SAY Yes to the PRESS! Why More Shops Are Turning (Back) to Screen Printing

Direct-to-film (DTF) printing has been one of the biggest stories in garment decoration over the past few years. It's flexible, it handles full-color artwork beautifully, and it lets shops print on cotton, polyester, blends, and more without much setup.

But as more shops lean on DTF for everything, many are noticing a problem: they're paying full-color prices for one-color jobs.

A simple black logo on a white shirt. A single-color team name. A one-color event tee. These are some of the most common orders in the industry, and for these jobs, DTF often isn't the most cost-effective choice.

Why DTF Gets Expensive on Simple Designs

DTF costs work a little differently than many people expect. Every transfer uses the same consumables, whether the design is a detailed photo or a simple block of text:

• Film for every print
• Ink, including the white underbase layer
• Adhesive powder
• Time to print, powder, cure, and press each transfer individually

That means the cost per piece stays roughly the same whether you're printing 10 shirts or 500. There's no real price break as the order grows. For a one-color design, you're paying for a process built for complex, multi-color art, and you're not getting the benefit of it.

As order volume increases, those per-piece costs start to add up quickly. Many shops are now asking: Is there a better way to handle simple one-color work?

Screen Printing: Built for One-Color Jobs

Screen printing has been the go-to method for one-color apparel for decades, and for good reason.

With screen printing, most of the cost is in the setup: making the screen. Once the screen is ready, every additional print costs very little. Ink is inexpensive, and an operator can print one-color designs quickly.

That creates a very different cost picture:

• DTF: cost per piece stays about the same, no matter the quantity
• Screen printing: cost per piece drops as the quantity grows

For one-color designs, screen printing has another advantage: only one screen is needed. There's no color registration to manage and minimal setup on press. It's the simplest, fastest kind of screen print job there is.

Other benefits shops see

• Durability. Screen-printed ink becomes part of the garment and holds up well wash after wash.
• Feel. One-color screen prints can feel softer and lighter than a transfer sitting on top of the fabric.
• Repeat orders. Screens can be saved and reused for customers who reorder the same design.
• Lower consumable costs. No film, no powder, and far less ink per print.

"But Making Screens Is Time-Consuming"

This is the most common reason shops move away from screen printing. Traditional screen making involves printing a film positive, coating a screen with emulsion, drying it, exposing it, washing it out, and drying it again. That's a lot of steps, equipment, and labor for a single one-color job.

That's where digital screen making changes the equation.

With a computer-to-screen system like the GOCCOPRO Digital Screen Maker from RISO Screen & Digital Products, the screen is created directly from your digital artwork using RISO's dry thermal technology. There's no film to print, no emulsion to coat, and no washout booth needed to make the screen.

For a one-color job, that means you can go from artwork to a press-ready screen with far less time and hands-on work. It removes the biggest barrier that pushed many shops toward DTF in the first place.

When to Use DTF, and When to Use Screen Printing

The smartest shops don't choose one method over the other. They use each where it makes the most sense.

DTF is a great fit for:

• Full-color or photographic artwork
• Very small quantities or one-offs
• Designs with many colors or gradients

Screen printing is a great fit for:

• One-color or simple spot-color designs
• Medium to large quantities
• Repeat orders
• Jobs where cost per piece matters most

By moving one-color work to screen printing, shops can lower their production costs, offer more competitive pricing, and save DTF for the jobs it handles best.

The Bottom Line

DTF isn't going anywhere, and it shouldn't. But for simple one-color designs, many decorators are realizing they've been paying more than they need to. Screen printing offers a lower cost per piece, a durable finish, and easy repeat orders, and with digital screen making, getting a screen ready is simpler than ever.

If you're printing one-color designs with DTF today, it may be time to take a fresh look at screen printing.

Learn more about the GOCCOPRO Digital Screen Maker and see how digital screen making can help your shop handle one-color jobs faster and more affordably.