Screen Printing vs Heat Transfer - What's the Difference?

When you’re printing a logo on a T-shirt or other promotional garments, you have a few choices. A common choice is between screen printing or a custom heat transfer. This leads to an obvious question: Which one is better? The answer, as with so many things in life, is it depends. When it comes to the screen printing vs. heat transfer debate, your decision depends on cost efficiency, image quality, and the finished logo’s durability. Here we’ll explore both custom screen printing and the custom heat transfer process and provide you with the information you need to make an informed choice between the two methods.

Screen Printing

Screen printing has its origins in China, where silk screening has been used to transfer images onto cloth since the 10th century. Custom screen printing uses a fine screen mesh to make a stencil. Ink is spread over the screen, passing through the mesh to make contact with the underlying fabric.

Only one color can be used per screen, so a multi-colored logo or image needs multiple screens to create a finished product. Custom T-shirt screen printing produces images that maintain their color for a long time, as the ink has permeated the fabric.

Custom Heat Transfer Designs

A custom heat transfer works through a combination of heat and pressure. You can choose from two types of custom heat transfer: vinyl and digital.

Vinyl heat transfer, the more established method, uses vinyl letters and designs cut by machine and assembled into the desired configurations. The vinyl pieces are transferred to cloth using a heat press that produces high amounts of pressure.

Digital heat transfer, in comparison, uses solvent ink to print logos and letters onto specially designed heat transfer paper. This allows the entire design to be transferred at once in the heat press, reducing the amount of materials and time needed to complete it.

​Screen Printing vs. Heat Transfer

While both screen printing and heat presses produce excellent T-shirt transfers, designs made with the two processes have some significant differences. With a custom screen printing, the ink lays lighter on the fabric, creating more durable, longer-lasting images. Images produced by heat transfer, in contrast, are bonded to the top layer of fabric with a thicker layer of ink. Because a heat transfer image sits atop the fabric, it is susceptible to fading and cracking over time and does not stand up to machine washing as well as a screen-printed image.

Does this mean screen printing is the superior option? Not necessarily. Due to the need for separate screens for each image color, screen printing is best suited for simple designs that use only a few colors. The set-up process is more time-consuming than a heat transfer, which means heat transfers are more cost efficient for small quantities while screen print becomes more cost efficient with larger quantities.

In contrast, a custom heat transfer allows you to print multiple colors at once. The ability to switch out different designs and letters makes it easier to customize individual shirts. The process allows you to use complex designs, including photo replication, that would be more difficult and less photo-realistic with custom screen printing. Heat transfers provide better resolution than screen prints, but are less cost-efficient for larger quantities.

T-shirt Heat Press vs. Screen Printing

The factors to consider when determining whether to use custom heat transfer or screen printing for T-shirt transfers include design complexity, color, durability, fabric choices, and the size of your order. Here’s a breakdown of when to use a T-shirt heat press vs. screen printing.

Use custom screen printing if:

• Your logo is simple and includes bright colors?
• Your target audience values high-quality, long-lasting apparel?
• You want to maintain the soft feel of a Tri-blend shirt or similar garment?
• You’re printing simple logos on dark materials?
• You want the finished product to withstand machine washing well?
• You have a large order to fill?
• All shirts will have the same logo, lettering, and other decorations

Use custom heat transfers (vinyl or digital) if:

• You’re making a small order, or need to make frequent small orders?
• You need to transfer an intricate image with three or more colors?
• You need to individualize each transfer, such as different numbers and names for team uniforms?
• Your audience values environmentally-friendly products (screen printing uses more chemicals than heat transfers)?
• You need high-quality images for short-term use