How Much Does Screen Printing Cost? Real Pricing Guide (Palm Beach County, 2026)

The Four Things That Set Your Price

Every screen printing quote comes down to quantity, ink colors, print locations, and garment. Here's how each one moves the number, from the shop floor at Arnold Prints® in Westlake FL — plus the levers you can pull to bring your cost per shirt down before you ever ask for a quote.

1. Quantity — The Biggest Lever

Screens cost the same to make whether you print 12 shirts or 500, so per-piece price drops fast with volume. A 24-piece order might run $12-15 per shirt printed; at 100+ pieces the same job can drop under $10. Our current monthly special: 100 Bella+Canvas 3001 tees, printed, at $9.50 each — that's the volume effect in one line.

Pricing moves in quantity tiers, not a smooth slide — think of breaks around 24, 48, 72, 100, and 144 pieces, with each tier unlocking a lower per-piece rate. If your count sits just below a break, ask us: bumping from 44 shirts to 48 often costs almost nothing extra because the whole order just got cheaper per piece. Those extras become giveaways, replacements for damaged shirts, or stock for the new hire.

2. Ink Colors and Print Locations

Every color in your design needs its own screen and press station. A one-color logo is the budget king; a four-color design adds setup and press time. Money-saving move: run your logo in one color on a garment that provides the second color for free.

Locations multiply the work the same way. A front print is one setup; adding a back print means a second set of screens and a second trip through the press for every shirt, so a front-and-back job costs meaningfully more than doubling nothing. Sleeve prints, nape tags, and pocket hits each add their own setup too. The classic value combo — full front plus small left chest or back neck — gives you a branded look without paying for two full-size locations.

3. The Garment Itself

A basic Gildan tee, a retail-fit Bella+Canvas, and a moisture-wicking Sport-Tek all print beautifully at different price points. We'll match the blank to the job — station wear takes abuse; event shirts don't need to. Darker garments printed with light inks may also need an underbase (an extra white layer under the design), which counts as an additional screen — one more reason a white tee is the cheapest canvas in the building.

Don't cheap out blindly, though. The garment is the part your people actually feel, and a shirt that gets worn twice a week beats a bargain tee that lives in a drawer. For customer-facing staff and retail merch, the step up to a softer retail-fit blank usually costs a dollar or two per shirt and pays for itself in how often the shirt leaves the closet.

Sample Scenarios from the Quote Desk

Real quotes need your actual art and counts, but here's how the drivers stack in practice:

• Fundraiser, 100 shirts, 1-color front on white tees: the cheapest configuration there is — one screen, one location, light garment, big quantity tier. This is where specials like our $9.50 Bella+Canvas deal live.
• Business uniforms, 48 shirts, 2-color front + 1-color back: three screens and two locations across a mid-tier quantity — solidly affordable, and reorders get cheaper because the screens are already burned.
• Event merch, 24 dark shirts, 4-color front with underbase: five screens across the minimum quantity — the priciest per-shirt setup. We'd quote it honestly, and often suggest simplifying the art or comparing a DTF transfer job instead.

Want your exact number without waiting? Our screen print quote calculator prices your combination of quantity, colors, and locations in seconds.

How to Lower Your Cost Per Shirt

• Cut a color. Going from three colors to two removes a screen and press station — usually the single biggest saving per shirt.
• Consolidate locations. One strong front print beats a mediocre front-and-back at the same budget.
• Order to the next tier. A few extra shirts at a quantity break can lower the whole order's per-piece price.
• Let the shirt be a color. Print one ink on a colored garment and the fabric does the rest of the design work free.
• Reorder the same design. Your screens are on file — repeat runs skip setup entirely.

What About Small Orders or Full-Color Art?

Under 24 pieces or artwork with unlimited color? That's usually a DTF transfer job — no screens, no color limits, 1-2 day turnaround. We quote both methods side by side when an order sits near the line, so you're never paying screen setup on a job that DTF would print cheaper, and never paying DTF's flat per-piece rate on a run that screens would crush at volume.

FAQ

Is there a setup fee?

Screen/setup costs are built into quotes; reorders of the same design skip them.

What's the minimum order?

24 pieces for screen printing. Below that, DTF handles it without volume pricing pain.

How fast is turnaround?

Standard 5-7 business days from artwork approval; rush available.

Do you serve my area?

We're in Westlake FL serving all of Palm Beach County — Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton — with local pickup and nationwide shipping.

GET A QUOTE: Send your design and quantity through our business quote form or call (561) 323-7573 for a same-day number — Arnold Prints®, Westlake FL, printing for Palm Beach County and shipping worldwide.