How digital printing has overtaken screen printing for t-shirts

At Everything Vibrant, we provide digital fabric printing and transfers and stickers for promotional events. We don’t actually use screen printing for t-shirts, because digital printing is faster and cheaper and the result is a fabulous photo finish image.

The history of screen printing is quite interesting however, and you can still find people who provide this service, due to the attraction of its handmade finish. 

Screen printing history from China to Europe

Screen printing in its original form was first seen in China during the Song Dynasty (about a thousand years ago) and then it slowly moved into Japan and across Asia. It was first noted in Europe during the late 1700’s, and was mainly used to print designs and colours onto paper and linens or other fine fabrics.

It slowly started to gain popularity with local European artists, as an effective form of artistic expression and was patented in 1907 by Samuel Simon. Although it was not until the 1930’s that any profitable use was found for screen printing.

Recent history of screen printing

The 1960’s created the right environment for free expression and screen printing came into its own during this time. There were masses of screen printed t-shirts and posters created during the 60’s and screen printing remained a popular method of fabric printing until fairly recently.

Its demise has come about mainly due to technology and the advent of digital fabric printing. It is so quick and easy to upload a design to a PC and then print off as many transfers as you need. You no longer have to create stencils and wait while each layer of colour dries, before applying the next layer.

So as with many outdated items or processes, technology has overtaken screen printing and it is no longer seen as a cost effective form of fabric printing; screen printing t-shirts is no longer the booming business it was a few years ago.

At Everything Vibrant we specialise in digital fabric printing and we create t-shirt transfers and stickers for local businesses. So if you are interested in using promotional t-shirts and stickers in your next marketing campaign, call us on 07 3386 0536 or complete our online enquiry form.

Why is digital fabric printing more popular than screen printing in Brisbane?

At Everything Vibrant, we are biased, because we only provide digital fabric printing, we don’t provide screen printing in Brisbane. There is a very good reason for this however, and that is because digital fabric printing is much more popular than screen printing in Brisbane.

Why is that? Well there are 3 good reasons why digital fabric printing has taken over from screen printing:

1. Digital printing is faster: This method involves uploading your design to a PC and then printing a digital transfer onto a t-shirt using a special printer. Once your design is uploaded, all it takes is the click of a few buttons and your t-shirt transfer is done. Screen printing, on the other hand, requires individual stencils for each colour element and is very time consuming.

2. More complex designs: It doesn’t matter how complex your designs are with digital printing, because once uploaded, you are good to go. Digital printing is fabulous for really intricate designs, whereas screen printing requires far more simple designs, as the design is created using stencils. Digital printers can also incorporate lots of different colours and have a photo quality finish to the transfer. Screen printing is limited to only 3 or 4 colours and has a more handmade finish to the design.

3. Cost savings: Because it is so fast, digital fabric printing is also much cheaper, particularly when you only want a few t-shirts printed. On the other hand, screen printing is very involved and time consuming, due to all the work involved in creating the different stencils and is just not cost effective for a small batch of orders.

The drawcard for screen printing is that it does have a handmade appearance, which for many people is part of the attraction. For businesses however, who are looking for a cost-effective way to promote their products or services in Brisbane, screen printing does not fit the bill.

So if you are looking for digital fabric printing in Brisbane, call us on 07 3386 0536 or complete our online enquiry form.