Free Screen Printing Pricing Calculator

What is the True Job Cost of a Screen Printing job?

True Job Cost is the PriceMyPrint way of adding up everything a job actually costs your shop before any profit is added. It is an educational framework, not a formal accounting standard. For screen printing work it includes the blank garment, ink for every color, screens and screen prep, press setup and registration, run time at the press, curing, a share of the equipment, allocated shop overhead, and misprints.

Once you know that number, pricing becomes a decision instead of a guess: True Job Cost leads to a selling price, the selling price leads to estimated profit, and profit divided by price is your margin.

True Job Cost = Materials + Active Labor + Equipment + Setup + Allocated Shop Overhead + Expected Waste

Colors, locations, screens, and impressions

Each color at each print location needs its own screen. A three-color front and a one-color back is four screens to coat, burn, register, and reclaim.

Each color printed once on a garment is one impression. That same job is four impressions per shirt, and each impression adds ink and press time.

Why setup cost drops as quantity rises

Screens, registration, test prints, and cleanup are paid once per job. Spread over 12 shirts they are a large part of each shirt's cost. Spread over 300 they almost disappear.

That is why a short run and a long run with the same artwork cannot share one price per shirt.

Setup cost per shirt = Total job setup cost ÷ Sellable quantity

Production speed, labor, and curing

Whether the press is manual or automatic, and how many people run it, decides how many finished shirts come off per hour. Slower output means more labor and equipment time in every piece.

Every shirt also passes through the dryer to cure. Dryer power, floor space, and press wear are part of the equipment and overhead share.

• Emulsion, tape, chemicals, and reclaiming
• Registration and test prints before the run
• Misprints on the first pulls

How target margin sets the price

PriceMyPrint prices from margin, not markup. Margin is the share of the selling price you keep; markup is added on top of cost. A 50% markup on a $10 cost gives $15. A 50% margin needs $20.

Because setup falls on the whole job, the target-margin price per shirt changes with quantity. Use the calculator above to compare prices at different run sizes before you quote.

Selling Price = True Job Cost ÷ (1 − Target Margin)