Screen Printed vs. Embroidery Clothing: Is Embroidery or Print Best?

Screen Printed vs. Embroidery Clothing: Is Embroidery or Print Best?

 

It can be confusing to decide whether to choose a screen-printed vs. embroidered design for your next article of clothing. Both printing and embroidery can lead to outstanding results, but each has pros and cons. We hope this article will make your decision more manageable and your next piece of clothing pop.

The best way to start is to get informed on the upsides and downsides of both processes. We’ll give you the rundown and show you how to get the best-looking gear.

What Is the Difference between Screen Printing and Embroidery?

The main difference between embroidery and print is the transfer method to clothing. Embroidery uses a needle and thread to stitch a design onto a piece of fabric, creating a rigid and raised surface. Screen printing uses mesh screens to press ink directly into the article of clothing.

Finding the best method for you will depend on your goals for the specific project. The answer will depend on what’s most important to you. Are you looking to cut costs? Do you need to fulfill a large order? Under what time constraints are you working?

Asking questions like these to understand your overarching objective will help make your decision whether to use embroidery vs. print much more straightforward.

Throughout this article, we’ll help you think through your options and consider whether you should opt for one method over the other.

During your research, you may also come across discussions about printing DTG vs. embroidery. DTG (Direct-to-Garment) print method garments are dyed similarly to a computer printer. Sometimes people also use a combination of both embroidery and print in their designs. For this comparison, we’ll stick to elaborating on the two methods of screen printing and embroidery.

 

Screen Printed vs. Embroidered Comparison Chart

Here’s a visual guide to give you a general look at some of the main differences between embroidery and print. Each process in a category is given a score out of 10, and the scores are averaged together at the end for an overall rating.

 

Comparison	Screen printed	Embroidered	Winner
Pricing	7/10	8/10	Embroidered
Longevity	6/10	8/10	Embroidered
Large patterns	8/10	5/10	Screen printed
Heavy or more expensive fabrics	5/10	9/10	Embroidered
Thin fabrics	9/10	4/10	Screen printed
Color options	8/10	7/10	Screen printed
Turnaround time	6/10	7/10	Embroidered
Overall winner	7/10	7/10	Screen printed/embroidered

A Closer Look at the Embroidery vs. Screen Print Clothing Comparison Chart

Now that you’ve seen an overview and gotten a glimpse of the two methods, we’ll dig deeper into the rationale behind our embroidery vs. screen print guide.

Which Is Cheaper, Screen Printing or Embroidery?

The answer to this is tricky because the “cost” can have myriad meanings. For our purposes, it can be helpful to think about the cost-per-wear of a garment, which considers the expense over a more extended period.

The size of the design and the number of colors required will have the most significant impact on the overall cost of embroidery vs. printing.

 

Covering a large swatch of area will likely be more cost-effective with screen printing than embroidery, which would require lots of thread and stitching. The cost associated with embroidery often comes down to stitch count. However, embroidery will last longer for smaller designs, decreasing its cost-per-wear.

Winner: Overall, embroidered is the more cost-effective option for cost-per-wear, which we’ll discuss further in the next section.

Embroidery vs. Screen Print for Longevity and Durability

As we suggested before, embroidery lasts longer because it gets stitched into the fabric, which protects its colors from fading or cracking the way screen printing sometimes can. The nature of screen-printed designs is that they can fall victim to fading over time after may wear and spins in the washing machine or dryer.

Winner: Most embroidered designs will last longer than screen printer ones in terms of the number of wears.

Screen Printing vs. Embroidery for Large Patterns

It’s common to want a sizeable design on the back of a t-shirt, hoodie, or sweatshirt. If this is the case, it’s best to go for screen printing. Embroidering a large pattern will use a disproportionate number of resources, which screen printing handles more simply. Embroidery works better for smaller details such as logo designs.

Winner: Screen printing is optimal for completing projects requiring larger designs, like the back of the shirt, more efficiently.

Screen Print vs. Embroidery for Heavier and More Expensive Fabrics

Heavier and high-quality fabrics require a stronger bond between the material and design than what screen printing can usually provide. Embroidery offers a much more heavy-duty design structure on these more expensive fabrics, such as denim, fleece, or velvet. It also works well for something like an embroidered logo on a polo shirt.

The needle’s ability to work through more rigid fabrics makes embroidery a more desirable choice for items like hats, bags, and outerwear.

Winner: An embroidered decoration method works better for heavier and more expensive fabrics because a needle and thread will more easily penetrate the fabric than lying a screen on top of it can.

 

Embroidery vs. Screen Printing for Thinner Fabrics

Thinner fabrics like rayon and cotton blends can benefit from less structurally intensive screen printing.

For example, screen printing is a better option for a t-shirt, hoodie, or tote bag. It can be more challenging to get solid embroidery with a flimsier fabric.

Winner: Screen-printed designs work much better for thinner fabrics like t-shirts because the process involves less destruction to the integrity of the material.

 

Screen Printed vs. Embroidered Color Options

Multicolor designs work with both processes. Screen-printed garments achieve color using different ink colors, and embroidered decoration methods come from variations in thread color. Each ink color used for screen printing also requires a new mesh screen. You can layer different colors with screen-printed garments to create a gradient look. Embroidery creates more distinctive boundaries between colors.

Winner: You can achieve more exciting color combinations and effects using screen printed materials than the static and blocky design embroidery can sometimes create.

Embroidered vs. Screen Printed Turnaround Time

The process goes much quicker when using an embroidery machine to embroider than screen printing.

The difference in turnaround time for printing and embroidered mostly has to do with the requirement of needing to change screens for each color when working with screen printing.

Winner: Embroidery is the clear winner for saving time to complete embroidered vs. printed designs.

 

Is Screen Printing or Embroidery Better? Our Key Takeaways

We think both options have their advantages and disadvantages. The answer to which is better will depend on the type of garment, the design size, and the fabric’s makeup. Try to plan out as much of your project as possible in advance so you can anticipate which would most benefit you.

It might take a bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for your needs, but that’s all part of the embroidery and printing process — and the fun!

If you’re curious about other creative options for putting designs on clothing and accessories, check out our article comparing embroidery vs. vinyl.

Check out our most popular embroidered hats here!