The three cost curves
DTG (direct-to-garment) prints a digital image directly onto the shirt. There is no screen and no setup, so the first piece costs roughly what the hundredth does. The unit price is higher than screen printing because the ink and the print time are per piece.
Screen printing has a setup cost per colour — a screen, a film, and press time — and then a very low cost per piece. That is why it is expensive at ten pieces and cheapest at a thousand.
Embroidery has a one-off digitising cost per design and then a cost per stitch count. It is the most durable decoration of the three and the most expensive per unit on a large print area, which is why it dominates small logos on caps and left chests.
Where the lines cross
The crossover between DTG and screen printing depends on the number of colours, not on the quantity alone. A one-colour logo on a white shirt crosses to screen printing around 30–50 pieces; a four-colour print crosses around 80–120 because each additional colour adds a screen.
On a dark shirt, DTG needs a white underbase, which slows the print and raises the unit cost — that pushes the crossover lower, often to around 25–40 pieces.
- 1 colour on white: screen printing wins from roughly 30–50 pcs.
- 3–4 colours: screen printing wins from roughly 80–120 pcs.
- Photographic or gradient artwork: DTG, at any volume.
- Colour block designs with hard edges: screen printing, because blocking is cheap on press.
Fabric constraints that decide the method for you
DTG needs a cotton-rich surface and a pre-treatment on dark colours. On a high-polyester shirt the ink behaves differently and the result can be dull or crack after washing. If the blank is 65/35 or a performance poly, DTG is usually the wrong route.
Screen printing needs a flat surface and a stable fabric. On a very textured knit the ink bridges the texture and the print looks uneven; on a tri-blend the stretch can crack a plastisol print unless the ink is formulated for it.
Embroidery works on almost anything except very light, very loose knits, where the stitch pulls the fabric. A 160gsm jersey with a dense 8cm logo will pucker; the same logo on a 230gsm shirt will not.
Durability, wash by wash
Embroidery is the most durable: thread does not wash out, and a well-digitised design outlives the shirt. Screen print with a properly cured plastisol holds for dozens of washes; water-based ink sits in the fabric and fades more gracefully than it cracks.
DTG is the most sensitive to curing. Under-cured, it cracks in the first few washes; correctly cured on a cotton shirt, it holds well but feels like a film on the surface rather than part of the garment.
The mixed order, which is most real orders
Most programmes are a combination: a screen-printed back print in one colour at volume, a small embroidered left chest, and a few names or numbers that have to be individual. That combination is cheaper than any single method applied to everything.
The practical rule is to decide per element rather than per order: large areas of few colours go to screen, small durable marks go to embroidery, and variable or photographic content goes to DTG.
The method is a cost curve, not a quality ranking. Pick per element of the design, and the price usually falls.