Modern Screen Printing: A ‘Gold Standard’ for Apparel Decorators
With the advent of digital printing technologies, some people speculate whether screen printing is dead, but the modernization of one of the oldest printing methods proves it’s anything but...
Above background photo: M&R Printing Equipment
The age of digital is upon us. Truthfully, it’s been upon us in the apparel decorating industry for a number of years now, with the advent of direct-to-garment (DTG) printing defining digital in this industry. And as DTG became a more viable decorating technology, some in the industry started whispering that screen printing might be dead.
The fact was and still is, DTG did not kill screen printing.
Currently, direct-to-film (DTF) printing is experiencing its day in the sun. It is the darling of the apparel decorating space. And with its emergence, many are again speculating: Is screen printing dead?
Backpedal a few centuries to when screen printing first made its debut in the world, and you’ll understand that not only has screen printing proved for hundreds of years that it isn’t dead, but it is a thriving printing technology. With advancements in software, automation, and design, screen printing continues to prove its place in this industry is as solid as ever.
Standing on its Laurels
The biggest benefit screen printing offers to apparel decoration lies in its capability to handle high-volume orders at a low price point. “For large-scale promotional apparel, event merchandise, and retail collections, being able to produce garments at lower costs is advantageous,” Taylor Landesman, vice president of Lawson Screen & Digital Products, points out. That might be stating the obvious, but in a world that demands high quality at a fair price, it's one of things that makes screen printing desirable these days.
“It remains to this day the most inexpensive solution for bulk printing,” agrees Ross Hunter, president/partner at ROQ.US. “It’s always going to have a place in quantity and quality.” He adds that in addition to those benefits, it’s also an art form, which almost always creates desire among consumers.
“Screen printing remains popular because of its blend of creativity with hands-on craftsmanship,” says Landesman. “Whether you are approaching it from an arts background or from a commercial perspective, the process is tactile and satisfying. It offers endless possibilities with colors, textures, and specialty effects like metallics or puff prints.”
The versatility of screen printing is something Cody Corsano of M&R Printing Equipment calls attention to. “If you’re able to push the ink through the screen, you can print anything you want,” he believes. And by anything, he means high-quantity jobs to different designs, fabric types, and even budgets.
Of equal importance are other things screen printing can do that some technologies like DTG or DTF cannot. “Screen printing offers color vibrancy and opacity that is harder to reproduce with digital methods like DTF and DTG,” Landesman says. “This is especially true of white ink on dark garments, and with spot colors. Screen printing is also better with special effects like glitter, foil, and raised textures. … It offers better longevity, resisting fading and cracking through numerous washes.”
But Hunter emphasizes that while it might excel in some areas, it’s important to understand that in this modern apparel decorating world, shops that offer only screen (or only digital, for that matter) will fail. What makes all of these technologies “modern” is the ability for them to coexist. “At the end of the day those that survive are the ones that do it all,” he states. “They are the leaders, the ones that understand they need all of the technologies to maximize their profits. They can evaluate which situation requires which technology.”
Bringing a Dynasty to Modern Day Apparel Decorating
Now that it’s clear that to survive in today’s apparel decoration industry you need to be a versatile shop that embraces multiple technologies, let’s focus in on some of the updates that are being made to one of the oldest methods out there.
Everywhere you turn, apparel decorators are trying to find ways to automate systems and create efficiencies, all while saving money. And for those naysayers who claim screen printing doesn’t do that, our sources point out that’s not true.
“Modern screen printing has embraced automation and digital integration, resulting in faster production with reduced labor costs,” Landesman explains. “One of the most recent advancements has come in the screen room through computer-to-screen (CTS) and automatic reclaim and developing of screens.”
Hunter says screen-printing OEMs are constantly at work to keep their technology up to speed with modern demands. “We need to continue to eliminate the labor out of the process, make it more efficient, and easier to manage,” he believes. “We’re working on connecting our equipment via software so business owners can better understand the time involved in a job, where they’re making money, and where they’re losing money.”
Many of those updates that are already available have given the operator more control over the machine as well as how to print, notes Corsano. “I think the ability to have more control over the printing process allows for the printer to achieve [the] dynamic wants of the customer,” he says.
Hunter highlights how ROQ.US considers this modern business perspective as an example. “We provide gateways on our machines to access software to pull out KPIs to push and pull data,” he says. “We’re now developing software that can help us modernize data gaps. People need to understand the health of a business, and implementing software will help with that right now.”
Hunter believes one of the unfortunate aspects of the current apparel decorating industry climate is a race to the bottom in pricing. There are a variety of factors that play into this mindset, including not evaluating business and customer needs. “It’s tough because a lot of us get caught up in the race to the bottom, but if we have a better understanding of our business, we can move away from that,” he explains. In certain scenarios, screen printing helps alleviate this problem.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean decorators should charge the highest prices, nor that they should ignore the most cost-effective way to produce an order. When it comes to high-volume orders, printing across a variety of garments, or achieving special-effects printing, Landesman feels screen printing is still the shining star when it comes to cost. “Screen printing is more effective for large-scale orders due to its reduced cost per unit with higher volumes,” he points out. Coupled with advancements in the technology itself, modern screen printing is still very viable for decorators.
However, advancements in any technology, screen printing or otherwise, are only as good as the shop that evaluates all business facets of running an apparel decorating shop in 2025. “A well-rounded shop offers many different methods for garment decorating, either in-house or through a contract printer who specializes in one of the other methods,” believes Landesman.
“All the technologies need to live in harmony,” Hunter emphasizes. “Get educated on business, not just the technology. It’s important to diversify your business, don’t chase what is perceived as new and hot as the only way to do something. … Read books, talk to peers outside of the industry, understand what’s happening in retail and fashion. The more educated we are on our business practices, the more able we’ll be to resolve our problems.”
That education includes not getting trapped thinking screen printing is dead. As the industry continues to modernize, screen printing will always stand as one of the most reliable decorating methods. As Corsano likes to put it: “It’s the gold standard.”