Screen printing has two costs baked in: burning a screen for each ink color, and printing each shirt. Charge one screen fee per color and a per-shirt price times the run, and both the one-color job and the four-color job land at a fair number.
A 3-color design on 48 shirts is $60 in screens plus $312 in printing — $372 for the order.
The example
Three orders, each with a color count, the per-screen fee, a quantity, and the per-shirt price.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Order | Colors | Screen$ | Qty | Unit$ | Total |
| 2 | Team tees | 3 | 20 | 48 | 6.50 | 372 |
| 3 | Hoodies | 2 | 20 | 24 | 14.00 | 376 |
| 4 | Caps | 1 | 20 | 72 | 4.00 | 308 |
The formula
The setup is a screen fee per color; the run is quantity times the unit price:
How it works
Two products added together:
B2*C2is the setup: one screen fee for each ink color in the artwork.D2*E2is the print run: the number of shirts times the price to print each one.- Adding them gives the order total, so a small run pays mostly for screens and a big run mostly for printing.
- Divide the total by the quantity if a customer asks for the effective cost per shirt.
Waive or discount screen fees on reorders — the screens already exist, so a repeat run is just quantity times the unit price.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the number of ink colors, the screen fee, the quantity, and the per-shirt price.
Variations
Effective cost per shirt
Divide the whole order by the quantity to see the blended per-shirt cost.
Reorder (screens already burned)
Drop the screen fees on a repeat and charge only the run.
Pitfalls & errors
One screen fee is per color, not per shirt. Multiplying the screen fee by the quantity would charge every shirt for the setup — keep the two products separate.
Flat prints and specialty inks change the per-shirt price, not the screen count. Keep the unit price in its own column so you can quote metallic or puff without touching the setup math.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Why charge per color?
How do big runs get cheaper per shirt?
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