DTF vs Screen Printing for Workwear: Which Should You Choose?

If you're getting workwear branded, you'll usually be choosing between two decoration methods: digital (DTF) printing and screen printing. They both put your logo on a garment, but they cost and behave very differently — especially at the quantities most tradies and small businesses order.

What is DTF printing?

DTF (direct-to-film) is modern full-colour printing. Your design is printed onto a film and heat-pressed onto the garment. Because there's no screen to make, there are no setup fees and no minimum — you can do a single shirt or fifty, and full-colour or gradient logos come out clean and vibrant.

What is screen printing?

Screen printing pushes ink through a stencil (a 'screen'), one screen per colour. It gives a classic, hard-wearing finish and gets very cheap per unit at high volume. The catch is setup: each colour needs its own screen, so there's a one-off setup cost and it only makes sense above a minimum (we set ours at 20 units).

Which is cheaper?

For most orders, DTF is the simpler pick — no setups to absorb across a small run. Screen printing pulls ahead on big volumes of simple, few-colour designs, where the setup cost spreads thin and the per-print price drops right down.

So a crew of 10 hi-vis polos with a two-colour logo? DTF. Five hundred event tees with a one-colour print? Screen printing.

Durability and feel

Both last well when done properly. Screen printing has that classic printed feel and is extremely durable. DTF is slightly softer and handles detail and colour better. On workwear that gets thrashed and washed constantly, either will hold up — the choice is really about colour, detail and quantity.

The bottom line for tradies

For the typical tradie or small-business order — small runs, a logo or two, wanting it fast — digital print (DTF) is almost always the right call: no minimum, no setup fees, full colour, quick turnaround. Save screen printing for the big simple runs.