Key takeaways
- Our minimums are 12 garments for one color and 24 for two colors.
- Standard turnaround is 7 to 10 business days from approval and payment, rush down to 1 to 2 days.
- Screen printing, DTG, DTF and embroidery all run in-house in Hutto, so one order can mix methods.
- You can come to the shop and see garments and print samples before you commit.
- Spirit wear and fundraising stores earn the organization 10 to 20 percent back.
- A reorder starts from art you already approved, which is the easy way to add new hires or players.
Both work, for different orders
Online shirt companies are good at one thing: letting you design a shirt in a browser and order it without talking to anyone. For a lot of people, that is exactly right.
A local screen printer is good at a different thing. Someone looks at your art, pulls the right blank, picks the right print method and catches problems before 48 shirts get printed wrong.
The question is how simple your order is, and how much it matters that it is right the first time.
We print shirts for construction crews, school teams, booster clubs, churches and restaurants from Hutto to Round Rock, Georgetown and Austin. The orders that land at a local shop usually have a hard date, a mix of items or a group that keeps growing.
When an online shirt shop is the right call
Fair is fair. Order online when:
- The design is simple and you're happy building it in their tool.
- The date is far out and shipping time doesn't worry you.
- The team is spread out. Shirts that ship to a dozen addresses in different states can be easier online.
- You don't need to see the shirt first. You know the brand and the fit.
If that's you, the online route is fine. The rest of this guide is for orders where something is not that simple.
| Item | What to expect |
|---|---|
| One color screen print | 12 garment minimum |
| Two color screen print | 24 garment minimum |
| Proof on a new job | 1 to 2 business days |
| Standard turnaround | 7 to 10 business days after approval and payment |
| Rush | Down to 1 to 2 days |
| Spirit wear store | 10 to 20 percent back, $125 base fee, waived at $3,500 in sales |
Minimums and turnaround
Our numbers are simple:
- 12 garments minimum for a one color print.
- 24 garments minimum for a two color print.
- 7 to 10 business days from approval and payment.
- Rush down to 1 to 2 days when the date is close.
Proofs on new jobs come back in 1 to 2 business days. The clock on the shirts starts once you approve the proof and pay.
Need fewer than 12, or a full color photo on a shirt? That is where DTG or DTF comes in, so a small order is not stuck with screen printing. See screen printing vs DTG vs DTF for which one fits.
Plan backward from the date. If shirts need to be in hands for a Saturday game, count back 7 to 10 business days from approval, then add a day or two for the proof. Inside that window, ask about rush.
Every print method under one roof
Most real orders want more than one look. A crew might need screen printed tees, embroidered polos for the office and a few hats.
We run all of it in-house:
- Screen printing for bigger runs and bold one or two color designs.
- DTG for full color art on cotton in smaller counts.
- DTF for full color on blends, dark garments and odd spots.
- Embroidery for polos, hats, jackets and uniforms.
That means one ticket, one proof round and one pickup. It also means the logo matches across the tee, the polo and the hat, because one shop set up all three. More on that in embroidery vs screen printing for uniforms, or see our screen printing and embroidery pages.
A rough guide: big count and simple art, screen print. Small count or a full color photo, DTG or DTF. Polos, hats and jackets, embroidery.
See a physical sample first
A product photo can't tell you how a shirt feels, how heavy it is or how the ink sits on it. That matters for a team that wears it every week.
You can stop by the shop in Hutto and look at garments and past prints in person. Feel the difference between a basic cotton tee and a soft blend. See how a screen print and a DTF print look on the same dark shirt.
We're open Tuesday to Thursday 9am to 4pm, and Monday and Friday by appointment. Call or text 512-817-2200 to set a time.
Bring your logo or a shirt you liked from a past year. Holding the old shirt next to a new blank answers most questions in a minute.
Size changes and reorders
Team orders change. A player quits, a new hire starts, a coach realizes nobody ordered a 3XL.
Size changes are easiest before the job prints. Call or text, and a person updates your ticket. No hunting for a support form.
Reorders are where local really pays off. Your art is already set up and approved, so adding 12 more shirts for new crew members starts from the last proof. You aren't rebuilding the design in a new tool and hoping the color comes out the same.
It also helps to order a few extras in the common sizes. New people show up. A couple of spare mediums and larges are easier than a second small run later.
Spirit wear and fundraising stores
For schools, booster clubs, PTAs and churches, collecting sizes and money is the hard part. A spirit wear store fixes that.
- Families order and pay online, by size, on their own time.
- The organization earns 10 to 20 percent back on sales.
- Store design is a $125 base fee, waived once store sales reach $3,500.
- We print the batch and you pick up in Hutto or get local delivery.
Tax exempt organizations are handled on the ticket, and approved organizations can get Net 15 or 30 terms. The school and booster club print guide covers the rest of the season.
Stores can work for crews too. A contractor can let new hires order their own sizes, and the office stops chasing a spreadsheet.
What to send for a quote
A good shirt quote needs five things:
- Count by size, even a rough guess.
- Garment: tee, long sleeve, hoodie, polo or hat, plus the color.
- Art: the logo file, ideally vector. A blurry file costs time.
- Print spots: front, back or sleeve, and the number of colors in each.
- Date: when they need to be in hands, not when you'd like to order.
Upload art through the job ticket. It takes 20 files at 100MB each, so send originals. If the art needs work, layout is $45 per hour and graphic design is $65 per hour. A new logo is $250 flat.
How to decide
Go online if the order is small and simple, the design is done, the date is far out and you don't care to see the shirt first.
Go local if you want to feel the blank, need two or more print methods, expect size changes, plan to reorder, want a fundraising store, or the date is close enough that rush matters.
Either way, start with the count, the colors in your art and the date you need them. Put those on a job ticket and we'll tell you the best method and the real timeline.