How it's printed is part of the product.
Some platforms pick the method behind the scenes. We don't: the size of the run decides it, the rule is the same for every release, and your buyers read it before they pay.
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The run decides the method: 24 and up are screen printed.
24 or more garments in a run are screen printed on a manual press. Fewer are DTF printed. Same shop, same printer checking your file either way — and buyers read exactly this before they pay. A run that comes up short still prints — DTF instead of screen print — and every buyer gets their order. The method never changes what buyers pay, or what you keep per garment.
- $0to open a store
- 24in a run and it's screen printed by hand
- 3–5business days to ship a print-on-demand order
- 6ink colours on a screen-printed run of 40+
Screen print and DTF, compared.
| Question | Screen print | DTF |
|---|---|---|
| When | 24 or more compatible garments in a run | Fewer than 24 in a run — from a single order |
| How it's made | Pulled by hand on a manual press. Plastisol or water-based ink — the hand people recognise. | Direct-to-film transfer: full colour, made to order one at a time, pressed by hand. |
| Colours | Up to 2 ink colours from 24 garments, up to 6 from 40 | Full colour, gradients and photos |
| Inks and film | Monarch plastisol and Matsui water-based & discharge inks | Printed transfer film, heat-pressed onto the garment |
| What a run is | In a campaign, the run is everything sold before it closes. | On demand, the run is each day's orders for your release. |
| Checked by a printer | Yes — confirmed against your artwork's colours before it goes on press | Yes — every production file is reviewed before it prints |
| What buyers see | The rule, on the release page, before they pay | The same rule, on the same page |
One shop, both methods.
Both methods run in ARK Screen Printing's shop in Colorado Springs, CO — screen print on 6-colour manual presses, DTF on a heat press — and the same printer checks your file either way.
Questions about printing.
Screen print or DTF — who decides?
The run does. 24 or more garments in a run are screen printed on a manual press; fewer are DTF printed. In a campaign the run is everything sold before it closes; on demand it's each day's orders for your release.
Screen printing takes up to 2 ink colours from 24 garments and up to 6 from 40. A design that needs more prints DTF in full colour, and the printer confirms it against your artwork before it goes on press. Buyers read this rule before they pay, and the method never changes what they're charged.
What if a campaign sells fewer than 24?
It still prints — DTF instead of screen print — and every buyer gets their order. Nobody is refunded for a run that came up short, and what you keep per garment doesn't change.
Do you review designs?
Yes — every release, before it goes on sale. A printer checks the production file, placement and colours, and either approves it or tells you what to change. You choose whether an approved release launches straight away, on a date, or when you press Launch.
What artwork do I need?
A file that prints well at the size you place it: a PNG with a transparent background at 300 pixels per inch at print size works best, and vector artwork is welcome. The Studio checks resolution as you size the art, and a printer reviews the production file before a release goes live.
Make something worth printing.
Open a free store, design a release and see how it would print before anything goes on sale.
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