What screen printing is good for

Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil onto the garment. Setting up that stencil takes work up front, but once it exists, running more pieces through it is fast and cheap. That is why screen printing is the standard choice for larger runs and why the per-piece price drops noticeably as the quantity goes up.

It suits bold, clean designs better than fine, photographic ones. Think a company name across the back of a crew shirt, a team logo on the front of a tee, an event design for a fundraiser or a 5K.

Where it works best

T-shirts and long sleeves — the most common use by a distance
Sweatshirts and hoodies — large front or back designs
Event and fundraiser runs — where quantity is high and the design is one-off
Crew and job-site shirts — durable, and cheap enough to reorder regularly

How the pricing works

We are not publishing a price list, because the right product and method depend on the job and quoting off a chart tends to be wrong in both directions. But the structure is simple and worth understanding before you ask:

The more pieces you order, the less each one costs. This is the big lever. The jump from a couple dozen shirts to a couple hundred changes the per-piece number substantially.
Each additional design or print location adds cost. A front print alone prices differently than front and back.
Screen printing carries a one-time setup charge per design. The first run of a design carries it. Reorders of that same design do not pay it again. This is a screen-printing charge specifically, not something that applies across every decoration method.

Worth planning around: if you know you will want the same shirt again next season, it is usually cheaper to set a design up once and reorder it than to redesign each time. On screen printing, that setup charge does not come back on repeat runs of the same design.

Screen printing or embroidery?

Rough rule: printing for large designs, lots of color and higher quantities on lighter garments. Embroidery for a polished, long-lasting finish on polos, hats, quarter-zips and outerwear. Plenty of orders use both, a printed tee for the crew and embroidered polos for whoever meets clients. If you are not sure, say so on the quote request and we will recommend a direction.

What we need from you

The smoothest orders start with a usable logo file. Vector artwork is best, which means a file ending in .ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg. A high-resolution .png with a transparent background or a large .jpg will usually work too.

If all you have is a logo pulled off your own website, a screenshot, or a photo of a business card, send it anyway. We will look at it and tell you honestly whether it will hold up or whether it needs to be cleaned up or rebuilt first. This is the single most common thing that holds an order up, and it is easier to sort out at the start than halfway through.

Turnaround

It depends on the item and the size of the run, but we are flexible and can usually work around a deadline as long as you tell us about it up front. If you have a date you need the gear by, say so on the quote request and we will tell you straight away whether it is workable.

Who we print for

Long Island businesses and trades outfitting crews, schools running spirit wear and program gear, nonprofits printing event shirts, teams and leagues kitting out players and parents, and gyms, studios and local brands selling merch their members actually want.

Screen printing on Long Island