Embroidery vs Printing on Long Sleeve Shirts

The embroidery versus printing question shows up in almost every long sleeve order we quote. Both methods put your logo on the shirt permanently, but they get there in completely different ways, they cost different amounts, and they suit different kinds of artwork. Neither one is universally correct.

This guide breaks down what each method actually is, how they compare on durability, feel, price, and detail, which brands support which method in our custom long sleeve shirt collection, and how to decide between them for your own order.

What's actually different between embroidery and printing on a long sleeve shirt?

Embroidery stitches your design into the fabric with thread, while printing applies ink directly onto the fabric surface. Embroidery builds a raised, textured logo out of thousands of individual stitches, digitized from your artwork into a stitch file before a machine sews it. Printing lays flat, full-color ink onto the shirt using a digital DTG (direct-to-garment) process, closer to how an inkjet printer works than to a paintbrush.

How each looks on fabric

Embroidery has physical dimension. Run a finger over an embroidered logo and you feel the stitches, and the thread catches light differently than the surrounding fabric, which is part of why it reads as premium on a polo or a jacket. Printing sits flush with the fabric. You cannot feel a printed logo the way you feel embroidery, and it can reproduce shading, gradients, and photographic detail that stitching physically cannot replicate.

Both methods start from the same place at Arklavo: you send your logo, we send back a free digital proof showing exactly how it will look on the specific garment and color you picked, and nothing goes to production until you approve it.

Which holds up longer, embroidered or printed long sleeve shirts?

Embroidery generally outlasts printing over hundreds of wash cycles because thread is more wash-resistant than ink. A stitched logo does not crack, peel, or fade the way a printed graphic eventually can, which is why embroidery is the standard decoration for uniforms that get washed weekly for years, not just seasonally.

Printing durability

Printing on a long sleeve shirt is still durable for normal use. DTG ink is cured into the fibers rather than sitting on top of them, and it will comfortably survive the life of a garment worn for events, team days, or retail. It is not the choice for a shirt you expect a decade of hard, daily use from, but very few long sleeve orders are asking for that.

The one wear point to know

Embroidery on a thin, lightweight fabric can pucker or tunnel slightly if the stitch density is too heavy for the base material. Printing has no equivalent risk, since it adds no weight or stiffness to the shirt at all.

Does embroidery feel different against skin than printing on a long sleeve shirt?

Yes: embroidery adds a small amount of texture and slight stiffness where the stitching sits, while printing stays soft and flexible everywhere. On a long sleeve shirt this matters more than on a t-shirt because sleeve and cuff placements sit closer to the wrist and forearm, an area with more direct skin contact throughout the day than a standard chest logo.

In practice, a small left-chest embroidered logo is unnoticeable to wear. A large embroidered design across the full back or down a sleeve carries more thread density and will feel firmer than the same design printed. If your team is wearing these shirts for full shifts, a lighter embroidery placement or a printed design keeps the garment feeling like a plain tee everywhere except the eye.

Which costs less, embroidered or printed long sleeve shirts?

Printed long sleeve shirts cost less than embroidered ones in our catalog, averaging $24.70 versus $41.74 per unit. Embroidery is the more expensive process because it requires digitizing your logo into a stitch file before the machine can run, and stitching itself takes longer per garment than a DTG print pass.

The gap by brand

The gap holds across every brand we stock. A Gildan long sleeve tee runs $17.99 printed versus $33.99 embroidered. A Comfort Colors garment-dyed long sleeve runs $22.99 printed versus $38.99 embroidered. An AS Colour heavyweight long sleeve runs $30.99 printed versus $45.00 embroidered. Champion sits at the top of the range at $48.99 embroidered, with its printed version at $28.99.

No minimum on either method

There is no minimum order on either method, so a single embroidered shirt or a single printed shirt costs the same per unit as a batch of 50. That is worth knowing if you are outfitting a small team and comparing us to vendors who only publish embroidery pricing once you hit a case quantity.

Which brands offer embroidery vs printing for long sleeve shirts?

All four brands we stock, Gildan, Champion, Comfort Colors, and AS Colour, offer both an embroidered and a printed long sleeve tee, at different price points. The table below lines up every option so you can see the full spread in one place.

Gildan sits at the budget end for both methods, which makes it the common pick for large team orders where per-unit cost matters most. Champion and AS Colour run heavier, and their embroidery holds up especially well on that thicker cotton. Comfort Colors is the garment-dyed option in both decorations, if you want the softer, worn-in look and feel from day one.

Should you use embroidery or printing for a company logo?

Use embroidery for a simple, 1 to 4 color logo that needs to survive years of washing, and use printing for a detailed, multi-color, or photo-style design. Most company logos are simple enough for either method, which is why the decision usually comes down to budget and expected garment lifespan rather than the artwork itself.

Matching logo detail to method

A clean wordmark or a simple icon in one or two colors embroiders well and looks sharp for the life of the shirt. A logo with a gradient, a fine outline, or small text under about a quarter inch tall will lose detail in thread and should be printed instead. If your logo has both a simple icon and a detailed tagline, embroidering the icon and printing the tagline on separate garments, or skipping the tagline on the embroidered version, usually solves it.

If you're ordering more than long sleeve shirts

For teams that also want polos, aprons, or caps alongside their long sleeve shirts, embroidery tends to be the more consistent choice across a full custom embroidery apparel uniform set, since it is the standard decoration for those garments too. If you are still deciding between brands before you get to decoration, our Gildan vs Comfort Colors long sleeve comparison and our long sleeve sizing guide for teams cover the two decisions that usually come before this one.

If long sleeves are not the only garment you need, the same embroidery and printing logic carries over to our custom t-shirt collection, where the same four brands and both decoration methods are available. And if budget is the deciding factor on your order, our custom long sleeve shirt cost guide breaks down the full price range by brand, decoration, and order size.

Frequently asked questions