Here's what most print shops won't tell you: traditional screen printing has real limitations. We ran screens for a decade before buying our first Digital Squeegee. We knew the pain points intimately: the 8-color maximum before costs spiral, the halftone dots ruining smooth gradients, the color drift that happens on run 3,000. When M&R announced hybrid technology, we drove to the demo. Bought two units. Never looked back.
Why Hybrid Changes Everything
It's not about being fancy. It's about solving real problems. We screen print a white plastisol base, same ink we've trusted for 22 years. While it's still wet (this is critical), 16 inkjet heads spray CMYK digital ink directly onto that tacky surface. The inks fuse during curing. You end up with screen printing's durability married to digital's color freedom.
What does that mean in practice? A customer brought us album artwork with 47 different colors, subtle watercolor gradients, and fine text disclaimers. Traditional quoting: 12 simulated process screens at $38 each, plus $200 in separation work, and the gradients would still look like halftone dots up close. Hybrid quoting: same price as a 2-color job. No gradient compromise. We ran 800 shirts in two days.
What Your Brand Actually Gets
- Color freedom that's actually free: Two colors or two hundred, same setup, same price. We mean it.
- 300 DPI resolution: That's five times sharper than simulated process. We've printed 6-point text that's crisp and readable. Try that on a 230 mesh screen.
- Zero drift: Shirt 1 matches shirt 5,000. Digital doesn't mix, doesn't shift, doesn't change. When you reorder in six months, we can match exactly.
- Faster than you'd expect: One screen for the base, then digital does its thing. We're producing 550-600 impressions per hour.
- Value that makes sense: The equipment was expensive. The savings from not burning 12 screens per job? Those go straight to you.
"Last month a customer asked why their three-year-old hybrid shirts still looked new while their DTG shirts from another shop had faded after six months. That's the difference."
Built for Brands That Care
We get it. Your shirts aren't just shirts. They're how people remember your brand. The guy wearing your tour tee becomes a walking endorsement. The customer in your company polo represents you in every meeting. When someone compliments the print quality and your customer says "yeah, it's held up great," that's marketing you can't buy.
We've printed for podcast merch drops where the host's face needed to look right. Streetwear labels where the designer's watercolor technique had to translate perfectly. Corporate orders where 500 identical logos across six offices couldn't have any variation. Hybrid handles all of it: black shirts, white shirts, heathers, you name it.
Come Watch the Press Run
Pictures don't do it justice. If you're local to Lubbock, swing by and watch a hybrid run. There's something satisfying about seeing blank shirts become finished prints in real time. Check out our hybrid printing page for the technical details, or just call us. We'll walk you through it.
Not sure if hybrid is right for your project? Our guide to choosing the right print method breaks down when to use hybrid vs. DTF vs. traditional screen printing.
Let's Make Something
Twenty-two years of printing. Two Digital Squeegee presses. A team that genuinely cares about getting your order right. Whether you're launching something new or leveling up existing merch, we're here for it.
