Apparel and uniforms

Apparel, and the four ways ink meets cloth

Silkscreen, direct-to-film, direct-to-garment and embroidery. They are not four prices for the same thing — they behave differently on colour, on dark cloth, on synthetic fabric and after twenty washes, and the right one is chosen from the garment and the artwork rather than from the quantity alone.

Ask for a quote WhatsApp +65 8208 7778

Standard7–14 working days
ExpressSame-day printing available

Custom apparel printing in Singapore, in one paragraph

EZ Print produces custom apparel in Singapore, and has done since 2017. Four decoration methods are used: silkscreen, which lays one colour per screen and is the most durable on cotton; direct-to-film transfer, which handles full colour on any fabric including polyester; direct-to-garment, which prints into cotton fibre with no minimum; and embroidery, which stitches the design in thread. Garments are cotton and cotton-blend t-shirts, dri-fit polyester polos, and woven corporate shirts. On dark cloth a white underbase is printed first, because ink is translucent and a colour laid straight onto black cloth reads as a stain. Embroidery is measured in stitch count rather than in colours, and fine detail below about 3 mm does not survive a needle. Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days for every method and every garment, including sourcing them in the sizes ordered. Express is quoted per job. EZ Print quotes from the specification and does not publish prices.

Apparel
Name Tag
A printed badge worn on a uniform to show a name and role, with a magnet or a pin back.
Also ordered as: Name Badge, Magnetic Name Tag, Staff Name Tag, ID Tag, Pin Name Badge
Request quote for Name Tag
Apparel
Lanyard
A printed neck strap with a clip and safety breakaway, for staff passes and event badges.
Also ordered as: Printed Lanyard, Neck Strap, ID Lanyard, Sublimated Lanyard, Card Holder Lanyard
Request quote for Lanyard

All 140 products, by family

The specification an apparel order is quoted from

Garment, quantity, size breakdown, decoration method, print positions and the number of colours. The size breakdown is the one that holds jobs up, because garments are ordered as stock before anything can be decorated.

No garment is drawn here at true size, and the reason is that the useful measurement is not a trim. A print area on a t-shirt is not cut to a size — it is a position on a curved, stretchy, moving surface, and the same 250 mm front print sits differently on a small and an extra-large body. Drawing a rectangle and captioning it as a trim would state a precision this product does not have. The print positions, the maximum sizes and the stitch limits are stated as figures below instead, and the honest check before a run of eighty is a single sample garment, which is why direct-to-film and direct-to-garment have a minimum of one.

1underbase

On any dark garment, a white layer is printed first. Ink on cloth is translucent — without the underbase, a red logo on a black shirt reads as brown.

Garments: Cotton and cotton-blend t-shirts, dri-fit polyester polos, woven corporate shirts, and lanyards with name badge holders.
Methods: Silkscreen, direct-to-film transfer, direct-to-garment, embroidery. Chosen from the fabric and the artwork.
Print positions: Front, back, left chest, sleeve. Each additional position is a separate pass.
Print sizes: Left chest about 90 mm wide; front and back up to about 280 × 380 mm.
Dark garments: A white underbase is printed first on any dark cloth, whatever the method.
Embroidery: Measured in stitch count. Nothing finer than about 3 mm survives a needle.
Minimum run: 1 for direct-to-garment and direct-to-film; 20 for silkscreen; 10 for embroidery.
Turnaround: Standard is 7–14 working days, including sourcing the garments in the sizes ordered. Express is quoted per job.

What to ask for

80 event t-shirts
Cotton, black, sizes S 10 · M 25 · L 25 · XL 15 · XXL 5
Direct-to-film transfer, full colour
Front print about 250 × 300 mm, left chest 90 mm
White underbase on the dark garment
Vector artwork supplied, fonts outlined
Needed by — your date

The material

Fabrics, and what each one does to ink

Nothing on this page is a sheet, so nothing on this page has a caliper. What a fabric does have is a fibre, a colour and a stretch, and those three decide which decoration method will still look right after twenty washes.

Cotton jersey

Also sold as combed cotton, ring-spun cotton, 100% cotton tee.

A knitted cotton fabric with a soft hand and a visible loop structure. It absorbs ink, which is why it takes screen and direct-to-garment printing so well.

Under ink: Screen ink sits in the fibre and softens with washing; direct-to-garment ink is absorbed into it and feels like nothing at all.
Best for: Event shirts, staff tees, anything worn casually and washed often.
Avoid for: Sportswear. Cotton holds moisture, which is the opposite of what a dri-fit garment is for.
On the schedule: Held in common colours and sizes. Every method needs a curing or pressing pass after printing.

Polyester dri-fit

Also sold as performance polyester, dri-fit, micro-mesh polo.

A synthetic knit designed to move moisture away from the skin. Smooth, slightly slippery, and it does not absorb ink the way cotton does.

Under ink: Direct-to-garment does not work on it. Direct-to-film transfer bonds to the surface and is the reliable full-colour method here.
Best for: Sports events, outdoor staff uniforms, anything worn in Singapore heat.
Avoid for: Direct-to-garment printing, and high-temperature pressing without a test.
On the schedule: Transfer only, and the press temperature is tested on the garment before the run.

Woven corporate shirt fabric

Also sold as poplin, oxford, twill shirting.

A woven rather than knitted cloth, structured and non-stretch, used for formal corporate shirts and jackets.

Under ink: Embroidery is the natural decoration. A printed transfer on a stiff woven fabric reads as a patch rather than as part of the shirt.
Best for: Corporate uniforms, front-of-house staff, anything worn with a collar.
Avoid for: Large printed areas. On woven cloth they crack along the fold lines.
On the schedule: Sourced against the order rather than held, so name the fabric and the size breakdown early.

Lanyard webbing

Also sold as polyester lanyard, dye-sublimated lanyard, printed neck strap.

A narrow woven polyester tape, usually 15 mm or 20 mm wide, printed along its length and fitted with a clip and a safety breakaway.

Under ink: Dye sublimation prints into the fibre so the artwork does not sit on the surface and cannot rub off.
Best for: Conferences, visitor passes, staff identification.
Avoid for: Fine type. On 15 mm webbing, anything below about 8 pt is unreadable at arm’s length.
On the schedule: Printed into the webbing, then cut, and the clip and breakaway are fitted strap by strap.

Say the garment and the fabric before the decoration method is chosen. Direct-to-garment on polyester and embroidery on a light knit are both mistakes made at the specification stage, and neither is visible until the sample.The materials library

Every extra print position is a separate pass over every garment. A front, a back and a left chest is three passes on eighty shirts, not one job with three pictures.

The four methods, and what each is good and bad at

This is the only decision on an apparel job that really matters, and it is made from the fabric, the artwork and the quantity — in that order. Quantity alone is the wrong reason to choose a method, and it is the reason most often given.

Apparel decoration: what each method needs, and whether its tooling is kept for the reorder
Finish	Tooling	What the reorder pays for
Silkscreen printingOne screen per colour, kept on file. The most durable method on cotton	Made once	Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Direct-to-film transferFull colour on any fabric including polyester. No screens, no minimum	None	Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Direct-to-garmentPrinted into cotton fibre. Softest hand-feel, cotton only	None	Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
EmbroideryDigitised once and kept. Measured in stitch count, not colours	Made once	Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
White underbasePrinted first on any dark garment so colour reads as colour	None	Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Dye-sublimated lanyard printingPrinted into polyester webbing, with clip and breakaway fitted	None	Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Every operation here is quoted inside the standard window. What changes between a first order and a second is the tooling: a die, a block or a screen is made once and then kept on file with your approved artwork, which is why the reorder of a job carrying one is a different job from the first.

The method is chosen from the fabric and the artwork. Choosing it from the quantity is how a full-colour design ends up as four screens nobody can register.

Pairings that work

A one or two colour logo silkscreened onto cotton tees. The most durable result there is, and the screens are kept for the reorder.
A full-colour design by direct-to-film onto dri-fit polos. It bonds to synthetic fabric where a direct-to-garment print simply will not take.
Embroidery on a woven corporate shirt, left chest, in three thread colours. It reads as a uniform rather than as a printed shirt.
A white underbase under every colour on a black garment. Without it a red logo on black reads as brown.

Combinations that fail

Direct-to-garment printing on polyester. The ink is formulated for cotton fibre and it will not bond to a synthetic knit.
Embroidery of text under about 3 mm tall. A needle cannot resolve it, and the letterforms fill in as a solid block of thread.
A photograph silkscreened in four colours on a short run. Every colour is a screen, a pass and a registration risk — a transfer does it in one.
A large printed panel on a woven corporate shirt. It cracks along the fold lines within a few washes, because the cloth does not stretch with the print.

Positions, print sizes and stitch limits

A print on a garment is a position rather than a trim, and each position has a working maximum. These are the sizes that sit correctly on a body rather than the largest that will physically fit.

Left chest · about 90 mm wide: The standard corporate position. Embroidery or a small print.
Front · up to about 280 × 380 mm: The main event position. Keep it clear of the collar seam and the hem.
Back · up to about 280 × 380 mm: A second pass. Common for sponsors and staff roles.
Sleeve · about 80 × 80 mm: A small mark. A third pass, and worth the cost only when it earns it.
Embroidery detail · 3 mm minimum: The smallest letterform a needle resolves. Below it, the stitches fill in.
Lanyard · 15 mm or 20 mm wide: Printed along its length, with a clip and a safety breakaway fitted.

Vector, outlined, and drawn for the method

Apparel artwork is prepared per method rather than once. A screen needs separated flat colours, an embroidery file needs to be digitised into stitches, and a transfer needs a full-colour raster with a clean edge. One file rarely serves all three.

The file

Format: Vector — Illustrator or PDF — with all fonts outlined. 300 dpi raster for transfers and direct-to-garment.
Silkscreen separation: One layer per colour, flat solids, no gradients, nothing under 1 pt.
Embroidery: Vector supplied and then digitised into stitches. The digitised file is kept for reorders.
Transfer artwork: Full colour at final size with a clean cut edge and no soft drop shadows.
Print size: Stated in millimetres at the finished size, per position.
Underbase: Not drawn by you. It is generated from your artwork for the dark garments in the order.

The colour, and the detail

Colour mode: Named Pantone references for screen and thread; CMYK for transfers and direct-to-garment.
Thread matching: Thread comes in a fixed palette. A Pantone reference is matched to the nearest thread, not reproduced exactly.
Colours on dark cloth: Every colour sits on a white underbase. Without it, colour on black reads as a stain.
Minimum line: 1 pt on a screen; about 1.5 mm as a stitched line in embroidery.
Minimum type: 10 pt printed on cotton; about 5 mm tall for embroidered lettering.
Gradients: Fine on a transfer or direct-to-garment. Not available on a silkscreen without halftoning.

Send the garment, the fabric, the colour and the size breakdown with the artwork. The method is then recommended against all four rather than against the quantity alone, and a single sample garment can be run before the full order.

Turnaround

The garments have to arrive before anything is printed

Standard
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
Standard orders. The schedule for specialist finishing is confirmed in your quotation.
Express
Same-day printing available.
Subject to artwork, stock and production capacity confirmation. Timing is agreed for each job.

What sets the date: The garments, before anything is printed at all. They are sourced in the sizes and colours ordered, and only then decorated — and every method needs a curing or pressing pass after the ink or the thread goes on. Each additional print position is a separate pass over every garment. All of it is quoted inside the standard window.
What a reorder skips: The screens and the digitising. A silkscreen screen is made once per colour from your outlined artwork and kept on file with it; an embroidery design is digitised once into a stitch file and kept the same way. A repeat in the same sizes has neither left to make.
If the date is tight: Say the garment, the fabric, the colour, the size breakdown, the method and the print positions, and ask for an express quotation. We confirm the specification, production schedule and next steps in the quotation.

The size breakdown is the most common cause of delay on an apparel order, because garments are ordered as stock in the sizes requested. Send it with the enquiry rather than after the artwork is approved.

Every answer here is in the page source at full opacity, open or closed. An answer engine has to be able to read it without executing anything.

Questions asked about apparel

Which printing method should I choose for t-shirts?

Silkscreen for one or two flat colours on cotton in quantity — it is the most durable and the screens are kept. Direct-to-film for full colour or for polyester. Direct-to-garment for short runs on cotton where the softest hand-feel matters. Embroidery for corporate shirts and caps. The fabric and the artwork decide it, not the quantity alone.

Can you print on dri-fit polyester?

Yes, by direct-to-film transfer. Direct-to-garment ink is formulated for cotton fibre and will not bond to a synthetic knit, so a dri-fit polo needs the transfer method. Say the fabric with the enquiry and the method is chosen against it.

Why does colour look dull on a black shirt?

Because ink on cloth is translucent and the black garment shows through it. A white underbase is printed first, then the colours on top, which is what makes a red read as red rather than as brown. It is a standard step on any dark garment, and it is quoted inside the standard window rather than on top of it.

How small can embroidered text be?

About 3 mm tall for a letterform, and 5 mm is safer. A needle cannot resolve finer detail, so small lettering fills in as a solid block of thread. Fine detail in a logo usually has to be simplified before it can be digitised.

What is the minimum order for custom t-shirts?

One, by direct-to-garment or direct-to-film. Silkscreen has a minimum of about twenty because each colour needs a screen made, and embroidery about ten because the design has to be digitised first. A single sample garment before a large order is always worth it.

Do you supply the garments?

Yes, and they are sourced in the sizes and colours ordered before decoration begins. The size breakdown is the most common cause of delay on an apparel job, so send it with the enquiry rather than after the artwork is approved.

How many print positions can a shirt have?

Front, back, left chest and sleeve. Each additional position is a separate pass over every garment, so three positions on eighty shirts is three times the handling rather than one job with three images.

Can you print lanyards to match?

Yes. Lanyards are 15 mm or 20 mm polyester webbing, dye-sublimated so the artwork prints into the fibre and cannot rub off, with a clip and a safety breakaway fitted. Keep type above about 8 pt — on 15 mm webbing anything smaller is unreadable at arm’s length.

Trading since 2017 — EZ PRINT PRIVATE LIMITED, UEN 201706183R.
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days. For urgent orders or express schedules, please check with EZ Print.
Artwork is checked before production.
Island-wide courier delivery within Singapore.
Collection can be arranged on request.

Ask for a quote on this apparel

Every job is quoted from its specification — stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline.

Quantity
Stock — or the feel you want, if you do not know the stock
Sides printed
Finish
Flat and finished size
The deadline

Request a quote WhatsApp +65 8208 7778

Artwork is welcome but not required to start. Email sales@ezprint.com.sg if you would rather attach files.