HomeResourcesGuidesHow to Print Your Own T-Shirts: Five Methods Compared
How to Print Your Own T-Shirts: Five Methods Compared
We sell the blanks rather than the printing, so this is not a pitch for one method. It is the honest version: five ways to get an image onto a shirt, what each is genuinely good at, and what it costs to start.
The method you pick also decides which blank you need, which is the part most guides leave out.
Screen printing
Ink pushed through a mesh stencil, one screen per colour. The oldest method and still the one that wins at volume.
Setup is the cost. Every colour needs its own screen, so a four-colour design on ten shirts is painful and the same design on five hundred is the cheapest option available. The finish is durable and the colours are dense, including on dark fabric.
Best on: smooth, stable cotton. Ring-spun holds fine detail noticeably better than coarse open-end yarn.
Direct-to-garment (DTG)
An inkjet printer that prints straight onto the shirt. No screens, no setup, so one shirt costs about the same per unit as fifty.
It handles photographs and unlimited colours, which screen printing cannot do affordably. The tradeoffs are speed, machine cost, and dark garments — those need a white underbase, which means pretreating and a stiffer result.
Best on: 100% cotton, ring-spun, tightly knit. DTG ink needs cotton fibre to bond to; heavy polyester blends print poorly.
Direct-to-film (DTF)
Print onto a film, dust with adhesive powder, cure, then heat press onto the garment. The method that has changed small-shop economics most in recent years.
It works on cotton, polyester, blends and fabrics the other methods struggle with, with no pretreatment and no white underbase problem. Transfers can be printed in batches and pressed later. The finish sits on top of the fabric, so it feels less integrated than a good screen print.
Best on: almost anything, which is precisely the point. Fabric content matters far less here than with any other method.
Heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
Cut coloured vinyl with a craft cutter, weed away the excess, heat press it on. The cheapest possible entry point.
Excellent for names, numbers and simple bold shapes — it is why team jerseys use it. Bad for anything detailed or multi-coloured, because every colour is a separate layer, cut and weeded by hand.
Best on: smooth flat fabric. Heavily textured or very slubby surfaces stop vinyl adhering cleanly.
Sublimation
Heat turns solid dye into gas, which bonds into polyester fibre. The design becomes part of the fabric, with no hand feel at all and no cracking, ever.
The hard limits are real: polyester only, light colours only. Sublimation dye is transparent, so it cannot print white or show up on a dark shirt.
Best on: white or light polyester. On a cotton shirt it will simply wash out.
Choosing quickly
If you are printing hundreds of the same simple design, screen printing. If you are printing one-offs with photographic artwork on cotton, DTG. If you want one setup that prints on anything in small runs, DTF. If you need names and numbers, vinyl. If you want an all-over print on polyester that lasts forever, sublimation.
Whichever you choose, buy a blank that suits it and test on one shirt before committing a run.
Common questions
What is the cheapest way to start printing shirts at home?
Heat transfer vinyl, by a wide margin — a cutter and a heat press. The ceiling is low, but the entry cost is too.
Which method lasts longest in the wash?
Sublimation, because the dye is inside the fibre rather than sitting on it. It is also the most restricted: polyester, and light colours only. Among the general-purpose methods, a properly cured screen print is extremely durable.
Can I print on dark shirts?
Screen printing, DTF and vinyl handle dark fabric well. DTG needs a white underbase and pretreatment. Sublimation cannot do it at all.
Does BlankTees print shirts?
No. We supply the blanks. That is why this page compares methods rather than selling you one.
Terms used here
Shop it
More guides
- How to Order Blank T-Shirts in BulkWhat a bulk blank t-shirt order actually involves: size spreads, dye lots, lead times, and the mistakes that cost you a reprint.
- Bulk T-Shirts: Choosing the Right Style for a Volume OrderWhich blank t-shirt style to buy in volume, and why the cheapest line is sometimes right and sometimes the reason a run fails.
- Cheap Blank T-Shirts: What You Actually Pay Per ShirtWhere the low prices on blank t-shirts come from, which savings are real, and the four costs that quietly undo them.
- From Design to Shirt: The Best Way to Get Your Artwork PrintedHow to take a design from an idea to a printed shirt — file formats, colour, placement, and the decisions that decide whether it looks right.
- Company T-Shirts: A Practical Buyer's GuideOrdering branded shirts for a team: sizing everyone fairly, getting brand colours right, and what to do about the people who never reply.