Screen Printing: The Industry Standard for Volume
Screen printing delivers vibrant, durable prints at scale. The go-to method for bulk orders, uniforms, and merch.
Screen printing has been the workhorse of apparel decoration for decades. It accounts for over 60% of all custom garment decoration worldwide.
How It Works
1. **Artwork separation** — Each color in the design is separated into its own layer
2. **Screen creation** — A mesh screen is coated with emulsion and exposed with UV light, creating a stencil
3. **Setup** — Screens are mounted on the press, and ink is applied to each screen
4. **Printing** — A squeegee forces ink through the mesh onto the garment — one screen per color
5. **Curing** — The garment passes through a dryer to cure the ink permanently
Best Applications
- Large quantities (50-10,000+ pieces)
- Simple designs with 1-6 colors
- Solid colors and spot colors
- Event merchandise and uniforms
- Bulk orders for e-commerce brands
Cost Breakdown (500 pieces)
| Item | Cost |
|-----|------|
| Screen setup (per color) | $25-50 |
| Per-piece print (1 color) | $2-4 |
| Per-piece print (4 colors) | $3-6 |
| Per-piece print (6 colors) | $4-8 |
Why Screen Printing Still Dominates
For quantities over 50 pieces, screen printing offers the best cost-per-piece of any method. The inks are thicker and more durable than digital methods. Colors are vibrant and last the lifetime of the garment.
At BOAZ, our production lines handle screen printing up to 6 colors with precision registration. We print on our own blanks for consistent quality from fabric to finished product.
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