Why can’t you screen print just one shirt?

Screen printing is a labor-intensive process designed for larger production runs, not one-off pieces. Every new design requires multiple detailed steps to create a scree before the first shirt is ever printed. We start by separating your artwork into individual colours, then create a dedicated screen (stencil) for each one. Each screen is carefully coated, exposed, rinsed, and cured. After that, we mix your inks, align the screens on the press, and test for perfect registration before running the full order.

That setup process takes the same amount of time and labour whether we print one shirt or one thousand, which makes small single-unit runs extremely costly. Once the press is ready, printing itself is fast, but the preparation behind it is what takes skill, precision, labour and time.

For smaller or single-print orders, we recommend Direct-Film-Transfer (DFT) printing instead. DFT has a minimum of just 3 units, offers excellent colour range and detail, and doesn’t require the same pre-production setup. It’s the perfect option for testing designs, small batches, or personalized prints before scaling up to full production.