Fabric printing is an increasingly popular way for manufacturers to decorate clothing. Not everyone realises that it’s possible to order personalised garments with a design of your choosing. Find out what fabric printing costs and what factors influence the final price.
Who Carries Out Fabric Printing?
To get a garment with a custom print, you’ll need to place an order in advance. This means finding a print shop that offers this service. It’s worth choosing an established business that specialises in this kind of work on a daily basis — printing on fabric can be a secondary activity for some suppliers, which often leads to lower quality results. For professional fabric printing, it’s far better to commission a print shop with proven expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, and many years of industry experience. This ensures that the finished products are of the highest quality, with every detail of the embroidered design given the attention it deserves.
What Determines the Cost of Fabric Printing?
The quality of the branding and the end result naturally depend on the expertise of the person doing the work — which means the reputation of the print shop matters a great deal when it comes to pricing. Keep in mind that in this area, investing in the product upfront pays off: it’s far more cost-effective to spend a bit more at the beginning than to pay for corrections, reprints, or entirely new work later. Several other factors also influence the cost of garment branding.
Type of Fabric
The fabric being printed on affects what results are achievable — not every material supports multi-colour designs. It’s worth noting that the higher the quality of the garment, the more durable the branding will be. When choosing a garment, it’s a good idea to ask the print shop which fabric types they recommend most.
Print Size
Most people appreciate that print size has a significant impact on the final price of an embroidered garment. This relates not only to the time required to complete the work, but also to the quantity of thread used.
Design Complexity
The more complex the design, the higher the cost of applying it to a garment. This also ties in with the expertise of the person doing the work — they need to have the knowledge required to select the most appropriate branding method for each individual design.
Branding Method
Several different methods exist for printing on fabrics. The specific technique is chosen to match the material being printed on and the complexity of the design. Available methods include:
- screen printing — an effective method for large, flat surface areas,
- digital printing — carried out using an embroidery machine; an exceptionally durable and stylish personalisation method,
- DTG — Direct-To-Garment printing allows direct branding of the fabric with excellent colour accuracy and smooth tonal transitions,
- sublimation — an exceptionally precise colouring method, perfectly suited to multi-coloured graphic designs,
- flex film — the ideal solution for simple graphics such as text, numbers, or logos consisting of one or a few colours with no tonal gradients.
Fabric Printing — How Much Does It Cost?
As mentioned above, the cost of fabric printing depends on several important factors. Keep in mind that the price includes not only the branding process itself, but very often the garment too. Print shops typically display a base price for each item, and the final price is confirmed once the client provides the specific design they want applied. When searching for the right place to have your clothing printed, let professional quality guide your decision — not just an attractive price.
