Roughly 60 an hour from a single live printing press. Our standard setup pairs two presses with two printers and turns out 100+ an hour when the line doesn't stall. From the guest's side, figure about a two-minute wait per shirt.
Those numbers are the top end. A four-color design prints slower than a one-color brand mark, guests who can't pick a size hold up the press, and splitting one crew between screen printing and DTF costs speed. The hat bar and embroidery run on their own clock, so we plan them separately.
Matching live printing presses to a Fort Worth crowd
- Up to about 150 guests: one two-press station covers it. A company night out in the Stockyards or a Cultural District gala usually lands here.
- 150 to 400 guests: add a press or a second station so the wait stays short.
- 400+ or a tight window: several stations. That's the build for a Fort Worth Convention Center booth on a full show day or a big sponsor tent.
How the crowd arrives matters more than the headcount. A convention aisle feeds the press all day and usually earns the second press. A seated dinner in a Sundance Square hotel sends people up between courses, so one station keeps pace. An arena night at Dickies Arena spikes before the show and right after it, so we pre-sort sizes and run hard in those two windows. Send the headcount and station hours and we'll spec the presses.
What slows a Fort Worth live t-shirt printing line
Most of the wait happens before the shirt hits the platen. Guests stall at the design board deciding between the longhorn art and the company logo, and again at the size wall, which is why XS–4XL sits folded and in sight. At about two minutes a guest and 100+ an hour off a two-press station, 300 people walking a Fort Worth Convention Center booth clear in about three hours if they show up evenly. They rarely do. Will Rogers crowds during Stock Show season come through in waves between arena sessions, and a Dickies Arena concert sends nearly everyone in the hour before doors. That hour is when the second press pays for itself. Outdoor dates from May through September run a bit slower too, because the crew rotates through shade breaks. Live embroidery and the hat bar in Fort Worth run as separate lines so caps and stitched names don't back up the shirts. Gear ships as freight from Fullerton, and the crew lands at DFW the day before.