# How Many Ink Colors for a Screen Print? | Screen Prints NC

Every ink color is a $20 screen and a higher per-shirt rate. How to design a one- or two-color print for Nevada City event tees. Battle Born Clothing.

Canonical: https://screenprintsnevadacity.com/guides/how-many-ink-colors/

Fewer than you think. Most of the best-looking shirts in Nevada City are one color on a well-chosen blank. Each extra ink color is another $20 screen and a higher per-piece rate, and it rarely makes the shirt better. Here is how Battle Born Clothing thinks about color count.

## What a color costs

| Colors on front | Screens (one-time) | Per piece (light shirt) | Per piece (dark shirt) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20 | $10.38 | $10.63 |
| 2 | $40 | Quoted per job | Quoted per job |
| 3 | $60 | Quoted per job | Quoted per job |

The screen cost is easy to see. The per-piece cost is the part people miss: every extra color is another pass on the press and, on dark shirts, another flash. At 48 pieces that adds up faster than the screens do. The published $4.34 rate is for one color; multi-color jobs are quoted per job.

## Light shirt, dark ink: the cheapest good shirt

A one-color print on a white, natural, ash or light heather shirt skips the underbase and the flash. Black, navy or a brand color on a light shirt is $10.38 each at 48 on a PC61. It is also the softest plastisol print we make because there is one thin layer of ink.

## Dark shirt, one color

White or a bright ink on black, navy or forest. We print a white underbase, flash it, then the top color, or print the color straight if it is white. That is the $0.25 flash per location. Or we [discharge](/decoration/water-based-and-discharge/) the shirt on 100% cotton for a soft, dyed-in look with no flash.

## Turning a label or a poster into one color

- Use the shirt color as the second color. A navy shirt with a white print reads as two colors.
- Drop the gradients. A solid version of a wine label or a beer can usually exists; if not we make one and show it on the proof.
- Halftones can fake shades in one ink. They work for texture, not for small text.
- Sponsor blocks on the back: one color, always. Sponsors agree to it when they see the price.

## When two colors are worth it

A logo with a mark and a wordmark in different brand colors, a school mascot with an outline, a festival poster with a defined two-color palette. Two colors on the front and one on the back is a common, sensible order: $60 in screens and a quoted per-piece rate.

## When to stop counting and use DTF

Photos, four-plus colors, or under 48 shirts: a [DTF transfer](/decoration/dtf-transfers/) prints full color with no screens and is quoted per job. The hand is heavier than water-based ink but the art is exact.

## Color count and the proof

Every proof we send lists the ink colors by location. If you want to cut the count, say so and we send a one-color version next to the original. Nothing is printed until you approve.

[Send your art for a color count](/quote/)

## Questions
**Can you match a Pantone?** Yes. Send the number and we mix plastisol to it. Discharge ink is less exact; we tell you when a color will shift.

**Does white count as a color?** Yes. White ink on a dark shirt is one screen. White underbase under a color is the flash charge, not a second screen.

**Is a front and a back the same as two colors?** They cost the same in screens ($40) but a back print also adds a second per-location rate per shirt.


---
Screen Prints Nevada City is a brand of Battle Born Clothing, 3 Pebble Beach Dr, Yerington, NV 89447. Quote: https://screenprintsnevadacity.com/quote/