Choosing Print or Embroidery for Your Garment

One of the most common questions we hear from customers is, “Should I print this or embroider it?” And honestly, it’s a great question. When it comes to custom apparel, both printing and embroidery can make your garment look amazing, but they each serve a different purpose. The best choice depends on your design, the type of garment, how you plan to use it, and the overall look you’re going for. At The Awesome Company, we offer both printing and embroidery, so our goal is never to push you toward one option. Our goal is to help you choose the method that makes the most sense for your project, your budget, and your brand.

What’s the Difference Between Printing and Embroidery?

Before you can choose between printing and embroidery, it helps to understand what each option actually means. Both are ways to customize garments, but they create very different looks and work best for different types of designs.

Garment printing is when a design is added to the surface of a shirt, sweatshirt, tote bag, or other item. At The Awesome Company, that can include screen printing or DTF heat transfers, depending on the artwork, quantity, garment, and overall goal of the project. Printing is a great option when you want something bold, colorful, detailed, or large. Think event T-shirts, team apparel, school spirit wear, fundraiser shirts, or custom business merch with a big design on the front or back.

Embroidery, on the other hand, uses thread to stitch the design directly into the garment. Instead of sitting on top of the fabric like a print, embroidery becomes part of the item itself. This gives it a textured, polished, and professional feel. Embroidery is especially popular for polos, hats, jackets, quarter-zips, workwear, bags, and premium branded apparel.

The easiest way to think about it is this: printing is usually best for bigger, more colorful designs, while embroidery is best for smaller, cleaner designs that need a more elevated look. Neither option is automatically better than the other. It all depends on what you are making and how you want it to feel.

When Printing Is the Best Choice

Printing is usually the best choice when your design is larger, more colorful, or more detailed. If you want a bold graphic across the front of a T-shirt, a full back design on a hoodie, or a colorful event logo that really stands out, printing is probably going to be your best option.

At The Awesome Company, we offer different printing options depending on what your project needs. Screen printing is a great choice for larger apparel orders, especially when you want a clean, classic look on T-shirts, sweatshirts, long sleeves, or event merch. It is one of the most popular ways to create custom shirts because it looks great, feels comfortable, and works well for repeat designs.

DTF heat transfers are another great option, especially when your design has multiple colors, small details, or a full-color graphic. This method gives us flexibility with artwork that may not be the best fit for traditional screen printing. It can be a helpful choice for colorful logos, detailed designs, smaller runs, or projects where you want your artwork to stay bright and crisp.

Printing is also a smart option when you need apparel for a group, event, school, team, fundraiser, business, or organization. If you are ordering T-shirts for volunteers, staff shirts for an event, spirit wear for a school, or matching sweatshirts for your team, printing gives you a lot of room to be creative.

In general, choose printing if you want your design to be seen from across the room. It is perfect for bold messages, big graphics, colorful artwork, and designs that need space to shine.

When Embroidery Is the Best Choice

Embroidery is usually the best choice when you want your garment to feel polished, professional, and a little more premium. Because the design is stitched directly into the garment with thread, embroidery adds texture and dimension in a way that printing does not. It gives your logo or design a clean, finished look that works especially well for branded apparel.

This is why embroidery is such a popular choice for polos, hats, jackets, quarter-zips, vests, work shirts, bags, and corporate apparel. If your team needs uniforms, your business wants elevated customer gifts, or you are creating apparel that people can wear again and again, embroidery is a great option.

Embroidery works best for simpler designs, especially logos, names, initials, and smaller graphics. A left-chest logo on a polo, an embroidered design on a hat, or a clean brand mark on a jacket can make your apparel feel intentional and high quality. It is also a great choice when you want your pieces to look professional without feeling too loud or overly promotional.

At The Awesome Company, we offer in-house embroidery, which means we can help you choose the right garment, thread colors, placement, and design size before your project goes into production. If your artwork needs to be adjusted for embroidery, we can help with that too. Not every design is embroidery-ready right away, and that is completely normal. Our team is here to make sure your final piece looks awesome.

In general, choose embroidery when you want something that feels classic, durable, and elevated. It is perfect for professional apparel, premium merch, uniforms, hats, and any project where you want your brand to look extra polished.

Printing vs. Embroidery: Which Looks More Professional?

This is where a lot of people get stuck, because both printing and embroidery can look professional when they are done well. The better question is not always, “Which one is more professional?” It is usually, “Which one feels right for this garment and this project?”

Embroidery often has a more elevated, premium feel. A stitched logo on a polo, jacket, hat, or quarter-zip can instantly make a piece feel more polished. That is why embroidery is such a great choice for uniforms, office apparel, workwear, corporate gifts, and branded pieces your team might wear to meetings, events, trade shows, or customer appointments.

Printing, on the other hand, gives you more room to be bold, creative, and expressive. A printed T-shirt or sweatshirt can still look very professional, especially when the design is clean, well-placed, and printed on a quality garment. Printing is ideal when your artwork needs more space, more color, or more detail than embroidery can comfortably handle.

For example, if you are ordering polos for your sales team, embroidery may be the better choice. If you are ordering T-shirts for a company event, fundraiser, school program, or team celebration, printing may make more sense. If you are building a full merch package, you may even want both: embroidered hats or polos paired with printed shirts or sweatshirts.

At The Awesome Company, we help customers think through the full picture before choosing. We look at the design, the garment, the placement, the budget, and how the item will be used. That way, your final product does not just look professional. It looks like it was made with care and intention.

Which Option Is Better for Your Design?

Your design is one of the biggest factors in choosing between printing and embroidery. Some artwork is made to be printed. Some artwork is made to be stitched. And some artwork can work either way with a few small adjustments.

Printing is usually the better choice if your design has a lot of colors, gradients, shading, fine details, or a larger layout. If your artwork includes a detailed illustration, a full-color logo, a photo-style image, or a big graphic for the front or back of a shirt, printing will usually give you the cleanest result. Printing allows more flexibility with size and color, which makes it great for creative designs that need room to stand out.

Embroidery is usually the better choice if your design is simple, clean, and easy to read at a smaller size. Logos, names, initials, short text, and simple icons tend to work really well with embroidery. Since embroidery uses thread, very tiny details, small lettering, thin lines, and complicated shading may need to be simplified so the final design looks crisp and professional.

That is where our design team comes in. At The Awesome Company, we are more than happy to help you figure out whether your artwork is best for printing or embroidery. If your logo needs to be cleaned up, adjusted, resized, simplified, or prepared for production, we can help make that happen. You do not need to know all the technical details before reaching out. That is what we are here for.

The goal is always the same: to make your design look its best on the garment you choose.

Which Option Lasts Longer?

Both printing and embroidery can last a long time when they are done correctly, but they hold up in different ways. Embroidery is stitched directly into the garment, which makes it very durable. Since the design is made from thread instead of ink, it can handle regular wear and washing well, especially on items like hats, jackets, polos, work shirts, and bags.

Printing can also be very long-lasting when the right method is used for the right garment. A quality screen print or DTF heat transfer can hold up beautifully through many washes when the garment is cared for properly. The key is making sure the artwork, fabric, placement, and print method all work together.

That is why choosing the right partner matters. At The Awesome Company, we do not want you to end up with a garment that looks great for one day and then disappoints you later. We look at how the item will be used, how often it may be washed, and what decoration method makes the most sense for the project.

If you are ordering uniforms or premium pieces that your team will wear often, embroidery may be the best long-term choice. If you are ordering T-shirts, sweatshirts, event apparel, or colorful merch, printing can still be a durable and reliable option. Either way, our team will help guide you toward a choice that looks good and holds up well.

Which Option Is More Affordable?

Cost is another big factor when choosing between printing and embroidery, and the answer really depends on your project. The garment, design size, number of colors, quantity, placement, and decoration method can all affect the final price.

Printing is often a great choice when you need a larger quantity of T-shirts, sweatshirts, or event apparel. For example, if you are ordering shirts for a school, team, fundraiser, company event, or volunteer group, printing can be a budget-friendly way to create a big impact. Screen printing can be especially helpful for larger orders with the same design, while DTF heat transfers can be a great option for colorful artwork, smaller batches, or designs with more detail.

Embroidery pricing works a little differently because it is based on things like stitch count, design size, placement, and garment type. A small left-chest logo on a polo or jacket may be a great value, especially if you want the final piece to feel more professional and long-lasting. Larger or more detailed embroidered designs may cost more because they take more time, thread, and setup.

The good news is that you do not have to figure it out on your own. At The Awesome Company, we can help you compare your options before you place your order. Sometimes printing makes the most sense for your budget. Sometimes embroidery is worth the extra investment. And sometimes the best solution is a mix of both.

Our goal is to help you get custom apparel that looks awesome, feels right for your brand, and makes sense for your budget.

Best Garments for Printing and Embroidery

The garment you choose can make a big difference in whether printing or embroidery is the better fit. Some pieces are made for big, colorful designs. Others look their best with a clean stitched logo or small branded detail.

Printing works especially well on T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, long sleeves, tote bags, and event apparel. These items give your design more space to stand out, which makes them great for bold graphics, school spirit wear, team shirts, fundraiser apparel, volunteer shirts, and company merch. If you want a larger design across the front or back of a garment, printing is usually the way to go.

Embroidery is a great choice for hats, polos, jackets, vests, quarter-zips, work shirts, bags, and other premium pieces. These garments usually look best with smaller, more polished designs, like a left-chest logo, a name, a simple icon, or a clean brand mark. Embroidery can instantly make these items feel more professional and retail-quality.

If you are not sure which garment makes the most sense, we can help with that too. At The Awesome Company, we work with all kinds of customers, from businesses and schools to teams, nonprofits, events, and individual creators. We can recommend apparel that fits your project, your budget, and the decoration method you want to use.

The right garment and the right decoration method should work together. A great design on the wrong garment may not have the same impact, but when everything lines up, your custom apparel feels thoughtful, useful, and totally awesome.

Can You Use Printing and Embroidery Together?

Yes, and sometimes using both is the best way to create a custom apparel package that feels complete. Printing and embroidery do not have to compete with each other. They can work together beautifully, especially when you want different items for different purposes.

For example, you might choose embroidered polos for your leadership team, printed T-shirts for your staff, and embroidered hats for everyone. Or you might create a company merch bundle with a printed sweatshirt, an embroidered beanie, and a tote bag with your logo. This gives your brand more variety while still keeping everything connected and intentional.

You can also use both methods on the same project. A jacket might have an embroidered logo on the front and a printed design on the back. A company event might include printed shirts for attendees and embroidered polos for event staff. A school, nonprofit, team, or business may want a mix of everyday apparel and premium pieces so people have options they will actually use.

At The Awesome Company, this is one of the things we love helping customers think through. Since we offer printing and embroidery, we can help you build a full custom apparel lineup instead of choosing just one item. We can talk through what should be printed, what should be embroidered, and how to make the whole order feel cohesive.

If you are planning merch for your business, school, event, team, or organization, combining printing and embroidery can be a great way to make your project feel more thoughtful, polished, and fun.

How The Awesome Company Helps You Choose

Choosing between printing and embroidery can feel overwhelming at first, but you do not have to make that decision alone. At The Awesome Company, we help customers figure out what makes the most sense based on their design, garment, timeline, budget, and overall goal.

If your artwork is colorful, detailed, or better suited for a larger placement, we may recommend printing. If your logo is clean, simple, and meant to feel more polished, we may recommend embroidery. If your project could benefit from both, we can help you build a mix of printed and embroidered pieces that work together.

We also help with the parts of the process that can feel confusing, like choosing the right garment, adjusting artwork, selecting placement, and understanding what will look best once it is actually produced. You do not need to come to us knowing all the technical terms. You can simply tell us what you are trying to make, and we will help guide you from there.

Our team offers in-house screen printing, in-house embroidery, DTF heat transfers, and design support, which means we have multiple ways to bring your idea to life. Whether you are ordering custom apparel for a business, school, team, nonprofit, event, or personal project, we want the process to feel easy, helpful, and exciting.

And when you choose The Awesome Company, your order does more than create great merch. It also supports an inclusive workplace that creates meaningful employment opportunities for neurodivergent adults. That is something we are incredibly proud of, and it is part of what makes every project feel even more special.

Why Choose The Awesome Company for Printing and Embroidery?

When you are ordering custom apparel, you want more than someone who can put a logo on a shirt. You want a team that cares about how the final product looks, feels, fits, and represents your brand. That is exactly what we try to do at The Awesome Company.

We offer printing and embroidery services that help businesses, schools, teams, nonprofits, events, and organizations create apparel people actually want to wear. Whether you need printed T-shirts for an event, embroidered polos for your staff, hats for a merch table, or a full custom apparel package, we can help you choose the right option for your project.

One of the biggest reasons to choose us is that we guide you through the process. We know not every customer comes in knowing the difference between screen printing, DTF heat transfers, and embroidery. That is okay. Our job is to make the process easier. We can help with artwork questions, garment recommendations, placement ideas, and decoration methods so your order turns out exactly the way you hoped.

We also care deeply about quality and purpose. Every order that comes through our shop is part of something bigger. The Awesome Company is proud to create meaningful employment opportunities for neurodivergent adults, and our team plays an important role in the work we do every day. When you choose us for your next printing and embroidery project, you are not only getting custom apparel. You are supporting a company that believes in creativity, inclusion, and doing work that matters.

At the end of the day, we want your custom garments to look awesome and feel awesome, too.

Final Thoughts: Printing or Embroidery?

So, should you choose printing or embroidery for your garment? The simple answer is that it depends on what you are making.

Printing is usually the best choice for bold, colorful, detailed, or larger designs. It works beautifully for T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tote bags, event apparel, school spirit wear, team shirts, fundraiser merch, and creative graphics that need room to stand out.

Embroidery is usually the best choice for polished, professional, and premium pieces. It works especially well for polos, hats, jackets, quarter-zips, bags, uniforms, workwear, and smaller logos that need a clean, elevated look.

And sometimes, the best answer is both. A full custom apparel package might include printed shirts, embroidered hats, branded polos, and premium outerwear so your team, customers, or event guests have options they will actually want to wear.

At The Awesome Company, we are here to help you figure out what makes the most sense for your project. Whether you know exactly what you want or you are still deciding, our team can walk you through the options, help with your artwork, recommend garments, and make sure your final order looks awesome.

Ready to start your next printing and embroidery project? Reach out to The Awesome Company and let’s create custom apparel that looks great, feels meaningful, and brings your idea to life.

• Is printing or embroidery better for company apparel?

  It depends on the type of garment and the look you want. Embroidery is great for polos, jackets, hats, and professional workwear. Printing is great for T-shirts, sweatshirts, event apparel, staff shirts, and larger designs.

• Can you print and embroider the same order?

  Yes. Many customers choose a mix of printed and embroidered pieces. For example, you may want printed T-shirts for an event and embroidered polos or hats for your team.

• Is embroidery more expensive than printing?

  Embroidery can cost more depending on the design size, stitch count, garment type, and placement. Printing may be more budget-friendly for larger shirt orders, but the best option depends on your specific project.

• What type of design works best for embroidery?

  Simple logos, names, initials, clean icons, and short text usually work best for embroidery. Designs with very tiny details or lots of shading may need to be simplified.

• What type of design works best for printing?

  Printing works well for colorful, detailed, bold, or larger designs. It is a great choice for graphics, illustrations, full-color artwork, event designs, and shirt designs that need more space.