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The Digital Print Transition |
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2011-7-27
Additional technology trends
The digital print industry is also seeing tremendous growth in the direct-to-garment (DTG) area. DTG machines are designed for printing on T-shirts and other garment types including hoodies, as well as small accessory items such as tote bags. They are engineered with single or multiple platens for transporting the garment during printing. A number of vendors have re-engineered Epson desktop printers with platen systems while other vendors have taken a ground-up approach. DTG machines from Brother, Kornit Digital and Aeoon Digital Textile fall into the second category and make use of more industrial printhead technologies. Aeoon recently introduced a machine with Kyocera printheads that is capable of printing up to 400 light shirts per hour.
DTG machines make use of pigment chemistry which supports direct application and uses dry heat for curing. Pigments have been difficult to develop for inkjet and some early solutions were lacking in terms of color range and fastness to laundering and crock. Pigments are now available from a range of sources and leading vendors offer improved results assuming correct processing. The digital DTG strategy is now considered viable for printing short runs of cotton garments. Although there is a great deal of interest in using the technology to print on synthetics, results have been more varied in this area and additional development of ink chemistry and/or shirt pretreatment appears to be required.
Within the DTG market a four-color process arrangement (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) is typical. The addition of white enables printing on dark shirts and has been included in the standard color set for most vendors. Pigments are also used in the roll printing area and the color space is broadened through the use of additional hues. Although the color range for pigments remains limited in comparison to reactive, acid or disperse dye (sublimation) ranges, the use of this chemistry type for roll printing is of great interest due to the simplified processing requirements.
Another current trend is the development of super-wide format equipment from vendors such as Agfa, ATPColor, Durst, and Hollanders for printing of large indoor and outdoor graphics and developers of sublimation inks have focused on the formulation of colorant sets that offer improved color and fastness for outdoor settings. HP has also launched a set of latex inks that offer an alternative to solvent based printing of vinyl signage. While the latex colorants are compatible with textile substrates, they’re not intended for printing of apparel fabrics.
What’s next?
Will the digital method become the primary mode of production printing? At one time digital printing was viewed as complimentary to the screen-print method. However, greater emphasis on sustainable manufacturing methods and improved response to the market will require the apparel industry to re-think this model. Technology advancement is opening the door to a new vision and the quiet transition is becoming louder and louder. The question that remains is how long the transition will take in light of the current pace of new technology introductions.
Source:apparel.edgl.com
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