Custom software for screen printing shops

Where a print shop’s day goes

Screen printing jobs look simple from the outside: shirts, a logo, a due date. Inside the shop, each order is a chain of small steps, and a slip in any of them means a reprint or a missed event.

• Quoting means working out print locations, ink colors per location, garment style and color, size breakdown, underbase, screens and setup fees, then adjusting for quantity breaks.
• Art goes back and forth by email until the customer approves a mockup, and the wrong version sometimes makes it to the burn room.
• Blanks have to be ordered from suppliers like SanMar or S&S Activewear by style, color and size, and backorders hold up the whole job.
• Production scheduling across presses, embroidery machines and DTF printers lives on a whiteboard.
• Rush seasons around back to school, fall and spring sports, graduations and the holidays stack up at once.
• Team, school and fundraiser stores need a size and name for every order, a close date, and a way to sort finished goods by person or team.
• Customers call to ask if their order is ready, pulling someone off the press.

Screen printing management software we build

A custom build follows your pricing matrix and production flow. Shops usually want some of these:

• A quote builder with your pricing matrix by colors, locations, quantities and garment cost, plus embroidery stitch counts and DTF transfer pricing.
• Mockups and online art approval, with the approved file locked to the job so the press crew prints the right version.
• Purchase orders for blanks, built from the order’s size breakdown and sent to your suppliers.
• A production board by press and decoration method, showing screens needed, ink colors, garment arrival and due date.
• Job tickets on a tablet at each press, with approved art, placement, ink specs and size counts.
• Invoicing with deposits and balance due, tied to the order, and syncing with your accounting.
• Online stores for teams, schools, businesses and fundraisers, with order deadlines, per-person packing lists and payouts for fundraisers.
• A customer portal and an app for reorders, approvals, payment and pickup notices.
• A CRM to track repeat customers, school and league seasons, and reorder reminders.

Printavo, ShopVOX, DecoNetwork or custom screen printing software

Several tools are built for decorated apparel. Printavo is a popular shop management app for screen printers. ShopVOX covers quoting and job management for print and sign shops. DecoNetwork and InkSoft are known for online stores and design tools alongside order management. For many shops, one of these will do the job well.

A shop builds custom when it has a way of working that is part of its edge: an unusual pricing model, contract printing for other brands with their own rules, a large fundraiser or school store business, a mix of print, embroidery, DTF and promo products that needs one production view, or a screen printing app branded for its own customers. Custom software can also sit beside an existing tool, for example a custom store or portal feeding orders into the shop system you already use.

How a print shop software project works

1. Follow a few ordersWe trace a rush job, a team store and a contract order from quote to pickup with sales, art, production and shipping.
2. Write down your pricingYour matrix, setup fees, extra charges and minimums are captured so quotes come out the way you price today.
3. Design the screensYou click through the quote builder, approval page and press tablet view before anything is built.
4. Build in roundsWe start with the step that costs the most time, often quoting or approvals, and add pieces in short rounds.
5. Bring over customers and ordersCustomer lists, open jobs and pricing come in from spreadsheets or your current system.
6. Launch before the rushGo-live is timed for a slower stretch so the shop is comfortable before back to school or holiday orders arrive.

Small AI wins for print shops

AI can read a customer’s email or spreadsheet of names and sizes and turn it into an order, draft quotes for a salesperson to check, answer “is my order ready?” by phone or text from live job status, and pull color counts and print sizes from submitted artwork as a first pass for the art department.