Screen Printed Transfers vs Screen Printing: What's The Difference?

How does a screen printed transfer compare to a screen print from a hand-pulled squeegee or prints from a local screen printing shop? Whether you're looking to start screen printing, or starting a t-shirt business from home, this video is built to help you make the best decision for decorating apparel.
The screen printing industry has seen a boom in recent years and you can capitalize on it with high profit margins for both custom decorators and clothing brands.
We're dusting off the old squeegee to talk about different ways that you can screen print on apparel. We're not just comparing the finished results and durability, but we'll talk about the cost and profit margins, along with the equipment needs and time involved for each process.
Screen printing on apparel is by far the most popular way to put a graphic on a t-shirt, but from purchasing it from a local shop or printing yourself, there's some big pros and cons to each method.
Our first option up: Screen Printing yourself. This method involves several pieces of equipment: Screens, inks, stencil (or emulsion), squeegees and a method to cure your prints. You'll also need to have a spot to clean up the mess when you're done. While this method is best for larger runs (to justify the setup time) it is possible to print just a few shirts with this method.
If you're just getting started or training new employees, the learning curve to proper squeegee angle, pressure, off-contact, inks and more can be time consuming to learn. Couple that with print placement, sizing and positioning and it might be a few days or even weeks before you have a retail-ready print.
Want To Try Goof Proof Screen Printed Transfers Yourself? Learn More & Get Free Samples Here: www.transferexpress.com/heat-...
The second method we cover: Purchasing screen printing from a local print shop. Here the shop we used took care of all of the work for us and sent us some good looking plastisol prints, but we had a minimum order quantity of 48 to purchase, along with the highest cost (almost double of what it took us to produce ourselves!)
The third method: Using a heat press to print screen printed transfers. We used our Goof Proof Screen Printed transfers. Using the same plastisol inks that were printed with option #2, we had the flexibility to print any quantity from 6 and up, all with an application time of just 4-6 seconds. Allowing for effortless printing on demand, with the same quality from an automatic screen printing press.
Watch the full video and let us know what you think!
For more about storing your transfers (like Dave mentions) check out our full video here: • How Long Do Screen Pri...
00:00 Intro To Screen Printing T-Shirts
01:07 Screen Printing Pros & Cons
04:39 Outsourcing Screen Printing Pros & Cons
05:49 Screen Printed Transfers Pros & Cons
08:50 Screen Print vs Screen Print Transfer Quality
12:20 Turnaround and Costs
14:57 Printing On Demand & Fulfilment
16:10 Recap
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Design custom T-Shirts online for free (All you need is a free account):
www.transferexpress.com/designer
Thanks for watching! At Transfer Express, we appreciate your dedication to learning. Helping your T-Shirt Business grow is our number one priority. From quality screen printed transfers to tons of helpful heat printing tips, inspiration and application education we're always happy to help. Be sure to comment, like, and subscribe to our channel: bit.ly/TransferExpressSubscri...
You can find more information on advancing or starting your own t-shirt business at: transferexpress.com/
#Screenprinting #HowTo #printing
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[@peacefultyrant_]

Man, this gives me so much confidence to go out there and make a great career with my heat and hat presses. Thank you for an awesome video as always! 😊

[@transferexpress]

That's what we're all about! You've got us in your corner the whole way, always happy to help out!

[@boydriver2978]

Dave, do you have a video on how to go about using permanent cut vinyl as part of the process please for short runs, what's a short run to you and how many prints consist a short run please? Perhaps, if you don't have such a video, you might consider doing one as it seems a good way to mix with transfers. If you got this far, thanks for reading.

[@transferexpress]

Fantastic question! Depending on the colors in the design, I typically will reserve HTV for one-offs or for quantities 12 and under with single color, simple artwork (although I’ve even used screen printed transfers for orders as low as 6 (intricate and large prints with a left chest print on the same gang sheet) With the affordability of custom DTF transfers (outside of the colors of vinyl you don’t have stocked) I typically will use them even for those low quantity orders. Of course for specialty fabrics (nylon, etc) HTV may be a better choice. For many, it comes down to time, if you have the time to weed and cut, 100% maximize the profit on the order with HTV! Especially if you already have the equipment. If you’re pressed on the hours in your day, simplify with screen print transfers (perfect for when a client wants that plastisol print look & feel) or DTF.

[@jeremiascabarloc5642]

Can you do a full color simulation in a transfer print? And or CMYK?

[@transferexpress]

You can do simulated colors, but CMYK screen printing gives even the most experienced printers headaches (and in most cases will only be done on white shirts) Increased colors can get costly with screen printed transfers (and screen printing too)- For highly detailed artwork or full color prints, digital heat transfers like our UltraColor Max Direct to Film transfers are much more cost effective for decorating apparel with a heat press.

[@teesprintandapparel]

how are you using the heat press to cure? are you just hovering over the garment or applying pressure?

[@transferexpress]

For the screen printing section at 2:49, We followed curing instructions from the ink manufacturer for heat press settings, it was very light pressure, but it was closed. 320 degrees, 40 seconds. For the screen printed transfers we followed the application instructions for our Goof Proof Screen Printed Transfers, 365, 4 seconds, med-firm pressure.

[@whatskateshoesarethose]

Do you recommend pressing the garment a second time with the screen print transfer or will pressing it a second time mess up the transfer? I see a lot of people recommending DTF transfers being pressed twice to make sure it sticks, just wondering if you do the same with the plastisol transfer. Thanks!

[@transferexpress]

We do not recommend a second press with our screen printed or DTF transfers. When applied accurately to the instructions there is no need for a second press and could harm the print by over curing- leading to a brittle print prone to cracking. Single step application saves time and money giving you the printing efficiency we show here in this video. With our UltraColor Max DTF prints, the application is with a single-step hot peel, no need to cover and repress. With the other DTF transfers out there, there's a few reasons for that second press: 1. Many of those are cold peel DTF prints which do kind of lift at the edges with the first press, so a second is needed. 2. With cold peel plastic carriers you'll typically get a glossy shine to it, which doesn't look premium, so the second press with a coversheet helps to matte the print. 3. The adhesives are not applied or cured evenly and the print will fail with a single press. While a second press may help it "stick" most likely after several wash cycles the print will lift again.

[@TACDetective]

I subscribed - based on this video and the answer to my question on How to apply Goof Proof" - naive question, if waterbased SP is the sftst feel, is there a waterbasedSP transfer please?

[@transferexpress]

While water based screen printing ink does give you the softest hand feel you may be surprised by the hand feel of screen printed transfers like these goof proof transfers or the screen printed transfers from stahls.co.uk. We have offered water-based transfers in the past, and they're fantastic, however they are quite a bit more cost than typical screen printing. The big benefit of waterbased transfers is the adhesives to print on the tricky synthetic fabrics like spandex and nylon

[@SuchitraKaundinya]

What fabric is best for screen printing

[@transferexpress]

You can screen print on cotton, polyester and cotton/poly blends. Special care needs to be taken when decorating heat sensitive garments and using inks with cure temperatures that are safe (low enough) for the fabric.

[@Purchasing-k6d]

Can you use the transfers on 100% Cotton, or does it only adhere well with fabrics that have a percentage of synthetic material? Can you use a regular iron instead of a heat press?

[@transferexpress]

Yes, our goof proof screen printed transfers can apply to cotton, polyester & cotton/poly blended shirts on any fabric color. Learn more and get free samples here: www.transferexpress.com/heat-applied-transfers/goof-proof-screen-printed-transfers For best results, we don’t recommend applying with an iron. You’ll need a heat press to be able to achieve the accurate temperature, time and pressure settings for a professional printed result.

[@SuchitraKaundinya]

Can u pls tell me how to make screen printinh transfers?

[@transferexpress]

It's essentially the first process we showed in this video but even more complicated: Add some adhesive powder and gel the inks on the paper so they're not fully cured but dry to the touch. It's a fairly complicated process- much easier to purchase them ready to apply: www.transferexpress.com/heat-applied-transfers/screen-printed-transfers

[@floyd9050]

Do the transfers last as long as screen printing on t shirts

[@transferexpress]

Yup! When applied correctly (with a heat press at the correct time, temp and pressure settings) all of our transfers independently tested to 50+ wash cycles

[@damithchathuranga361]

What is the fabric of this t-shirt?

[@transferexpress]

Hi Damith, these are the Jerzees DRI-POWER 29MR 50/50's. 50% polyester, 50% cotton.

[@joyaclub]

Let’s be honest, even the best screen printed transfers won’t have the soft hand feel many are after when going the silkscreen route.

[@transferexpress]

We'll send you free samples for you to try yourself, you'll be seriously surprised: www.transferexpress.com/marketing-tools Sure, with a water-based or discharge screen print, you can achieve zero hand-feel on the garment with traditional screen printing. With the plastisol screen print we ordered from a print shop for comparison to the Goof Proof transfer to in this video, the heat transfer is by far much smoother and softer of a print on the garment. Just like water-based or any soft-hand techniques with screen printing, the more the garment is washed, the softer the print gets, but I would say these Goof Proof prints feel very similar before washing (where you can kind of feel the ink). As a screen printer myself (for 14+ years), mastering the water-based techniques are pretty hard (I never personally mastered it) and the shops that do it well charge accordingly, which doesn't make it economical. It's got quite the learning curve on top of learning the screen printing basics. I will say that I (Dave), thought my entire life was a lie the first time I tried a goof proof screen printed transfer after screen printing in my basement for 10+ years. I'll agree with you though, there's some screen printed transfers out there that feel stiff and thick, Goof Proof is neither of those. Try it and report back here on what you think!

[@dice268926]

Good video ❤ Next time please differentiate the names, screen printing, screen printing outsource, and heat transfer printing. Couldn't tell the difference which was. They're all print on demand, what do you mean?

[@transferexpress]

Thanks diceDiddy! When we were talking about each method we did put the print method in the upper left corner and when we reviewed each option I tried to mention what print process it was when talking about them. Hand-pulled screen print on the left, outsourced in the middle and screen print transfer on the right. For printing on demand that we mention we're talking about keeping the garment blank until the shirt is ordered for online stores- this reduces the financial risk of bulk runs if they're not pre-sold. Printing on demand is being able to produce any quantity, from 1+ quickly and efficiently while still maintaining a profit margin.

[@elevated-apparel]

Oh now let's be truthful here. The reason the waterbase ink cracked is cuz it was not cured right with a forceair conveyor dryer. Next the screenprint transfer does not feel as soft as the wastebase ink print cuz the waterbase print sinks into the garment. Where as the transfer and auto print sits on top of the shirt. Next the waterbase ink was not print flash print to get the brite color. Screenprint and screenprint transfers are the samething. It's just you print plastisol ink on the transfers paper vs directly to the garment. This video seems bias cuz its all screenprinted. Even the transfers are. Now the real difference is the way your talking is your using a screenprint business vs a person that don't have the equipment and just press wants to press transfers. It still takes us the exact sametime to make the plastisol transfer (screenprint transfer) as it would take to make a screen to print from. But they don't see that cuz they not there. No print shop is wasting time to print 6 transfers silkscreen. Another thing is only and I mean only a person that's going to think about screenprinting as a business needs all the equipment. If someone wanted to sell screenprint transfers they can just order transfers. Also you can heatpress the shirt done on the auto and it will feel exactly the same as the transfer cuz your melting the ink together.

[@transferexpress]

Hey Elevated Ink & Thread- I appreciate you weighing in here, we mainly wanted to show the finished results and differences with each method, in the end they're all screen printed. With the water based inks, I would completely agree- A print/flash/print and a conveyor dryer for final cure would lead to the best result, but that's thousands in equipment and we don't have the space in our studio to capture that on film (similar to many start up businesses in basements, garages or spare bedrooms). We did cure the inks to the specification of the ink manufacturer, with the recommended heat press settings. But for someone looking to get into apparel decorating it gives a basic primer of the process involved with screen printing. Like you mentioned, for those without screen printing equipment using plastisol transfers and a heat press is an excellent alternative to needing the space, knowledge and equipment for screen printing on apparel. For those with equipment already, I totally agree: knowing the process of how screen printed transfer are made I wouldn't encourage printing transfers yourself as it is extra steps compared to just printing directly on the fabric here- That's why we didn't include the process. I personally think we're crazy at Transfer Express with 6 minimum quantity for screen printed transfer sheets. In 13+ years of working in print shops I've never seen screens get burned and inked up for less than 24 pieces, but its all for helping apparel decorators of any size be able to offer quality decorating solutions that look, feel and wear without the setup, equipment, space, process or mess- all while still being able to match the market and still profit. For the hand feel, even coming from the screen printing world I was shocked with how soft the plastisol transfers feel on a garment. I've seen the use of the stampinator and/or a finish press with a heat press- but adding steps in any production environment slows down productivity to match a result that can achieved in just 4 seconds on a heat press.