Search

A directory for digital-textile printing equipment and inks, including major manufacturers and distributors, is presented.

The article reports on the use of digital printing (DP) systems for the intelligent pretreatment of textiles. It examines the pros and cons in DP, its system components and parameters for the pretreatment of fabrics. It offers information on the requirements for the selection of ink for inkjet printers, priming of the material and print fixing including the aftertreatment of materials.

The article discusses the trends in digital textile printing world wide. The industry has produced around 25-30 billion meters of printed textiles annually, two percent of which are digital printed textiles. Europe has the largest share of the global textile printing market followed by America and Asia. The reasons for the rise in digital prints include the automation of workflow and order processing. Information on digital ink chemistry, software, printers, and textile substrates is provided.

The article describes the inks used in digital printing of polyester fabric. Processes in digital printing of polyester soft-signage include the dye sublimation transfer printing, direct printing using high fastness disperse dye inks, and direct-to-fabric printing. Inks are formulated as 10-15 percent mill base and water-based in dye sublimation. Dye-sub inks used in direct to fabric printing are inkjet directly on polyester fabric. The key qualities of inks used in direct printing are cited.

The article offers a profile of ink-jet solution provider Xennia Technology in Letchworth, Great Britain. The author notes that Xennia's extensive program of product introductions could transform them into a leader in industrial markets for digital textile printing and evaluates several of Xennia's inks and printers, including XenInx Agate acid inks, XenInx Corundum disperse inks, and the Jade wideformat printer.

The article considers a Digital Textile Conference held by the Federation of European Screen Printers Association (FESPA). A report by John Provost, an editor of the publication, at the event is considered, particularly Provost's forecast that even if digital textile printing maintained its strong growth rate, it would not increase its market share internationally past 10 percent. Presentations at the event on textile printing inks, printing on polyester and ink curing are discussed.

The article discusses pre-treatment as the key to success in digital textile printing. According to the author, the most critical steps for ensuring that a final print has the required design aesthetics is the initial cloth preparation and subsequent pre-treatment prior to digital textile printing. Topics include an overview of why chemicals added to conventional textile-printing pastes can not be added to inkjet-ink formulations and digital textile pre-treatment applications.