Creatiprint — custom apparel printing and

Which method fits your order size?

Quantity is the first filter: DTG for 1-50 pieces, screen printing for 50-5,000, vinyl for small one- or two-colour jobs, embroidery when the garment is a fleece or a cap.

Screen printing is the cheapest per garment once the setup is paid for, but every extra ink colour means another screen and another setup charge. It suits runs from roughly 50 to 5,000 pieces in the same colour count — below that range the setup dominates, above it the per-garment rate keeps falling.

Direct-to-garment needs no setup at all, so it suits very small runs from 1 to about 50 pieces, and it handles photographic or full-colour artwork without separate screens. It is priced per garment and is slower per hour than screen printing, which is why it stops making sense as the run grows.

Heat-transfer vinyl is cut from a solid-colour film and pressed onto the garment: durable and cheap for one or two colours on cotton and polyester, but with no fine detail and no stretch with the fabric. Embroidery is priced per stitch count — a typical left-chest logo runs 3,000-8,000 stitches — and it is the most durable option and the only one that reads as premium on a fleece or a cap.

What does it cost per garment?

No honest single number exists — each method charges for a different thing, so compare cost structures, not sticker prices.

Screen printing front-loads the cost: a setup charge per screen colour, then a per-garment rate that is the lowest of any method once the run is large enough to absorb the setup. DTG is the mirror image — nothing upfront, a flat per-garment price from piece one, which is why a 12-piece order belongs on DTG and a 500-piece order usually does not.

Vinyl stays cheap while the design stays at one or two solid colours; embroidery ignores colour count entirely and bills by stitches, so a dense 8,000-stitch logo costs more than a sparse 3,000-stitch one regardless of how many thread colours appear. Exact quotes vary by printer, garment and artwork — the structure described here does not.

The break-even question is simple arithmetic: divide the screen setup by the run size and ask when it drops below the per-garment premium of DTG. In practice that crossover sits near the 50-piece boundary, which is exactly where the two methods' published run ranges meet.

Ink colours in the design — each one is a separate screen and a separate setup charge

Stitch count for embroidery — a left-chest logo typically runs 3,000-8,000 stitches

The blank itself — a 180 gsm tee versus a 320-380 gsm fleece

Run size — it decides whether a setup charge amortizes or dominates

Delivery distance — domestic shipping adds 2-8 business days after production

The three decisions, in order

Fabric and blanks: what the design lands on

The blank is part of the specification: four brands cover most of the US print-on-demand catalogue, and fabric weight is quoted in GSM.

Gildan, Fruit of the Loom, Hanes and Bella+Canvas are the four blank brands that cover most of the US print-on-demand catalogue, so most orders start by picking one of their styles. Garment weight is quoted as GSM: 180 gsm is a standard t-shirt, while 320-380 gsm is fleece territory.

Fabric steers the method. Vinyl presses well onto cotton and polyester but does not stretch with the fabric, so it belongs on stable garments rather than anything meant to flex. Embroidery is the only decoration that reads as premium on a fleece or a cap, and on dark garments DTG prints a white underbase beneath the CMYK colours so they stay opaque.

Artwork that survives the wash

Prepare art at final print size: 300 dpi minimum for raster, vector whenever possible, and the right colour mode for the chosen method.

Artwork must be supplied at the final print size. The usual minimum for raster art is 300 dpi at that size — a file that measures 300 dpi at 10 cm wide drops to a fraction of that when stretched across a 30 x 40 cm full front. Vector art scales without loss, which is why logos and line work should be vector whenever they can be.

Colour is method-specific. DTG works in CMYK and lays a white underbase on dark garments; screen printing uses spot colours taken from a physical swatch, so a brand hex colour is a starting point rather than a guarantee of an exact match. Vinyl adds its own constraint: the film is solid-colour, so gradients, photographs and fine detail simply cannot be cut.

Final print size set before export — for example 30 x 40 cm for a full front
300 dpi or higher at that size for any raster file
Vector artwork for logos, type and line work
CMYK for DTG; spot colours chosen from a physical swatch for screen printing
No fine detail, gradients or photographic elements destined for vinyl

From file to doorstep: the order sequence

A typical order moves through five steps; production takes 3-7 business days and domestic shipping adds 2-8, so count backward from the date you need the garments.

Most failed orders fail at the same places, and all of them are before the press runs. The sequence below names each step with its typical failure so you can check your own order against it.

Production time is typically 3-7 business days for both screen printing and DTG before shipping, with shipping adding 2-8 business days domestically — a total window of roughly 5-15 business days from approved artwork to delivery.

Step 1 — Prepare artwork at final size, 300 dpi raster or vector. Typical failure: a file that is 300 dpi on screen but enlarged past its true size, so it prints soft.
Step 2 — Pick the method by run size and fabric: DTG under about 50 pieces, screen printing above, vinyl for one or two solid colours, embroidery for fleece and caps. Typical failure: paying screen setups for a 12-piece run.
Step 3 — Lock the colours: spot colours from a physical swatch for screen printing, CMYK with a white underbase for dark-garment DTG. Typical failure: treating a brand hex code as a guaranteed match.
Step 4 — Approve the proof against the standard print areas: left chest about 9 x 11 cm, full front and back about 30 x 40 cm, sleeve about 8 x 10 cm. Typical failure: fine detail approved for vinyl, which cannot hold it.
Step 5 — Production and delivery: 3-7 business days of production, then 2-8 business days of domestic shipping. Typical failure: ordering without the shipping buffer before an event date.

The specification table

The job-ticket numbers: every key figure on this page in one specification table.
Specification	Value	What it decides
Screen printing run size	50-5,000 pieces	Cheapest per garment once setup is paid; each extra ink colour adds a setup charge
DTG run size	1-50 pieces	No setup at all; full-colour and photographic art priced per garment
Embroidered left-chest logo	3,000-8,000 stitches	Embroidery is priced per stitch count; the most durable decoration
Standard t-shirt weight	180 gsm	The baseline blank; fleece runs 320-380 gsm
Left chest print area	approx. 9 x 11 cm	The standard logo placement
Full front and full back	approx. 30 x 40 cm	The largest standard print areas
Raster artwork minimum	300 dpi at final size	Below this, prints soften; vector art scales without loss
Production plus delivery	3-7 + 2-8 business days	Production for screen printing and DTG, then domestic shipping

The job-ticket numbers: every key figure on this page in one specification table.