The InkTracker Blog
How to price your work, run the money side, and get jobs out the door — written by a working print shop, not a marketing team.
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Production
The screen printing production workflow, stage by stage
How a job actually moves through a screen printing shop — art approval, ordering goods, pre-press, printing, and shipping — and where each stage quietly goes wrong. The workflow that keeps jobs from falling through the cracks.
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Getting started
How to start a screen printing business
A working printer's honest guide to starting a screen printing business: what to buy first, what to skip, how to price so you actually make money, and how to land your first customers — without spending your whole budget on a press.
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Software
How much does screen printing software cost in 2026?
Published pricing across the category — flat plans, per-seat tiers, quote caps, and license fees — plus the hidden costs that matter more than the sticker price.
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Software
Printavo alternatives for small print shops (2026)
An honest look at the shop management options if you're shopping around: DecoNetwork, PriceIt, Printmatics, Teesom, and InkTracker — what each is built for, what published pricing looks like, and how to pick for your shop size.
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Production
How to work with other shops to take on jobs you can't do in-house
Some jobs don't fit your shop — embroidery when you only print, or a big order the week you're already busy. Instead of turning them away, work with other shops and trade the parts you each do best.
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Money
QuickBooks for screen printers: stop typing every job in twice
Your shop software and your books disagree because you're the sync — retyping every job into QuickBooks by hand. What a real two-way connection should do, the three places shop books quietly rot, and how we run ours.
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Production
DTF vs. screen printing, from a shop that only runs screens
I'm a screen printer — there's no DTF printer in my shop. But the question lands weekly, and the math is objective: setup cost vs. per-piece cost. Where the break-even lands, where each process wins, and why I still haven't bought the equipment.
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Software
How to choose screen printing software (I'm not going to trash my competitors)
An honest look at the leading screen printing software in 2026 — Printavo, YoPrint, InkSoft, DecoNetwork, and InkTracker — including where each one wins. No trash talk, from someone who sells one of them.
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Money
Sales tax for print shops: the short version
How sales tax actually works for a print shop — destination-based rates, when you need address-level accuracy, and how software handles it. A plain-English primer (not tax advice).
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Pricing
How to price embroidery: stitch count is the number that matters
Screen printing prices by color. Embroidery prices by stitch count — because the machine bills in run time and stitches are run time. Here's how to price it, including digitizing, with a calculator to try your own numbers.
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Pricing
How I build a screen printing price chart
Your print prices worked out ahead of time — every color count, every quantity — built on what your shop actually costs to run. Cost per print, real margin, two percentages to fill the grid, and the fees that decide small runs.
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Pricing
How to price a screen printing job without leaving money on the table
Blanks, printing, and setup are the only three costs in a screen printing job. Here's how to price all three the same way every time — with a calculator to try it on your own numbers.