Is Vinyl Better than Screen Printing?

These days’ people love custom t-shirts or tote bags. And there are tons of ways to print out a design on fabric. But usually people tend to get stuck between vinyl and screen. Why? Because vinyl and screen are the fastest and cheapest options on the print market today. They are great for large orders because they are fast and easy to do. Here is how to choose between these two preferred ways of printing:

What is Vinyl Printing?

Vinyl printing uses heat and pressure to print out the design on a fabric. First, pieces of vinyl paper are cut in a way they will look like the actual design. After the cutting, the vinyl is put on fabric and with the process of heat transfer; the image is transferred on the fabric.

What is Screen Printing?

Screen printing uses photo emulsion. A number of screens, covered in photo emulsion are burnt up with the design on them. Later these screens are spread with colors and insert the ink on the fabric, according to the design layout. Each screen is spread with a different color and by touching the fabric one by one; they combine the colors and create the wanted design.

Color & Detail

When comparing color and detail, screen printing offers a much greater quality than vinyl. The images and designs are sharper, with minimum possibility for distortion. This is why vinyl is usually used for printing simple graphics like text, numbers or geometric shapes. If your design has a lot of detail and colors involved, you should definitely go for screen.

Minimum Orders

Both vinyl and screen take a longer time setting up than printing. Despite the long set, both are fast printing methods. But, they do have their differences. Vinyl can be used for small runs (from 1 to 20 shirts) because it is much easier to set up. Whereas, the minimum run size for screen is usually 25 shirts. This is because the time for setting up the screens is much longer and the labor involved more intense.

Why Choose Vinyl Printing?

There are three advantages vinyl has over screen. First, the design is less likely to fade. Second, it is much cheaper. Third, it is flexible and applicable to small run sizes.

Even though in theory screen prints should last as long as the shirt, in practice that isn’t quite true. For screen to live out its maximum, clients should wash the shirts by specific rules and often times they forget to do so. One expert has even conducted an experiment where his vinyl printed the shirt’s backside and screen printed the shirt’s front. With regular washes, the backside (vinyl) lasted, while the front started to fade and crack.

Why Choose Screen Printing?

Vinyl may be more cost effective and practical, but screen offers more detail and color. If you are looking to start a t-shirt brand, consider doing it screen since the graphics and details will always be intact. Remember to highlight the washing rules for screen printed t-shirts to customers since you don’t want complains and bad reviews. Even though poor washing can destroy the design, screen printing is still the number one choice for clients. And most custom t-shirts you see on the streets are done with this method.