Screen Printing – Is it Outdated in The Digital Age?

T-shirt screen printing is one the most durable and reliable manual printing processes. Although many forms of print production are now digital, apparel screen printing has been the most durable and cost-effective method to print on tee shirts.

It is easy to believe that the manual screen printing process will end with the introduction of heat transfers and direct-to-garment digital printing. Although digital printing is an excellent and affordable option for small runs of tshirts with high colour content, it is still much more cost-effective to screenprint larger quantities.

Screen printers shouldn’t see digital tshirt printing as a threat. Instead, they should see them as an additional opportunity to offer services to customers that they might not have been able to before. If a kid brings in a full-color photo from their favorite band and asks to have it printed on a shirt, we would have to turn them down in the past. We are now able offer them the service of a one-off full-color t-shirt with the right equipment and even a black tee.!

I believe that screen printing professionals should embrace digital advances and the additional revenue they can bring their businesses.

I believe it will take a long time for a digital print on 1000 tee-shirts to be cheaper and last longer than a screen printed one.

Source: Joel J Taylor