Customizing reusable bags with your own design can make your product different and your customers will remember you. But the quality of the final product depends on the printing method you choose.
There are two most popular methods for printing reusable bags: digital printing and screen printing.
In this post, we’ll cover screen print and digital print, the printing process and applications, and compare them to help you decide which one is the right one for your project.
What is Screen Printing?
Screen printing (silkscreen printing) is a traditional printing technique that uses stencils or screens to push ink onto a surface. Each screen is one color in the design, and that’s why screen printing is great for bold designs.
As the screen prints are durable and the colors are vibrant, this traditional printing method is ideal for custom branding.
Benefits of Screen Printing
- Economical for Large Orders: Screen print is great for a large quantity as the cost per unit goes down as the order size increases.
- Durable and Long-Lasting: The ink forms a thick layer that withstands repeated washing and heavy use. This method is exactly what you need for common reusable bags.
- Vibrant Colours: Screen printing can produce very bright neon colors and specialty effects like metallic or light-activated ink.
How Does the Screen Printing Process Work?
The screen printing process is a multi-step process to make sure all prints are the same:
Design preparation: The breakdown of the design into layers of different colors, each layer of the design requires its own screen. Screen printing is limited to one color at a time, so breaking the design down ensures that the design is clear and prevents the colors from bleeding through each other.
Screen Coating: It is worth noting that it is possible to coat a screen with a photographic emulsion and then expose it to UV light, this hardens the non-dented areas and leaves a screen for the ink.
Inking: Ink is pushed through the screen onto the material using a squeegee. This step adds layers to the design and produces vibrant colors. The thick ink makes the print long-lasting and hard-wearing.
Drying and Curing: Drying and curing the ink ensures that the ink adheres to the design. Proper curing makes the ink resistant to washing, sticking, and abrasion, which is critical for heavy-use reusable bags.
Special Effects: One of the benefits of screen printing is you can add special effects to your design.
- Metallic Finishes: Adds a luxury look to logos and your designs on reusable bags for premium events.
- Glitter Inks: Perfect for promotional bags or fashion designs.
- Raised (Puff) Inks: Adds texture and make your design pop.
- Glow-in-the-Dark or Light-Activated Inks: For novelty or nighttime promotional items.
- Iridescent Shine Effects: Creates a dynamic, color-changing effect that makes the bag perfect for retail or boutique branding.
What is Digital Printing?
Digital printing is different from traditional screen printing. It adopts advanced technology to apply ink directly onto a surface. Digital printing doesn’t require screens or stencils, allowing for more flexibility in design and a faster setup process.
Digital printing is also known as direct-to-garment printing (DTG) when applied to textiles. It’s very precise and can produce high-resolution images, gradients, and detailed designs.
As the design is printed directly onto the material, digital printing is great for projects that require bright colors, detailed graphics, and specialty inks. That’s why digital prints are so popular.
Benefits of Digital Printing
- No Set-up Costs: No screens means cost-effective for small orders.
- Detailed and Complex Designs: It is ideal for gradients, photographs, and multi-color graphics.
- Quick Turnaround: The setup time is short, which makes it ideal for frequent design changes and small runs.
How does Digital Printing Work?
The digital printing process uses modern technology to print from digital files. It’s a fast and efficient process and is perfect for small runs and detailed designs. Here’s how it works:
Design Upload
The design is uploaded as a digital file to the printer, which makes sure every detail of the original design is printed exactly as it is on the material.
Surface Pre-Treatment
Some materials especially non-porous or synthetic fabrics, require surface pre-treatment before printing. This step needs to apply pre-treatment liquid (similar to a primer) to the printing surface, so the ink sticks well and keeps the color over time.
Well, without pre-treatment, the ink won’t adhere properly and the colors will fade or the prints will be uneven.
Digital Design Transfer
By using advanced digital printing presses, the uploaded design is printed directly onto the material. The digital printing machine can produce photographic quality prints and intricate images that can’t be achieved with other methods. It is just like digital printers for paper. Although they are different, they work in the same way!
This process makes sure the colors blend well and the details are precise, perfect for complex multi-color artwork.
Curing
The printed material is then passed through a curing unit where heat or UV light is applied to set the ink. A heat press or a forced air dryer is often used in this process. This step makes sure the design sticks to the material and makes it more durable.
Screen Printing vs. Digital Printing
Now it’s time to make a comparison and learn the difference between screen and digital printing. When you decide which print method is right for you, think about these key things:
1. Design Complexity
Screen Print is good for bold, simple designs with solid colors. Works well for logos, text, and basic graphics.
Digital Print handles intricate designs, gradients, and photographic details with ease. Plus, if your designs require frequent changes, you’d better choose digital printing.
2. Color Vibrancy
Screen Printing produces brighter colors with a thicker layer of plastisol ink, including very bright neon colors and specialty effects like metallic finishes.
If you want your logo or designed image to glow in the dark you can choose glow-in-the-dark plastisol ink. Or if you want to customize some promotional tote bags with bold logos or text you can choose screen printing.
Digital Printing is good for color blending and achieving precise gradients and high-resolution images. If you want to customize some tote bags that require high-resolution images and exact color matches you can choose digital printing.
3. Quantity and Cost
Screen Printing cost is lower for bulk orders as the per-unit cost is lower after the initial setup. If you need wholesale reusable bags you can choose screen printing.
Digital Printing is good for orders of a smaller quantity because it has no set-up cost but higher per-unit pricing for large orders. This makes digital printing good for small businesses.
4. Durability
Screen Printing: Screen-printed images are long-lasting and durable. They can be used heavily and washed. But this printing method has a drawback: a screen print can fade, crack, and even peel over time. But you can wash it in hot water to mitigate this problem.
Digital Printing: If the design is printed digitally, the inks will be combined with the fabric. So the print won’t crack or peel. However, despite that, it is best for lighter use as designs may fade over time with frequent washing.
5. Materials and Printing Surfaces
Screen Printing is more versatile. It works even well on textured materials. Actually, many non-woven bags and canvas bags use screen printing. For cotton t-shirts, screen printing is also a common print method.
Digital Printing is good for many materials too. Well, it’s best for smooth materials. For example, synthetic blends and polyester materials are good for digital printing. So if you want to print nylon bags, you can do digital printing.
It’s worth noting that the custom Tyvek bag is compatible with most conventional and digital printing technologies, including offset printing, flexo, screen, UV inkjet, thermal transfer, and more.
Let us know the complete difference between digital printing and offset printing.
6. Turnaround Time
Screen Print has more set-up time due to stencil preparation but is faster for bulk orders.
The faster set-up of Digital Print makes it good for tight deadlines and quick customizations.
7. Print Locations and Design Placement
Screen Printing is good for large prints or full-coverage designs. It’s good for covering big areas of a bag like the front panel or sides. However, the process is less precise for small details or unusual print areas like pockets.
Digital Printing is ideal for detailed designs in small or hard-to-reach areas like corners or inside panels. Because it prints directly onto the material it’s good for localized graphics or placements that require precision.
8. Environmental Impact
In fact, both screen printing and digital printing methods can use eco-friendly water-based inks. Choosing recycled materials or reusable fabrics further reduces environmental harm.
Making Your Decision
After you finish reading this post, we bet you know that the choice between screen print and digital print is up to your project. For big designs, bulk orders or durability screen printing is the go-to method. If your design is very complicated, your order quantity is small, or your timeline is tight, digital printing is the way to go.
At Gentle Packing, we specialize in custom printing services for reusable bags. Whether you need screen-printed bags for wholesale orders or digitally printed designs for special projects, we’ll make sure the final product is what you want.
Bring your vision to life! Contact us today!