DTG printing has no minimum order. You can print one shirt, and that is a real advantage. But no minimum does not mean DTG is always the right choice. At higher quantities, screen printing produces a lower cost per shirt, more durable prints, and better results on certain fabrics. Choosing between the two comes down to four things: quantity, design complexity, fabric type, and how you plan to use the shirts.
This guide answers that question with real numbers, not vague ranges.
What Is No Minimum DTG Printing?
No minimum DTG printing means a print shop will run a direct-to-garment order of any size, including a single shirt, without a screen setup fee. The printer reads your design file digitally and sprays water-based CMYK inks directly onto the fabric through precision printheads. Each shirt is printed independently, which is why there is no minimum. The setup time per design is measured in seconds, not hours.
NW Custom Apparel runs DTG printing from our Milton, WA facility with no minimum order and a standard 48-hour turnaround. For urgent orders, our production system supports same-day fulfillment on qualifying orders through our “In by 10 AM, Out by 5 PM” workflow — a system built around RIP software automation, pre-positioned SanMar inventory access, and in-house printing on industrial DTG equipment.
For a full breakdown of how that same-day system works, including the US Marine Corps graduation order we fulfilled in one day, see how we fulfilled a same-day DTG order for a Marine Corps graduation.
The Cost Difference Between DTG vs Screen Printing by Quantity
That’s what determines which method to choose. The math is straightforward once you understand that screen printing has a fixed setup cost that gets spread across the order, while DTG has no setup cost but a higher consistent cost per piece.
Single DTG-printed shirts typically cost between $15 and $30, while ordering in bulk can lower the price to around $8–$12 per shirt.
Here is the NW Custom Apparel Quantity Decision Table for a standard 2-color logo design on a light cotton t-shirt:
| Order Quantity | DTG Cost Per Shirt (approx.) | Screen Printing Cost Per Shirt (approx.) | Better Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 piece | $20–$30 | Not viable (setup cost exceeds value) | DTG |
| 6 pieces | $18–$25 | $18–$25 (setup amortized across 6) | DTG or equal |
| 12 pieces | $15–$20 | $12–$16 | Screen printing |
| 24 pieces | $12–$16 | $8–$11 | Screen printing |
| 48 pieces | $10–$14 | $6–$9 | Screen printing |
| 72+ pieces | $9–$12 | $5–$7 | Screen printing |
Costs are approximate and vary by garment, design complexity, ink colors, and supplier. Dark garments add $3–$6 per piece to DTG cost due to white underbase and pretreatment requirements.
The breakeven point for most standard orders sits between 6 and 12 pieces. Below 12 pieces, DTG is almost always the more cost-effective option. Above 24 pieces, screen printing wins on per-piece cost for simple designs with 1–3 colors. Screen printing, on the other hand, typically involves higher setup costs and minimum order requirements, so it is better for large, one-time orders rather than on-demand production.
When Is No Minimum DTG Printing Worth It?
When you need fewer than 12 shirts
This is the clearest case for DTG. Screen printing setup fees run $25–$45 per screen per color. A 2-color design means $50–$90 in fixed setup costs before a single shirt is printed. Across 6 shirts, that is $8–$15 per shirt in setup alone before ink, garment, or labor. DTG has no setup fee, which makes it dramatically cheaper per piece at low quantities.
When your design has unlimited colors, gradients, or photographic detail
Screen printing assigns a separate screen to each color in your design. A 7-color design requires 7 screens, 7 setups, and 7 registration passes. Cost scales directly with color count. DTG uses CMYK digital printing, which means unlimited colors, smooth gradients, photographic images, and complex artwork all print at the same cost as a simple 2-color logo. DTG technology uses specialized inkjet printers to apply water-based inks directly onto fabrics without stencils or screens, making it ideal for small batches or one-off custom designs.
If your design has shadows, gradients, or more than 4 colors, DTG produces better results at lower setup cost regardless of quantity.
When every shirt needs a unique design or personalization
Screen printing prints the same design on every garment in the run. Changing the design mid-run requires new screens and a new setup. DTG reads each design independently from a digital file, which means you can print 12 shirts with 12 different names, numbers, or designs in a single run at no additional cost per variation. This makes DTG the only practical option for personalized orders — team jerseys with individual names, memorial shirts with individual photos, employee gifts with personalized messages.
When you need same-day or next-day turnaround
Screen printing setup — creating films, burning screens, mixing inks, registering the press — takes hours. DTG requires minutes of file processing through RIP software before the first shirt prints. For urgent orders with a same-day deadline, DTG is the only viable option for most shops. At NW Custom Apparel, our same-day production system is built specifically around DTG’s rapid setup capability. Screen printing rush orders are possible but uncommon because the setup time cannot be compressed below a certain threshold regardless of urgency.
When you are testing a design before committing to a bulk run
Many Washington businesses use DTG to print 3–5 shirts for team or client approval before placing a screen printing order of 50–200 pieces. This hybrid approach catches design problems, color issues, and sizing errors before they affect a large bulk run. The cost of 5 DTG shirts for a proof is almost always lower than the cost of reprinting 50 screen-printed shirts because of an undetected error.
When Is Bulk Screen Printing the Better Choice?
When you are ordering 24 or more shirts with a simple design
Screen printing becomes the cost winner above approximately 12–24 pieces for designs with 1–4 colors. Once the screens are burned and the press is set up, printing runs at 600–1,200 shirts per hour on an automatic press. The setup cost gets divided across a large quantity, which is where screen printing’s economics work in the buyer’s favor.
For Washington businesses ordering crew shirts, event shirts, or uniform programs in quantities of 24 or more, screen printing delivers a meaningfully lower per-piece cost than DTG for straightforward logo designs.
For details on screen printing minimum orders and how to plan a bulk run, see screen printing minimum order quantities for Washington businesses.
When you need the most durable print for heavy-use garments
The industry standard is 50 washings, and both DTG and screen printing with water-based ink will exceed it. However, screen printing with plastisol ink — the standard ink used in most commercial screen printing — bonds a PVC layer to the fabric that survives significantly more wash cycles than water-based DTG ink. For work uniforms, safety shirts, and garments washed weekly, screen printing with plastisol ink is the more durable decoration method over a 12–18 month garment lifespan.
DTG-printed garments can last for up to 50 wash-and-wear cycles with proper care. Direct-to-garment designs are strong and durable, but not quite as durable as a high-quality screen print. Screen-printed items can last for decades without fading.
When your garment is not 100% cotton
DTG works best on 100% cotton or high-cotton blends (80% cotton or more). Cotton’s natural fibers absorb water-based DTG ink cleanly, which produces vibrant, durable prints. Polyester and synthetic fabrics repel water-based ink, which causes dye migration, faded prints, and poor wash durability on DTG. Screen printing with plastisol ink performs well across cotton, polyester, and blended fabrics.
If your garment is 50% or more polyester such as performance shirts, athletic wear, hi-vis polyester safety shirts, screen printing or DTF printing will produce better results than DTG.
See how DTF printing works differently from DTG for polyester fabric orders
What About Dark Shirts? How Does That Change the Math?
Dark-colored shirts significantly increase the cost and production time for DTG, which affects the breakeven calculation.
Printing on a white or light-colored shirt with DTG requires only CMYK inks. Printing on a dark shirt requires an additional step: applying a white ink underbase beneath the color layers so the design colors remain vibrant and do not blend with the dark fabric. This white underbase requires pretreatment of the fabric before printing, which adds a step, adds cost, adds time, and can add visible fringe marks on the fabric if not applied correctly.
The practical result: DTG on a black or dark-colored shirt costs $3–$6 more per piece than DTG on a white shirt, and takes longer to produce. The breakeven point between DTG and screen printing shifts lower for dark garment orders — to around 6–8 pieces rather than 12.
For dark-shirt orders of 8 pieces or more, screen printing is often the more cost-efficient choice unless the design has more than 4 colors or gradients that DTG handles better.
What If Your Fabric Is Polyester? Use DTF Instead
Neither DTG nor screen printing is ideal for all polyester fabrics. DTG ink is water-based and polyester repels water, which causes inconsistent results and poor wash durability. Screen printing on polyester works but dye migration, when the polyester fabric’s dye bleeds into the ink, is a consistent risk.
Direct to Film printing (DTF) solves this problem. DTF prints your design onto a film, applies powdered adhesive, and heat-presses the result onto virtually any fabric including 100% polyester, nylon, and poly-cotton blends. DTF has no minimum order, produces no-minimum small runs exactly like DTG, and performs cleanly on fabrics where DTG underperforms.
For Washington businesses with polyester performance shirts, hi-vis safety shirts, or moisture-wicking athletic wear, DTF is the right method for small to medium orders without fabric compatibility trade-offs. See DTF printing for orders on polyester and mixed-fabric garments.
The NW Custom Apparel Same-Day DTG Case Study: US Marine Corps Graduation
In early 2019, a group of US Marine corporals completing their graduation school needed custom T-shirts same day. The design was finalized in the morning. The challenge: the requested color, Marine Corps green was not standard inventory.
Our art department, led by Randy Fountain, processed the high-resolution design file through our RIP software in minutes, adjusting color density and generating the white underbase layer for the garment color. Our SanMar supply chain integration gave us real-time inventory access across the Pacific Northwest, and we confirmed stock and arranged delivery of the Marine Corps green blanks before 10 AM. The shirts were printed, cured, and ready by 5 PM the same day.
This case demonstrates what “no minimum DTG” means in operational terms: a single design, non-standard color, same-day production, no setup delay, no minimum quantity requirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. DTG printing at NW Custom Apparel has no minimum order. One shirt is a valid order.
DTG is almost always cheaper for orders under 12 pieces because screen printing setup fees ($25–$45 per screen per color) make small runs disproportionately expensive on a per-piece basis.
For most standard designs with 1–3 colors on light-colored cotton shirts, screen printing becomes the more cost-effective option at approximately 12–24 pieces. For dark garments, the crossover happens earlier, around 6–8 pieces, because of the added DTG cost for white underbase and pretreatment.
Not reliably. DTG ink is water-based and polyester fabric repels water, which causes poor color vibrancy and weak wash durability. DTF printing is the better option for polyester and synthetic fabrics. NW Custom Apparel offers both DTG and DTF with no minimums.
DTG prints last 40–50 wash cycles with proper care like cold water, inside-out washing, and air dry. Screen printing with plastisol ink lasts longer. For garments washed frequently, such as workwear, screen printing is the more durable option for long-term programs.
Standard DTG turnaround is 48 hours. Same-day DTG printing is available on qualifying orders through our “In by 10 AM, Out by 5 PM” production system. Contact us before ordering to confirm same-day availability.
100% cotton, ring-spun cotton, and combed cotton produce the best DTG results. High-cotton blends (80% cotton or more) also work well with pretreatment. Polyester and synthetic fabrics are not recommended for DTG. See our detailed guide on best fabrics for DTG printing.
The Right Method for Your Order
The decision is not DTG vs screen printing – it is quantity, design, and fabric.
Use DTG at NW Custom Apparel when you need fewer than 12 shirts, a complex or full-color design, personalized prints per piece, fast turnaround, or a sample run before a bulk order.
Use screen printing when you need 24 or more shirts, a simple 1–4 color design, maximum print durability, or the lowest possible per-piece cost at volume. See bulk screen printed t-shirts for Washington teams and businesses.
For polyester garments at any quantity, use DTF. For a side-by-side comparison of all three methods across more scenarios, see DTG vs DTF vs screen printing: which method is right for your order.
For DTG printing services in Washington state with no minimum orders, contact NW Custom Apparel at 1-800-851-3671 or sales@nwcustomapparel.com.
