How to Choose Between DTG and Embroidery for Logos

When you're customizing a piece of apparel to sell in your company store, hand out at trade shows, or offer to customers, you want to pick a method that strikes the right balance. You want something that will be durable and vibrant, but not too expensive. You want a method that is sustainable, too.

The two main options you have available are DTG printing and embroidery. Which is right for your business needs? Let's discuss.

What is DTG Printing and How Does it Work?

First, let's define what DTG printing is, how it works, and how it will present on your apparel.

DTG stands for Direct To Garment. Think about a traditional printer, the kind you might use at the office or at a print center. The printer is loaded with different colors of ink. A file with text or images is sent to it, and paper fed through it; it sprays ink precisely on the paper to print the document it was given.

DTG printing is basically the same thing, except it uses fabric instead of paper. Something like a t-shirt is fed through it, it sprays ink according to the document it is given, and you end up with a piece of apparel with an image printed on it.

Unlike options like screen printing, it doesn't require a painstaking manual process with different templates for individual colors. Unlike heat transfer, it doesn't leave behind a layer of vinyl or other material.

DTG printing is fairly easy and can print very complex, multi-colored designs in a flash. The use of ethical, water-based inks makes it relatively eco-friendly as an apparel printing method, and since it doesn't require creating templates or extensive setup, it can be done quickly and even for small batch orders.

DTG does have some limitations, however, and they can be important when you're choosing between printing and embroidery.

First of all, you have to pick the right kind of apparel to print. The inks used mean it works best with cotton-based fabrics and similar organic fabrics, while synthetic materials like polyester and rayon won't take the color as well.

It's also significantly less durable than just about every other kind of printing or transfer. Where heat transfer can crack and fall apart over time, and where screen printing can slowly fade, DTG printing fades rather quickly, in as little as 20-40 washes on average.

DTG printing is easy, but it's not the fastest option around. It usually averages around two minutes per shirt. Depending on the amount of shirts you need printed, this can have an influence on costs.

Another drawback of DTG printing is the difficulty in color matching. It handles normal colors just fine, but more exotic colors, and especially anything like metallic tones, will be much more difficult or even impossible.

What is Embroidery and How Does it Work?

Embroidery is an ancient art, with some evidence of embroidered designs dating as far back as 30,000 BCE. It's one of the oldest forms of textile art made in human history. Of course, modern embroidery, usually handled by machines rather than the painstaking work of individuals with needles and thread, is very different from how it used to be.

Embroidery creates designs on a piece of fabric by stitching them in using colored threads. Hundreds or thousands of small stitches are layered next to one another and create the design.

Modern embroidery uses a machine to do the stitching, controlled by a computer and following a digitized design. Small logos can be 4,000 stitches, while larger logos and designs can be 12,000 or more stitches.

Embroidery is incredibly durable. It's not uncommon for an embroidered design to outlive the garment it's stitched into, as the underlying fabric tears away around it.

As with anything, there are, of course, drawbacks to embroidery. One of the biggest is the cost; depending on how large they are and whether or not there are different colors or complex elements to the design, it can be significantly more expensive than other options. A mid-sized logo on a shirt could be as much as $30 each.

Details can also be lost in embroidered designs. There's only so much detail that can be included in a stitched design, due to the physical limitations of the underlying fabric and the thread used to stitch it. Moreover, it works best with certain kinds of fabric, generally tight-woven natural fabrics. Cotton wins again, but linen, silk, and wool are all viable options. Stretchy fabrics like synthetics don't take embroidery as well.

Embroidery is also a physical addition to the garment, which stiffens the area, can cause sagging, and won't stretch out alongside the rest of a piece of apparel as it's worn and laundered. Over time, this can cause odd appearances, tightness, and oddities with the fabric.

How do the two methods of adding a logo compare?

DTG vs. Embroidery: Texture and Feel

One of the biggest differences between DTG and embroidery is the feeling of the finished design.

With embroidery, it's a physical bundle of threads stitched into the underlying garment. This has repercussions; it's a raised texture with individual threads. With DTG printing, on the other hand, it's like ink on paper. While there's technically a physical difference, it takes a microscope to be able to identify it, so to the touch, it's identical to the rest of the garment.

This is why DTG is more commonly used for large, full-shirt designs, where embroidery is more often used for smaller logos, or for stiffer items like hats, where the feel doesn't matter.

DTG vs. Embroidery: Color and Detail

Embroidery can be stark and vibrant when it comes to color. There are a million different kinds of threads in the world, of all different colors; as long as an embroidery machine is loaded with the right colors, it can use those colors. This can even include metallic threads.

DTG, conversely, requires water-based inks for dying the fabric. These can struggle to stand out on darker fabrics, and while the range of colors is technically as broad as the range of threads, it isn't able to do metallic colors or other non-dye options.

DTG has one benefit, which is the ability to do gradients and fine changes in color. Embroidery struggles with very fine details, since there's only so much resolution you can get out of threads. Modern embroidery machines can do some incredible things, but physics can't be ignored.

DTG vs. Embroidery: Lifespan and Durability

The greatest downside of DTG is that it has one of the lowest longevities of any method of printing a design on a shirt. Even other ink-based printing methods tend to last longer. In extreme cases, some DTG-printed shirts can fade after just a dozen washes. A lot of this depends on the fabric and the inks being used, however, so the durability can be managed somewhat.

DTG printing can be kept from fading through proper care. Washing in cold water with mild detergents, avoiding tumble or hot drying and using air drying instead, and similar instructions are part and parcel of any DTG-printed apparel.

Of course, nothing beats embroidery for durability. There are examples of embroidery you can go see in museums that are nearly 2,500 years old. That's not to say it can't fall apart, fray, or fade, but it's much more resistant to damage, and the underlying apparel is more likely to be damaged than the embroidery itself.

DTG vs. Embroidery: Costs

There are several different costs to consider when comparing these two methods of emblazoning a logo on your apparel.

The first is the cost of the base apparel. While both prefer cotton or cotton blends, embroidery wants the most durable and tightly-woven fabric you can find, while DTG just wants one that takes dye well. Generally speaking, the base shirts used for embroidery are going to be a little bit more expensive, though you may be able to use the same shirts for both methods if they're made out of cotton.

The second cost is the cost of setting up the design. There are a lot of variables here, of course; if you need to hire a graphic designer to produce your logo in the first place, it costs a lot more than if that has been established for years and you have the design ready to go. You might also have a print-ready version of the logo ready from past projects, which makes it cheaper to adapt for DTG printing.

Embroidery needs more conversion, and that conversion takes time and money from someone who knows what they're doing and what the limitations are on embroidery machines. Now, it's not exactly costly – digitizing a suitable logo might only cost $10 – but it's still a fee you might not have to pay with DTG printing.

Then there's the cost of actually making the apparel. With DTG printing, each shirt will generally cost around $3 to $5, not counting the cost of the base shirt itself. Costs are higher if you're using darker colored base shirts, if you need pre-treatment, or if you're using many different kinds of inks in complex designs. This also factors in the labor costs of the printing process.

Embroidery is much more expensive because it's a much more intensive and physical process. It's usually estimated to be between $1 and $3 for 1,000 stitches, and when a moderately complex mid-size logo can be 6,000 stitches, your base costs are often somewhere in the range of $15-$20 per shirt. For even larger designs, or for customization like monograms on each item, it can double.

Overall, this means that embroidery is going to be much more expensive than DTG printing.

Which to Choose: Embroidery or DTG Printing?

If all you want to do is put a logo on a shirt, the choice comes down to what your goals are.

If you want mass-produced, relatively inexpensive shirts that can be handed out as part of a swag bag at a trade show or given to employees at events, DTG printing is more often sufficient.

On the other hand, if you want prestige, durability, and an impression of high quality, embroidery tends to be much better.

With embroidery, the texture helps the logo stand out. The quality of the stitching helps build on that impression. This makes it more suitable for something like monogrammed employee uniforms, where the quality builds up the impression of your brand.

Embroidery is also good for apparel that needs to see heavy use and frequent laundering. Where DTG can fade quickly, embroidery will last.

You also often see embroidery on non-shirt items, like hats, socks, and other apparel items. When the item isn't laundered as often or isn't as subject to wear, it can last a lot longer, and the durability really matters.

Generally speaking, there are two main reasons why you would choose DTG over embroidery.

The first is if you don't have the budget to spend on embroidery and want something a whole lot cheaper. Cost is by far the biggest drawback to embroidery.

The second is if the design or image you're printing is very intricate, large, or otherwise doesn't lend itself well to embroidery. Printing can do things embroidery can't, like gradients of colors, subtle details, or very complex designs.

Since putting a logo on a piece of apparel is unlikely to be large or overly complex – the point of logos is to be simple and recognizable, after all – the cost is the biggest differentiating factor. It's no surprise that most brands opt for something like DTG printing instead of embroidery for that reason alone.

All of that said, you can also consider other methods of printing rather than DTG printing. Screen printing, heat transfer printing, dye sublimation printing, plastisol transfer printing, and even airbrushing can all be viable options for different purposes. So, make sure you investigate your options, rather than just going with DTG printing because it's the cheapest available option.