Screen Printing Canada

Our minimum is 12 pieces for screen printing. Below that, the per-colour screen setup fees don’t pencil out — we’ll usually recommend DTG or DTF for 1–11 piece orders. Setup costs are the same whether you’re running 12 shirts or 500, so screen printing gets much cheaper per unit as quantity goes up.

For a 1-colour front print on a Gildan 5000 at 48 pieces, expect $14–18 each including the shirt. A 6-colour front print at 24 pieces is closer to $22–28. Screen setup is $20–40 per colour per location and is included in our combined unit price — you’ll see one number, not a pile of itemized fees. Quantity and colour count are the two biggest price drivers.

Screen printing lays down ink through a mesh stencil one colour at a time — most durable, cheapest at volume, but has setup fees per colour. DTG (direct-to-garment) inkjets full-colour designs onto cotton — no setup, great for small batches and photo-realistic art, but limited to cotton and high-cotton blends. DTF (direct-to-film) heat-presses a full-colour transfer onto any fabric — vivid colour, no setup, slightly thicker hand than screen print. We’ll recommend the right method for your design, fabric, and quantity.

Yes — we mix Pantone-matched inks to order on screenprinted orders at no extra charge. Send us the PMS codes when you submit artwork. Note that some fluorescent, metallic, and very light Pantones don’t print accurately on dark shirts without a white underbase, which adds one ink colour to your quote.

Standard production is 7–10 business days from artwork approval. Rush windows of 3–5 business days are available on most quantities for a rush fee that scales with volume. Orders over 500 pieces or designs with 5+ ink colours typically need the full window. We don’t quote 24-hour turnarounds we can’t actually hit.

Yes to all three. Plastisol is our default — durable, vibrant, works on any colour shirt. Water-based ink gives a softer hand that’s dyed into the fibres — great for vintage/fashion looks on 100% cotton, but can’t print white-on-dark cleanly. Discharge printing bleaches the shirt dye and replaces it with ink — incredibly soft, but only works on 100% cotton dark shirts. Ask for water-based or discharge if soft-hand fashion feel matters to you.

It depends on quantity and art. Screen printing wins on durability, colour vibrancy, and per-unit price at 24+ pieces with 1–4 solid colours. DTG wins on detailed photo-realistic designs, small batches under 24 pieces, and when you need full-colour gradients or halftones without per-colour setup. For a simple 2-colour logo on 100 shirts, screen printing; for a photo-realistic design on 15 shirts, DTG.

Yes. Dark shirts require a white underbase layer before the colour inks so the design stays vivid — this adds one ink colour to your quote. Some designs (like a black-and-red logo) don’t need an underbase if all ink colours are darker than the shirt. We’ll let you know what your artwork requires when we quote.

Yes. We offer metallic gold and silver, glitter (various colours), puff (raised 3D ink), glow-in-the-dark, reflective, and soft-hand water-based. Each specialty ink is priced as a standard ink colour on the quote. Not every effect works on every fabric — puff doesn’t sit well on knits, and metallics need a smooth base to reflect properly — we’ll flag any conflicts before production.

Roughly 24 pieces is the break-even for most 1–2 colour designs. Below that, DTG or DTF is almost always cheaper because there are no screen setup costs. Above 24 pieces with 4 or fewer colours, screen printing gets cheaper per unit fast. Above 100 pieces, screen printing beats every other method on cost.