To answer the question 'Are heat transfers better than screen printing?' you need to know which garment, hat, or promotional product you are trying to decorate. To say that one method is better than another would be to simplify. It all depends on the number of colors and print places, as well as the substrate you print.
Heat Transfers are easy!
When most people think of using heat transfers, the first thing that comes to mind is to print special T-shirts. But many screen printers and garment decorators discover that there are many other types and products of fabric that you can decorate with heat transfer.
Can Screen printing Be Applied Everywhere?
Today's special heat transfers are formulated with new adhesives and inks that allow the decorator to print or decorate things they can't do with screen printers. For example, the process of printing four-color screen printing to a dark nylon or polyester bag is almost impossible. So, what makes it so hard? The answer is that for the four-color process to be transparent and opaque on a dark fabric, you need to support the process colors with white. This means that if you are printing the screen, you need to "flash" the white before placing each process ink. The more ink gets under the heated flash cure unit, the greater the chance of the fabric shrinking. This will cause poor quality pressure. You can eliminate all these problems by using the personalized heat transfer technique.
Screen Printing Plastisol Transfers
Transfers are printed on the paper or film sub-layer, which can shrink, but not as small as when printed directly on the garment. When you want to apply four-color processing transfers to a nylon or polyester bag, you only need a few seconds, and then your print comes out brightly. There are dozens of other items that are perfect for transfers such as swimwear, yoga pants, nylon jackets, some umbrellas, chairs. All you need is a heat press that will allow you to press on the transfer with the appropriate heat, time, and pressure.