Should You Choose a Printing Method by Budget or by Artwork?
Branding shows up on 37.5% of the styles in our catalogue as an explicit "custom / logo / printed" feature. In practice buyers pick a method by asking "which is cheapest", when the useful question is "what does my artwork actually need".
Every method splits its cost differently between two buckets:
- Setup — made once per design, no matter the quantity (screens, transfer films, embroidery digitising).
- Per-piece — incurred on every single bag (ink passes, machine time, stitch time).
Screen printing has high setup and very low per-piece cost. Digital and heat transfer have near-zero setup and higher per-piece cost. That single difference decides which one is cheaper at your quantity — and the crossover moves with colour count.
What Are the Four Bag Printing Methods?
Screen printing
Ink pushed through a mesh stencil, one screen per colour per position. The workhorse for fabric bags.
- Best for — solid-colour logos, 1–4 colours, medium to large runs on cotton, canvas, jute or non-woven.
- Cost behaviour — setup dominates at low volume, then the unit cost falls away fast. A one-colour logo at 500 pieces is usually the cheapest branded bag you can buy.
- Watch out for — each extra colour is another screen and another pass. Gradients and photographic detail are not its job.
Heat transfer
Artwork printed onto a film, then pressed onto the fabric with heat.
- Best for — multi-colour artwork, gradients, small runs, and synthetic fabrics like polyester or Oxford where screen inks bond less well.
- Cost behaviour — low setup, flat per-piece. Colour count barely moves the price, which is exactly the opposite of screen printing.
- Watch out for — the transfer sits on the fabric rather than in it. Large solid areas can feel like a plastic patch and may crack with heavy folding. Ask for a wash and crease test on the sample.
Digital / DTG printing
- Best for — photographic artwork and very small quantities on cotton.
- Cost behaviour — effectively no setup, highest per-piece cost. It stays flat as quantity rises, so screen printing overtakes it early.
- Watch out for — needs a light, smooth, cotton-rich surface. It performs poorly on jute, dark heavy canvas and non-woven.
Embroidery
- Best for — small logos on heavier fabric where perceived quality matters more than print area.
- Cost behaviour — priced by stitch count, plus a one-off digitising fee. A dense or large design gets expensive quickly because stitch time is per piece.
- Watch out for — fine text and thin lines do not survive. Below roughly a centimetre of letter height, detail closes up. It also adds bulk and stiffness.
Which Printing Method Works on Which Fabric?
| Fabric | Works well | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton / canvas | Screen print, embroidery, digital | — |
| Jute / burlap | Screen print (bold shapes), woven label | Digital, fine detail |
| Non-woven PP | Screen print, heat transfer | Embroidery (tears the web) |
| Polyester / Oxford / nylon | Heat transfer, sublimation | Standard water-based screen ink |
| Felt | Embroidery, heat transfer | Fine screen detail |
Texture matters as much as fibre. Jute's coarse weave breaks up thin lines regardless of method — if the design demands detail on jute, print it on a smooth woven label and stitch that on instead.
How Do You Keep Printing Costs and Mistakes Down?
- Cut colours before you cut anything else. Going from four screen-print colours to one removes three screens and three passes. That usually saves more than any quantity negotiation at 100–500 pieces.
- One position, not three. Front, back and gusset prints each carry their own setup. Most buyers only need the front.
- Send vector artwork. AI, EPS or PDF with outlined fonts. A JPG has to be redrawn by someone, and redrawn artwork is where colour mismatches start.
- Specify colours as Pantone references, not "dark green". Screen ink is mixed to a reference; "dark green" is not one.
- Ask what the print looks like after washing. Reusable bags get washed. This is a fair question and a straight answer tells you a lot about the supplier.
Which Printing Method Should You Choose?
- Count the colours in your artwork. One to three, solid → screen print.
- Gradients, photos or more than about six colours → heat transfer, or digital if the fabric is light cotton.
- Synthetic fabric → heat transfer or sublimation.
- Small logo, premium feel, heavier fabric → embroidery.
- Fine detail on a coarse fabric → print a woven or printed label and stitch it on.