DTF printing for a small order usually runs $8 to $20 per shirt once you count the blank garment, the transfer, and the press time. Order 50 or more of the same design and that number typically drops to somewhere between $4 and $10 a shirt. The design's complexity barely moves the price with DTF, since print size and garment cost matter far more than how many colors are in your logo.
That's the short version. If you're penciling out a first order in Sacramento, whether it's a dozen shirts for a food truck's debut at a weekend festival or two hundred for a company picnic, the real number depends on a handful of things you actually control. Here's how DTF pricing breaks down, where it beats screen printing, and where it doesn't.
What actually drives the price per shirt
DTF, short for direct-to-film printing, works by printing your artwork onto a special film, then heat-pressing it onto the garment. There's no screen to burn for each color the way screen printing requires, which is exactly why DTF wins on small orders. A few things still swing your final number.
Print size is the biggest one. A small left-chest logo uses a fraction of the film and ink that a full-back design does, and you're billed roughly by the square inch either way. Number of print locations matters too. A logo on the chest and a second one on the sleeve means two separate presses and two separate line items, not one. Garment cost gets folded into your per-piece price as well. A basic cotton tee runs less than a heavyweight hoodie or a moisture-wicking polo before you've even printed anything on it. Quantity still matters even without a screen setup fee, because press time and film get more efficient per shirt as the run grows. And turnaround plays a role: rush orders (5 days or less) generally add a percentage on top of the base price.
None of these move in isolation, which is why the fastest way to get an actual number for your job is Conquer Printing's instant quote calculator rather than eyeballing a national average. It's free to use and doesn't require you to call anyone first.
DTF vs. screen printing vs. embroidery, at a glance
| Method | Best for | Practical order size | How the cost behaves |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTF | Full-color designs, photos, gradients, small runs | 1 to 100+ | Roughly flat per shirt; color count barely matters |
| Screen printing | Simple 1 to 3 color logos, bulk runs | 24+ | Higher upfront cost, drops fast per shirt at volume |
| Embroidery | Polos, hats, jackets, anything that should look premium | Any size | Priced by stitch count, not color count |
Where the real price lands by order size
Under two dozen shirts is DTF's sweet spot. Because there's no screen to burn, a print shop isn't eating a setup cost to run three shirts, so a small order with one print location usually lands in that $8 to $20 range per shirt, garment and print size dependent. This is the range where screen printing actually loses money for a shop to run, which is why a lot of shops quietly push small orders toward DTF whether or not they say so out loud.
Once you're ordering 50 to 100 pieces of the same one or two color design, screen printing usually starts winning on price per shirt, sometimes by a wide margin. DTF's cost per shirt keeps dropping too, generally into that $4 to $10 window, but screen printing's cost curve drops faster because that screen setup gets spread across more pieces. Past a couple hundred simple one-color shirts, screen printing is very hard for DTF to compete with on price alone.
Multi-location and full-color jobs are where DTF holds its ground no matter the quantity. A five-color sunset design with a gradient would need five separate screens (and five setup charges) to screen print, but it's the same DTF process as a single-color logo. That's the case where DTF often wins even at 100-plus pieces.
DTF vs. screen printing: which one actually wins for your order
Here's the honest answer: it depends on your design and your quantity, not on which method sounds more modern. For a one-color logo on 75 staff shirts, we'd steer you to screen printing every time. For a 12-piece order with a full-color mascot for a youth team's first tournament, DTF is the only method that makes financial sense, since screen printing's setup cost alone could exceed what the shirts sell for.
Where people get this wrong is assuming DTF is always cheaper because it has "no setup fee." That's true on paper, but it ignores that DTF's per-shirt cost doesn't drop nearly as fast as screen printing's does once you're past 50 or so pieces of a simple design. A construction company ordering 40 identical one-color safety shirts for the crew is very likely better off with screen printing than DTF, even though DTF would technically work fine.
When DTF is the wrong call
DTF isn't the right choice for every job, and a shop that tells you otherwise is selling you what's easiest for them, not what's cheapest for you. Large single-color runs, think 100-plus hi-vis shirts for a job site or a full run of spirit wear for an entire school, will almost always cost less through screen printing. DTF prints also sit slightly on top of the fabric rather than soaking into it the way a properly cured screen print does, so if a soft hand-feel matters more to you than color range, that's worth factoring in too. And if your design is a single spot color that needs to look crisp on dark fabric at scale, screen printing's ink coverage is still hard to beat.
Common Questions
Is DTF printing cheaper than screen printing?
For small orders, generally yes, since DTF has no per-color screen setup cost. For larger orders of a simple one or two color design, screen printing usually becomes cheaper once you pass roughly 50 to 100 pieces, because its cost per shirt drops faster at volume than DTF's does.
Does the number of colors in my design change the DTF price?
Not much. DTF prices mainly by print size and garment cost, not color count, which is the opposite of screen printing, where every additional color means another screen and another setup charge. A five-color gradient design and a single-color logo of the same size cost about the same to print with DTF.
How long does DTF printing take to turn around?
Standard turnaround at Conquer Printing runs 7 to 10 business days, with rush options available in 5 days or less for an added fee. DTF doesn't require burning screens first, so it can sometimes move a little faster through production than a multi-color screen print job, though final timing still depends on the shop's current order queue.
Is there a minimum order for DTF printing?
Conquer Printing has no minimum order, so a single shirt is a legitimate order, not just a bulk-order add-on. That's part of why DTF and small orders pair so naturally: no minimum plus no screen setup cost means a one-off or a 5-piece order isn't a hassle to fill.
Does DTF printing crack or peel over time?
A properly applied DTF transfer, pressed at the right temperature and time, should hold up through normal washing without cracking or peeling for the life of the shirt. For more on what actually causes DTF prints to fail and how to avoid it, see our full breakdown on DTF durability, or browse our DTF and DTG services directly.
Bottom line
Run the math before you pick a method, not after. If you're ordering under two dozen shirts of a full-color design, DTF is almost certainly your best price. If you're ordering 75 identical one-color shirts, get a screen printing quote before you assume DTF is the deal. The only way to know for sure which is cheaper for your specific job is to run both through Conquer Printing's instant quote calculator, compare the two numbers side by side, and pick the one that actually pencils out. If you'd rather just talk it through, reach out directly and we'll tell you straight which method we'd use if it were our own order.