cut-and-sew | None — dyes the fibre | Excellent | Full colour |
| Embroidery | Almost any, including fleece | Digitising, one-off | Any | Raised, adds weight | Excellent | Limited by thread |
How fabric narrows the choice
Before comparing cost or quality, check which methods your fabric allows — our hoodie fabric guide covers the fibres and constructions behind this table. This usually eliminates two of the five immediately.
| Fabric | Screen | DTG | DTF | Sublimation | Embroidery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% cotton | Yes | Yes, best results | Yes | No | Yes |
| Cotton-rich blend (80/20) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| 50/50 blend | Yes | Weaker, washed-out look | Yes | Partial, muted | Yes |
| 100% polyester, light | Yes, with the right ink | Poor | Yes | Yes, ideal | Yes |
| 100% polyester, dark | Yes, with blockers | Poor | Yes | No | Yes |
| Brushed fleece | Yes, bold designs | Fine detail sinks | Yes | Only if polyester | Yes, very good |
Two traps worth naming. Printing on polyester with the wrong ink lets the garment’s own dye migrate up into the print — a white logo on a red jersey slowly turns pink. A printer who asks what the fabric is before quoting is a printer who knows this.
And on dark polyester, sublimation is not an option at any price. If a supplier offers to sublimate a navy cotton hoodie, they are either going to use a different method or deliver something that washes out.
How cost behaves with quantity
The shape of the cost curve, not the price per shirt, is what should drive the decision.
| Run size | Usually cheapest | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | DTG or DTF | No setup to amortise |
| 10–50 | DTF, or DTG on cotton | Setup still dominates screen printing |
| 50–200 | Screen printing, if colours are few | Screen cost spreads thin; ink is cheap |
| 200+ | Screen printing | Lowest marginal cost of any method |
| Any, all-over polyester | Sublimation | Printed before cutting, so size barely matters |
Screen printing crosses over somewhere between 30 and 70 units for a typical design, and the crossover moves with the number of colours: a one-colour print pays for itself quickly, a six-colour print may never beat DTF at small volumes.
Sublimation behaves differently from all of them, because on cut-and-sew kit the fabric is printed flat before the garment is assembled. Quantity affects the sewing, not the printing.
Matching the method to the job
| The job | Method | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Team sports kit with names and numbers | Sublimation | Needs polyester; the print cannot wear out |
| 150 event T-shirts, two-colour logo | Screen printing | Setup is trivial across that many units |
| Five hoodies with a photographic design | DTF, or DTG if cotton | No setup cost at that quantity |
| Company polos with a chest logo | Embroidery | Reads as uniform rather than merchandise |
| Detailed artwork on cotton tees, 20 units | DTG | Full colour with a soft finish |
| Workwear that will be washed daily | Embroidery or screen print | Both outlast repeated industrial washing |
| Gym wear in polyester, small run | DTF | Sublimation needs light fabric; DTG will not hold |
Preparing artwork so the method can deliver it
- Send vector where you can. AI, EPS, PDF or SVG scale to any size. Screen printing and embroidery both need clean outlines, and converting a low-resolution JPEG into one is work somebody has to pay for.
- Raster artwork at 300 DPI at full print size. A design printed 30 cm wide needs to be about 3,500 pixels across. Enlarging a small file does not add detail.
- Name your colours. Pantone references remove the argument about whether the red you received is the red you meant.
- Keep text above 5 mm for embroidery. Below that, stitches crowd and letters fill in.
- Check contrast against the garment. A design that reads well on white can disappear on charcoal, and sublimation cannot print white at all.
Frequently asked questions
Which printing method lasts longest?
Sublimation, because the dye is part of the fibre rather than a layer on top — there is nothing to crack or peel. Embroidery is next, since thread degrades far more slowly than ink. Among printed methods on cotton, a well-cured screen print outlasts DTG and DTF.
What is the difference between DTG and DTF?
DTG prints ink directly into the garment, so it feels soft but needs cotton. DTF prints onto film and heat-presses it on, so it works on almost any fabric but sits on the surface as a layer.
Can you print on polyester?
Yes, but not with every method. Sublimation is ideal on light polyester. DTF works on any colour. Screen printing works with inks formulated to stop the garment dye bleeding into the print. DTG performs poorly on polyester.
What is the cheapest way to print 100 T-shirts?
Usually screen printing, if the design has only a few colours. At 100 units the screen setup is spread thin enough that the per-shirt cost drops below DTF. With a full-colour photographic design, DTF may still win.
Why does my print crack after washing?
Usually under-curing — the ink never reached the temperature it needed to bond — or a print layer too thick for a fabric that stretches. Washing inside out, cold, and skipping the tumble dryer extends the life of any applied print.
Can you sublimate on cotton?
No. The dye bonds with polyester and has nothing to hold onto in cotton, so the image fades or washes away. Cotton garments sold as sublimated usually have a polyester coating or a DTF transfer.
Is embroidery better than printing?
Different, not better. Embroidery lasts longer and signals quality, which suits logos and uniforms. Printing handles detail, photographs and large designs that embroidery cannot reproduce at any price.
How many colours can I screen print?
Technically as many as the press has stations, commonly six to eight. Practically, each colour is another screen and another setup charge, so the cost rises step by step with the count.
Next: T-shirt fabric guide — cotton, blends, GSM and knits explained.
The fabric limits the method as much as the design does: cotton vs polyester.
Printing a hoodie is a different job again: the best printing method for hoodies.
For jerseys in particular, sublimation deserves its own breakdown: sublimation printing for sports jerseys.
Whichever method you choose, the wash is what decides how long it lasts: how to wash custom printed clothes.
Before you send anything to a printer: how to prepare artwork for custom apparel.