The industry is pegged among the worst polluters in the world. According to the World Economic Forum, fashion and textiles make up 10 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. If that weren’t bad enough, more than 85 per cent of all textiles produced go into dumpsters each year.

The Harvard Business Review notes the industry is actually moving backwards, with reports indicating the call for sustainable fashion hasn’t translated into action during the past two decades. The manufacturing of shorts and shoes creates more waste than ever before, with 75 per cent of items produced ultimately being burned or buried in landfills.

What’s wrong?

So, why is material change not happening? Clearly a lack of widespread legislation to incentivize or force change is a key gap. One sliver of light is the recently proposed New York Fabric Act mandating the industry shape up or suffer the consequences. If passed, the legislation will require fashion retail sellers and manufacturers to fully disclose all environmental and social diligence policies.

A digital ID, a unique code existing as a twin both on the garment and in the cloud, allowing for universal traceability of products to slow down waste in the fashion industry is emerging in France.

Another good news is that the demand side of the market is likely to become a major driving force simply because mass customization, the velocity of changing consumer preferences, and the need to respond immediately will force more nearshore and onshore production.

Digital production is helping legacy fashion houses adopt nearshoring and eliminate supply chain disruptions.

Match the speed of culture

With the world experiencing a digital transformation like never before, culture is leading the way in change across industries. The digital-native generation has come of age, and their revolutionary mindset is making its presence felt.

Custom-designed fabrics provider called Spoonflower—now a subsidiary of Shutterfly—once spoke of an “Etsy army” that had populated their design library with 1.8 million digital creations, each of them ready to print on demand, to be fashioned into any number of do-it-yourself products.

Customers demand immediacy, capturing the moment as it’s experienced. Unfortunately, the one industry that has yet to catch up is fashion and apparel. That’s due to an analog supply chain built for the old way of production. At a popular fashion and textile sourcing event in New York, William Brenninkmeyer, global sourcing manager and lead of innovation at C&A, noted, “Chasing trends is impossible with an analog supply chain, where the lead time is six to eight months. But digital production technologies now enable on-demand fulfillment, so you can bring concepts to production to consumer in two days. It’s incredible.”

This new model is driven by digital production. Digital on-demand production are empowering producers to channel digital creator and consumer data encompassing buying behaviours, social media listening, and more into a fulfillment strategy – answers demand for a digital supply chain with greater agility and efficacy than the traditional 18-month forecast cycle. Further, it answers the sustainability imperative by aligning supply with demand, thus minimizing the waste that inevitably comes from forecast-based production. The approach also makes it possible to unleash customization and personalization for micro-communities and even the individual.

At the same conference, Aaron Day, CEO of Amaze Software, echoed these thoughts: “The analog supply chain was built to meet a certain need at a certain time, but that world has been disrupted by a cultural shift. When you account for all the associated costs, I think we’re nearing a tipping point where an on-demand t-shirt can be produced cheaper than one produced using a traditional printing press.”

For those entering the industry, adoption of digital processes might not be that difficult. Companies leading with digital production can fully embrace the power of ‘phygital’ technology, which bridges the gap between digitally created imagery and physical fulfillment of those concepts.

While these exciting technologies are a natural partner for brands with a considerable e-commerce footprint, the challenge is far greater for retailers whose sales model stays tethered to the fortunes of the physical, brick-and-mortar store. Consider European-based retail powerhouse C&A. Founded more than 180 years ago, with more than 1,200 physical locations worldwide, C&A embodies every attribute of powerful retail production. Yet, it is still vulnerable in the age of a web-driven ‘retail apocalypse.’ Counterintuitively, such a business sees considerable upside in web technologies. According to Brenninkmeyer, C&A is investing in digitization to drive ‘rightshoring’ for tailoring fulfillment strategies based on the most effective means of serving different customers and brands. Directly addressing the needs of a creator economy, on-demand, digital production makes it possible to digitize key pieces of their supply chains to adopt nearshoring more rapidly.

The same shift is playing out industry wide. Look no further than legacy brands like Nike and Gucci that are going all-in on NFTs and artificial intelligence. These brands realize this culture shift is demanding change in the way creators engage and produce. For them, it may not be a matter of adopting digital supply chains, but rather adopting pieces that work best for them. Companies are evaluating all new options on the table to avoid wasting time on things that won’t work, and zeroing in on technology that moves the needle the most.

The growing ecosystem of available digital technologies provides brands – from the designer who came of age in a digital world and dreams of establishing their own fashion label to the legacy retailer established before the advent of streetlights – with the capabilities to join and profit from the creator economy; deliver brilliant, uncompromising, high-quality physical goods; and better align demand with supply, eliminating overproduction waste. They can make the products people want, getting it into their hands faster, and minimizing the risks associated with today’s globalized marketplace. Finally, fashion is moving at the speed of digital culture.

Don Whaley is vice president at Kornit Digital Americas.

With the addition of a second print head, the new TxF300-75 demonstrates an increase in productivity by 300 per cent compared to the existing model.

This DTF printing system enables intricate designs on an expansive range of fabrics, from cotton, mixed textiles, polyester, and even darker shades.

The Apollo platform is built on Kornit’s Max technology and is a single-step solution for nearshore short- and medium-run apparel decoration. It is designed to decorate 400 unique garments per hour.

“The fashion and textile industry has remained at a crossroads – aware of its limitations but lacking a clear solution for moving from wasteful, inefficient production models,” said Ronen Samuel, CEO at Kornit Digital. “Offering a true platform for agile, high-throughput digital production on demand, Apollo transforms what apparel producers and brands can do. It empowers them to meet the creative inspirations and ever-changing demands of a global community with capabilities to fulfil those expectations, with quality, consistency, sustainability, and the necessary profitability to scale no matter what unforeseen trends await.”

The printer has a maximum printing speed of 550 m²/h. It also has a smaller footprint than conventional models, as the printed paper is re-diverted to the rear side of the machine, which has cut down the depth of the printer by approximately one-half.

Mimaki plans to officially launch the sale of the Tiger600-1800TS in fall 2023.

Traditional analog textile printing consumes a large amount of water, especially in the washing and steaming processes, and wastewater pollution due to fabric printing is a long-standing issue around the world. Additionally, waste resulting from the mass disposal of overstocked clothing is also an environmental concern, and the textile and apparel industries are under pressure to take immediate action toward alleviating this issue.

Kyocera’s new inkjet textile printer, Forearth, combines patented inkjet, ink, and printing equipment technology to hep solve these environmental problems.

It is an all-in-one printing system that uses new proprietary pigment ink, pre-treatment liquid, and finishing agent, which are constantly discharged in the same sequence from the inkjet head. This system eliminates the pre-and post-processes required of conventional dye printing and reduces water consumption.

Kornit Smart Curing is an intelligent and adaptive solution streamlining curing processes. Additionally, the introduction of Rapid SizeShifter eliminates direct-to-garment pallet changes typically required to address disparate applications.

Kornit’s Smart Curing solutions include Orion for mid-level production, and Titan for higher-capacity volumes, both optimized for compatibility with Kornit Atlas MAX systems. Kornit’s Rapid SizeShifter for Atlas MAX is an adjustable pallet that quickly adapts to disparate application requirements.

“With Smart Curing, we’re rounding out our end-to-end solutions, while enabling customers to globally mitigate energy waste and reduce operating costs. Rapid SizeShifter further advances ease-of-use and productivity for Atlas MAX users by enabling print size changeover in seconds while increasing application versatility,” said Chris Govier, president, EMEA, Kornit Digital.

The TxF150-75 is an inkjet printer with a maximum printing width of 80 cm for producing DTF print transfer sheets. The new PHT50 heat transfer pigment ink made for DTF applications consists of five colours (CMYK and white).

To overcome the ink ejection defects and white ink clogging that have plagued previous DTF printers, Mimaki has adopted a degassing ink design which employs aluminum packs to encase the ink, along with a white ink circulation function. This new printer also features Mimaki’s nozzle check unit and nozzle recovery system technologies to support stable operation.

What if their attire itself reflects a commitment to a worthwhile cause? That is the mindset driving organizations like RCGD Global and its Red Carpet Green Dress initiative, which promotes eco-consciousness in global fashion design and production. With the support of celebrities taking to the “red carpet” each awards season, the initiative partners with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to spotlight the cause of making fashion more sustainable.

Celebrities may have the platform to model sustainably made apparel for the world, but making sustainable apparel accessible—or the norm and the expectation—for consumers worldwide is the true objective, and one that may be closer than many think.

Reconciling the fashion world with demands for sustainable practices is an ongoing challenge, and one that presents no easy answers. The World Economic Forum estimates fashion and textiles are responsible for one-tenth of the world’s carbon emissions, with more than 85 per cent of all textiles produced headed to the dumpster annually. The Harvard Business Review suggests there have been no significant gains for sustainable fashion since 2000, pointing to the increased overproduction of footwear as an example. It’s well-established that textiles are one of the highest-polluting, most wasteful industries in the world, and measures such as the New York Fabric Act and European Union Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles reflect the continued struggle to proactively drive the industry toward a more responsible, accountable state.

Some companies are breaking the traditional production models, eliminating dependence on complex and vulnerable global supply chains, and streamlining the journey from creative concept to wearable garment to make the textile more sustainable.

Consider what the traditional fashion production model entails. A concept may take more than a year to reach the runway, and to bring a garment to the marketplace requires building inventory. Building that inventory requires stable or cost-controlled access to the necessary raw materials—supply chains subject to bottlenecks, tariffs, human or labour rights concerns, pandemics, acts of God, you name it. You hope to break even by selling enough merchandise to justify that inventory. When the fashion cycle turns, you’re marking down that inventory, with unsold goods ultimately being written off, donated, scrapped, or even burned. Essentially, you’ve gambled on the popularity of your creation, and losing means not only dwindling profit margins, but also, in many cases, a reputation for being a wasteful contributor to the problem. Ask Shein, H&M, or Burberry what that means. Overproduction isn’t sustainable as an environmental model, a business model, or a public relations model.

Digital on-demand production technology is already solving this problem for creators, brands, and fulfillers throughout the world, and that new reality is about to burst into the mainstream. E-commerce has long created a nearly unlimited array of options for the consumer, but a maturing ecosystem of digital technologies is doing the same for designers looking to fulfil their visions without compromise, brands looking to capture and capitalize on social trends the moment they’re perceptible, producers looking to create new products and tap new markets at will, and more. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and the Metaverse are giving designers and consumers alike new ways to engage each other, model concepts in real time, and “try on” any apparel virtually before committing to any one piece.

In addition to using pigment-based inks that meet several rigorous environmental standards (such as GOTS, OEKO-TEX Eco Passport, and Bluesign), on-demand print systems empower designers to bring their creations from concept to runway in mere weeks, with custom fabrics ready to use in minutes—perfect for sampling different materials and graphic effects. Production costs are low and consistent, so fulfilling orders of one or 1,000 yield reliable profit margins. The speed to market, supplemented by efficient workflow and visibility systems to ensure a streamlined, accountable pixel-to-parcel fulfillment process, means producing only what has been sold is a realistic business model, safeguarding operations against unforeseen disruptions, and enabling nearshoring or onshoring of operations to mitigate supply chain risks.

It’s one thing to discuss the mechanics of digital fashion production, but another to see just what the finished product can be. That’s why working alongside such organizations like Red Carpet Green Dress is key to highlighting what bold and beautiful creations may come of a process that delivers on the promise of a digital world—using less labour, less material, less energy, less time, and less space to shrink carbon footprints while demanding no compromises, and, in many cases, even introducing new graphic and tactile possibilities.

In the end, the award just might go to sustainable fashion on demand.

Don Whaley is vice-president of North America at Kornit Digital

Data from its latest expert study, “The Future of Dye Sublimation Printing to 2027,” show that in 2022 the world market reached a projected $13.06 billion. The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a radical shock to the market and enduring changes will help define this industry through the remainder of the decade. Smithers now forecasts the market will grow at an impressive 9.9 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through to 2027, pushing global demand to $20.93 billion in 2027, at constant prices.

Visual communications

Soft visual communications are the main application for wide-format dye sublimation print. With public events—concerts, sports matches and festivals, as well as industry trade shows—cancelled there was a corresponding drop in demand (–7.9 per cent) for flags, banners and other interior or exterior signage in the first year of the pandemic. These items typically have a short service life, and hence have recovered in line with the rescinding of lockdown orders, travel restrictions, and social distancing rules. Through 2022, most countries revised their attitudes to the newly dominant Omicron strain and shifted to managing COVID as an endemic health problem using vaccinations and isolation, which was reserved for the most vulnerable. The main exception to this was China, which maintained a strict zero-COVID policy well into Q4 2022; but is now attempting an accelerated return to a business-as-usual approach. 

These trends mean that in 2022 dye sub visual communications reached a projected $824 million worldwide and has a forecast CAGR of 9.5 per cent for the next five years.

North America and Western Europe, followed by fast-growing Asian markets, are the major consumers of dye sublimation printed articles in the visual communications and displays. For North America, the market is projected to be worth $275.6 million in 2022, with growth at 8.6 per cent CAGR driving regional demand to $415.6 million in 2027.

Market evolution

The primary attributes favouring dye sublimation printing techniques are colour fidelity and permanence, especially in outdoor installations.

Inkjet is the preferred technology for short turnaround, low-volume work, making it well suited to visual display print. Since such media are typically oriented toward local circumstances and events, rather than mass markets, most visual communications and displays items are produced near the point of use. This can most efficiently be completed by regional or local sign shops and commercial printers, using in-house dye sublimation printers.

This is now benefitting from the trend toward localisation and reshoring of some print work. The disruption of the pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains, especially those spanning the Pacific, with many major buyers now keener to buy and print locally.

The exception to this will be low-cost items with agreed formats and are not subject to change (e.g.national flags), which will continue to be mass-produced by textile companies and shipped internationally. 

Dye sub apparel printing is set to increase at a 10.7 per cent CAGR through to 2027. Photo © 2mmedia / Adobe Stock

Diversification

Some clothing types, especially swimwear and athletic wear has long made heavy use of dye sublimation print to deliver colour-fast moisture resistant garments. The market has since diversified into less specialised apparel, and several leading dye sub manufacturers have even teamed up with fashion labels to target haute couture goods. 

Another post-COVID trend that has directly boosted dye sublimation print is the frequency and familiarity with which consumers are ordering goods online. The example of Amazon Merch and similar businesses are showing the advantages of print-on-demand models for garment production and customisation, with faster order fulfilment, and less risk for retailers. Worth $5.60 billion in 2022, dye sub apparel printing is set to increase at a 10.7 per cent CAGR through to 2027.

There are few applications for wide-format presses in clothing. Home furnishings, the other major e-commerce boom segment for dye sub, has greater potential. Household dye sublimation print was worth $625.6 million in 2022 and is again benefitting from the increased interest in the online ordering of bespoke items. 

Many soft furnishings—cushions, furniture, bed linen, etc.—are best produced on smaller machines. There is potential for wider-format press operators in other sub-segments, such as wallpapers, decorative accent panels, wall hangings, and flooring laminates.

Carpeting is another element of this market, although hitherto dye sub systems have achieved a limited market share. This is because disperse dyes used in dye sublimation have difficulty binding to the polyamide (nylon) fibres that are used to make carpets.

Technical textiles are the smallest segment of the market and have the slowest growth. Many of these products, such as protective equipment and medical nonwovens, are unsuited to wide-format systems. 

There are some applications in sails, tents, awnings, and automotive upholstery. These sectors are also recovering at their own rates. Automotive printing is less accessible, as it is largely the preserve of a set of fewer specialist suppliers.

The market outlook for dye sublimation print in visual display media and other applications is examined and quantified authoritatively in the new Smithers study, “The Future of Dye Sublimation Printing to 2027.” This study is available to purchase now from Smithers. 

Visit www.smithers.com/en-gb/services/market-reports/printing/the-future-of-dye-sublimation-to-2027.     

John Nelson is an award-winning editor and journalist working in the market reports and consultancy business of Smithers where he covers market and technology developments across multiple segments including paper, packaging, sustainability, inks, and printing. He can be reached via email at jnelson@smithers.com.  

Cravings for one-of-a-kind T-shirts and more among millennials, GenX and others has recently caused the on-demand direct-to-garment digital printing model to explode in popularity.

Printing companies are eager to incorporate this revenue stream into their businesses, but without the right technology, they will not achieve success. In fact, with inferior technology, printing companies put themselves at extreme risk of damaging their reputations and losing business.

However, with the latest proven technology—built on years of industry-leading system engineering and design—companies can delve into superior on-demand digital textile printing to take their revenue to the next level.

Kornit Digital’s Atlas MAX system is the new quality standard for high-volume, low-volume or one-off DTG (direct-to-garment) textile production. Among its wide set of improved capabilities, it offers an additional competitive advantage with the use of Kornit’s XDi 3D decorative applications.

The Atlas MAX requires minimal setup and offers outstanding print quality and speed. It provides a smooth hand-feel, even with ink-heavy impressions, matched with industry-leading advanced colour-matching and a wide colour gamut.

Printing companies achieve excellent, consistent results on demand, which is the need of discerning customers and leading brands.

Endless possibilities

Dr. Seuss and Winnie & Friends are some of the leading brands printed by the Life is Good Company in New Hampshire.

The company has had several Atlas MAX since late 2021 and the team has been very happy with the purchase, enabling them to further expand into digital print-on-demand.

“Digital printing allows us to offer an unlimited number of graphics on our website,” says Mike Bertini, director of production, “where customers can choose their own custom T-shirts and sweatshirts.”

In Bertini’s view, there are four aspects critical in digital printing success, and Kornit technology delivers on all fronts.

“You need excellent colour vibrancy, and the ‘hand feel’ of the print can’t be super thick or rough on the fabric,” he says. “The printed graphic also must be durable, withstanding numerous wash and wear cycles. It’s also critical that colour accuracy across a wide gamut is achieved.”

Paired with Kornit’s NeoPigment Eco-Rapid ink, fixation-on-the-fly (Q.fix) and Intensifier, the Atlas MAX provides advanced, eco-friendly production on multiple fabric types.

The Atlas MAX is also very fast, allowing the Life is Good Company to get orders into the hands of customers as quickly as possible.

“With DTG, most if not all other systems on the market require the garment to be pre-treated,” says Bertini. “With Kornit, it’s a one-step process, so there’s much less labour and profits are much higher. And the Atlas MAX has a printing speed that’s also faster than anything else on the market.”

A chance to expand customer base

When Snuggle Printing in the U.K. got their Atlas MAX, it doubled their capacity from 60 units per hour per system to 120.

“Demand was growing more and more for T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies, especially on dark colours, and this allowed us to meet that demand and be able to increase our quality as well as the vibrancy of the colours,” says owner Shabbir Maimoon.

Snuggle Printing has expanded its customer base to encompass embroidery houses, screen printers, and promotional houses seeking fast, high-quality digital DTG production on demand. They’ve added additional production space to accommodate their growing fleet of Kornit Digital DTG systems, which includes Kornit Avalanche HD6, Atlas and the latest, Atlas MAX.

“When we found out they were releasing the Atlas MAX, we couldn’t have been more excited,” says Maimoon.

In particular, Maimoon is impressed with Q.fix and Intensifier of the Atlas MAX 3D printing system.

“They allow the prints to be a lot more opaque, so you’ve got a better white, a more consistent white, especially on difficult-to-print garments,” he explains. “Especially the 50 per cent cotton, 50 per cent polyester blend, which before would not look so great, and now you’ve got amazing-looking white, amazing-looking colours.”

Bertini and his colleagues have also been very pleased with Kornit’s customer service. “The technical staff is very good and very responsive,” he says. “It’s never a worry that we’ll get sufficient support with any issue.”

Explore the possibilities of the Atlas MAX and stand out from the crowd, alongside each and every one of your unique customers.

DTG is booming largely due to the sharp increase in internet shopping and the ongoing trends of personalization and customization, as well as corresponding advances in DTG printing technology. Companies like Shopify and Printify have made it easy for creators to set up online stores. The internet’s reach eliminates the need to know an industry person to locate garment production companies. Nowadays, DTG is accessible and affordable, and online companies can sell one-off custom T-shirts for as little as $20.

Manufacturers have responded with faster, easier-to-use, and more flexible DTG printer options. The newest large-format printers allow short-run, custom and high-volume production of an extensive range of products, easily meeting the challenges of a busy shop. 

Some of these printers can do the work of three standard DTG printers, with flexible production requiring only one operator.

All of these factors mean there is a wide range of benefits to adding DTG print capability to your business. Here are my top three reasons for considering a large-format DTG printing system.

1) One-stop shop capability

Graphics production shops these days are often asked to provide short-run and custom apparel as part of branding packages for their clients. These projects are typically too small for a traditional screen printer to cost-effectively produce. In addition to reducing the headaches of outsourcing, print service providers appreciate the benefits of becoming a one-stop shop for their customers—it’s hard to watch a client walk away in order to get a service elsewhere.

Beyond their existing clients, there’s another market that print professionals with DTG capability can serve: Service bureaus and large clothing manufacturers who want to print their internal designs on demand. By outsourcing their on-demand printing, these companies can profitably sell their custom apparel graphics to clients and the public via web and brick-and-mortar outlets.

Today’s large-format DTG printers allow graphics professionals to provide a variety of products that help set their shop apart and improve their bottom line, while keeping existing clients happy and attracting new clients. With in-house production comes faster turnarounds and better quality control, plus reduced production costs versus screen printing or outsourcing short-run or custom jobs.

Large-format DTG printers allow graphics professionals to provide a variety of products that help them stand apart from competitors.

2) Moving beyond the T-shirt

Both in terms of profitability and product differentiation, the market is clearly moving beyond simple custom T-shirt production. The newest DTG printers offer users the flexibility to print on higher margin products, such as towels, backpacks, jeans, jackets, and blankets. This versatility also helps shops offer a more diverse product line. Recent years have brought innovations in inks, pre-treatment options, platen, and software capabilities. 

When equipped with a variety of platen sizes, the newest DTG printers provide users the freedom to instantly scale up to high-volume production or produce short-runs and specialty items. Additionally, today’s printers allow a variety of fabrics including richer materials like cotton and tri-blends, which normally require a larger size platen. With flexible production printers, print service providers can also print directly on manufactured items such as tablecloths or prefabricated jerseys.

3) Easy workflow integration

Today’s DTG printers are designed to be easier than ever to use and maintain. The workflow and user interface are more intuitive, allowing successful use by anyone from novices to pros. Additionally , modern DTG printer software can integrate into almost all internal barcoding systems. It can either directly read the barcode, which can load the file and set up the platen, or companies can set up an automated system through the software. Either method creates a more efficient workflow while minimizing operator errors.

Exploring your options

With rising demand for short-run and specialty printed apparel and fabrics, the future is bright for DTG printing. Offering simplified workflows and more powerful and versatile production, the newest DTG printing technology provides easy and innovative ways for businesses to expand their product line and satisfy clients. The ability to print on larger and thicker items gives print shop owners a range of product options to potentially increase their revenues and set themselves apart from competition.

Today’s DTG printers offer plenty of opportunity and profit potential for print professionals. Take a look at the benefits these new, powerful DTG printers and their expanded capabilities can bring to your business.    

Kitt Jones is co-creation product manager at Roland DGA.

An edited version of this article originally appeared in the November/December 2022 issue of PrintAction.

DTG makes the ability to place a photograph, a complex design or a scan of your child’s latest finger painting on fabric a very affordable and exciting reality for individual consumers, companies and organizations alike. Beyond printing on garments like T-shirts and hoodies, DTG machines can print on pillow cases, canvas pieces for wall art, shoulder bags, high-cut running shoes, curtains, hats, napkins and any other fabric surface you can think of.

Indeed, “the opportunities are endless,” says Sharon Donovich, product marketing manager at Kornit Digital. “With the trends and market challenges today, whether excessive inventory, time to market, prices of shipment from remote locations, social media influence or the need for sustainable solutions, the technology and business models must be disruptive and innovative. [With DTG], this can include opportunities for anyone really, from a business that needs a promotional T-shirt to personalized gifts, brand shoppers, e-commerce businesses, print service providers and more.”

DTG, says Donovich, can also supplement screen printing or heat transfer for the medium/small/one-off orders that will not be profitable with other technologies, in addition to handling complicated designs and specialized applications like printing on zippers or buttons.

“There are many benefits,” she explains, “including ability to print short runs or one-offs in no time, in every shape and colour, quickly and sustainably with safe inks – and only after the finished piece has already been purchased.”

DTG enables printers to photo-realistically recreate images and memes resulting from events, causes and thought leadership in real time. Photo courtesy SinaLite

A changing market

Robert Zoch, Kornit’s global content manager, adds that no matter where you are situated in the printing industry, “you’ve undoubtedly been impacted by commerce migrating to the internet. It is an ideal time to introduce efficient, eco-friendly, digital DTG printing.” He adds that during the pandemic, in many cases, on-demand printing shops repurposed their production floor using DTG technology to supply customized face masks and fulfil other unforeseen needs.

Zoch notes that the garment printing market has been evolving for some time from a focus on brick-and-mortar retail stores to e-commerce. In fact, e-commerce doubled its total volume over the last 10 years during just a three-month period in 2020, he says.

“By 2024, it’s predicted that two-thirds of apparel in the U.S. will be purchased online,” Zoch adds. “DTG is capable of delivering imprinted gear at the speed today’s buyers have come to expect. Further, available workflow solutions offer end-to-end visibility and control, integrating point of sale, product catalogs, production floor and shipping logistics to enable streamlined, cost-effective operations and superior customer experience.”

Zoch also stresses the importance of another trend driving DTG growth that Donovich touched on: the strong desire among today’s consumers to express themselves like never before via social media and in person. “Fast fashion, micro-moments and instant gratification are the norm,” Zoch explains. “DTG means you can produce to meet demand resulting from events, causes and thought leadership in real-time and recreate images and memes in photorealistic detail. Any inspiration appearing on Etsy can appear on a garment, and DTG fulfillers can meet that need for private creators and creative online entrepreneurs.”

DTG makes every order profitable, he says, and removes all restrictions in terms of a printing firm having to say no to any job. Screen printing handles the large, low-colour jobs, while DTG manages complex designs in any colour in any quantity, on multiple fabrics as needed, and all for a low and consistent cost. He notes that he’s visited countless print businesses that have grown at a staggering pace by supplementing e-commerce with DTG production even during the pandemic-induced recession in 2020.

Sinalite’s journey

At its 100,000-sf facility in Markham, Ont., wholesale family-owned printer Sinalite “strictly services the print industry with apparel products,” explains vice-president Brian Meshkati. “So, the customers buying apparel from us are print brokers, sign shops and commercial print shops. They’re looking to expand their existing print product selection to their customers by offering custom apparel to them as well. We give our customers the ability to test the market, so they don’t need to risk investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on apparel equipment. They receive orders from their customers, order from us and mark it up to profit. If they see that the demand is there and want to invest in equipment later on, they can.”

Meshkati says compared to commercial printing, the custom apparel printing market is growing at a substantially higher rate. While researching this type of printing, he and his colleagues found a report published by Grand View Research which stated that in 2018, the global market for custom apparel had been worth over USD26 billion, with an expected compound growth rate of over 10 per cent every year to 2025.

At present, those ordering from Sinalite our print brokers. These brokers are ordering on behalf of their customers spanning various industries including landscapers and property management companies, construction contractors, retailers and restaurants. “We also see a lot of orders for personal use that allows customers to express themselves, and they can buy a single shirt,” says Meshkati. “In terms of garments, we print a variety of items. T-shirts are the most popular, followed by hoodies. We also print on sweatshirts, long sleeve shirts and tank tops. We actually saw increased custom apparel sales after the pandemic hit. We got over four times the usual number of T-shirt orders.”

Sinalite purchased its first DTG printer (a Kornit Digital ‘Storm,’ intended for sub-500 runs) a couple of years ago and during fall 2021, added a Kornit Digital Avalanche HD6. Meshkati says they’d found the Storm “a great machine in terms of quality.” Sinalite went with Kornit again because the machines do not require workers to take an additional pre-treating step. “We got the Avalanche to take on the higher volumes we were getting,” he explains. “We get a mix of single-piece runs, but also some orders that are in the hundreds of pieces, so it’s good to be able to do both.”

A quick look at the tech

Among the other DTG printers on the market, Brother, Omniprint, Roland and Epson each offer different machines for various volumes/purposes. Brother has a video to help calculate ROI using basic and more complex factors on the purchase of a DTG printer. You can watch the video at https://vimeo.com/497738246.

Every company is constantly innovating to bring improved products to market, including more automation features. As a specific example, in terms of how Kornit machines have evolved and what new capabilities will be added, Donovich reports that in 2021 they introduced ‘MAX’ technology that provides higher quality with high-volume orders. In addition, the company’s XDi Technology enables embossed applications, mainly digital embroidery simulation, high-density embellishments and ‘heat transfer’ look and feel.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2022 issue of PrintAction.

After installing their new Tajima machinery and digitization software, SinaLite ran a number of tests to ensure “consistent, high quality results” before launching their new line of embroidered products.

SinaLite offers a variety of headwear items from brands like Yupoong, Flexfit, and Sportsman. They are embroidered with 100 per cent polyester threads.

Quotes can be generated on SinaLite’s website once the client is logged in. Each quoted price includes unlimited stitches and thread colour changes. Clients are also able to see a realistic mockup of the item with their embroidered design, along with the digitization fee and shipping cost, before they add an item into their cart. More information is available on their product page.

There are two main applications of printing on fabric: DTG and textile printing. Through DTG, one is transferring a design to a pre-existing garment, such as a T-shirt or football jersey. This may be done in many ways including via a conventional silk screen, a thermal transfer process or directly by inkjet onto a specific garment.

Another growing category is printing of the textile or fabric that is later cut and sewed into shirts and skirts, bed spreads, cushions or curtains.

In both, we may consider the advantage of a digital workflow (i.e. shorter print runs, easy prototyping and using the same material for proofing and production).

Growing areas of business

Author and marketing consultant Cary Sherburne describes how “new manufacturing operations are stepping up to the challenge of delivering apparel on demand. Since labour rates in Asia are lower than in the West, manufacturers in North America must leverage technology to compete, and that’s what many of these relatively new businesses—often called microfactories—are currently doing.”

Direct-to-garment and textile workflows have many familiar steps from client brief and colour swatches to creative design and production. Photos courtesy Abhay Sharma

Adobe Textile Designer plug-in

In early 2020, Adobe released in beta version a Photoshop plug-in called Textile Designer that provided a link from creative designers to the DTG market. It was popular and used widely until the beta program closed in June 2020. In June 2021, Adobe announced a partnership with Aquario Design and NedGraphics to deliver Adobe Textile Designer technology as a plugin from Aquario.

Adobe’s plug-in points to the benefits of a PDF workflow, the same benefits that we’ve been enjoying in print, such as the ability to have separate ICC colour profiles for different parts of the artwork, resolution-independent vector or bitmapped graphics, and to store the cutting/dieline information in the same file.

Previously, Adobe generously provided the PDF (and TIFF) specification to the print community, and since 2008, the specification has been an open, international standard—ISO 32000—to be freely used and implemented by all parties. An important concept that we learn from VDP and direct mail is the efficient use of repeating elements. An AirMiles or Aeroplan mailing has a fixed number of holiday locations, which are repeated to thousands of recipients. Part of the PDF standard is support for caching of repeating graphical elements to reduce the file size and processing time. For fabric printing with long pattern repeats, we can thus borrow an important caching technology used everyday in the direct mail environment and in VDP.

A single PDF file can contain both the CMYK print information and the associated dieline cutting pattern.

Pantone swatches

Most printers are aware of the Pantone Formula Guide with around 2000 colour swatches. The books are printed on coated and uncoated paper to closely mimic the type of paper you may be using and ensure a closer colour match. Of course, we need to use fabric swatches for fabric printing, so Pantone has a growing division called Fashion, Home + Interiors (FHI). Akin to the original coated and uncoated formula guides for printing, the fabric swatches are printed on cotton, polyester and nylon.

“Our colour system centres on the Pantone Swatch Card that is made on double-layered fabric and has been formulated for colour fastness and colour constancy. Cotton is the industry standard substrate as well as the best substrate to represent colour for multiple fabrics. The swatches are made here at our headquarters in Carlstadt, N.J., where the colours are formulated, dyed, treated and conditioned. They are evaluated and approved by our textile quality manager. Then they are packaged and put into stock for all our clients worldwide,” explained Tannese Williams, product manager, Pantone.

The Pantone swatch card is produced to within a 0.5 Delta E tolerance to ensure colour consistency and is provided with spectral data. The reference illuminant in textiles is D65, so the Pantone swatches are measured with CIE Illuminant D65, compared to D50 that is commonly used in North American printing.

Zazzle.com

We need a connection between the customer/client, designer and design software and a file format that can contain and communicate the design and colour data in an unambiguous manner. We need the ability to direct the output at different resolutions (S, M, L, XL, XXL), have printing equipment to print the correct colours and finishing technology to cut and finish the item.

While there are many solutions on the market, Adobe has partnered with Zazzle.com for your baby grow, T-shirt or bachelorette parties. Just like we have RIPs and workflows in the print space, we have dedicated software for apparel printing that’s similar to the Apogee, Esko, Prinect and Prinergy systems. In DTG printing, the software systems tend to be smaller, nimbler and more fun. In textile printing, the software may assist the user in developing the pattern, including 0.75, 1, or 1.5 spacing on the repeat, any “gutters” the repeat makes and “ganging up” for optimum use of material.

While seeing your design on a T-shirt is fun, there is also a serious business model and commercial opportunity in this field. It is a possibility due to a growing number of printing and finishing systems that make DTG printing fast, efficient and affordable.

Abhay Sharma is a professor at Graphic Communications Management, the Creative School, Ryerson University, Toronto.

The new system will make its live debut at Kornit Fashion Week Los Angeles + Industry 4.0 Event, which is scheduled to held from November 2 to 5.

“Presto MAX will change the textile industry forever, transforming digital into the catalyst for modernizing the business, breaking the barriers between imagination and physical applications, connecting consumers and fulfillers on a global scale, and truly capitalizing on digital’s promise for delivering both sustainability and profitability, free of waste,” said Ronen Samuel, CEO, Kornit Digital. “Whether your business is finished goods or ready-to-use custom fabrics, growing your own brand or supplying the world’s retailers and entrepreneurs, this technology represents the cutting edge of on-demand, unconstrained textile production, in terms of both capability, accessibility and sustainability. Kornit empowers producers to create more with less, shrink their carbon footprint and deliver unlimited expression while creating new opportunities and growth.”

Kornit Presto Max is the first digital print system to offer white printing on coloured fabrics, enhancing decoration capabilities for dark coloured fabrics more broadly. It is a single-step solution for direct-to-fabric printing. The system is ready to incorporate future iterations and evolutions of Xdi technology—3D decorative applications to produce threadless embroidery, high-density, vinyl, screen transfer and other effects.

Kornit Presto Max is compatible with natural fabrics, synthetics and blends, and includes advanced algorithms for smart autonomous calibration. The system was devised for compatibility with the KornitX global fulfillment ecosystem to enable anywhere, anytime production.

A sliding baseplate and platen flatbed operation give users the flexibility to customize a wide variety of cotton and cotton-blend products, including specialty apparel items, accessories, gifts and interior décor. The XT-640S offers a digital workflow with pre-defined print environments. A separate control tower with touchpad controls, CADlink Digital Factory Apparel Software and customer barcode reading, allow for easy integration into current production workflows.

The XT-640S’ 63 x 54 in. flatbed with a Z height of 8 in. lets you customize items like towels, blankets, jeans, jackets and décor. It uses CMYK and high-density White INKU Eco Passport Certified DTG inks.

“Our new Texart XT-640S direct-to-garment printer fulfils a truly unique market niche,” said Roland DGA senior product manager Lily Hunter. “This versatile, easy-to-use machine not only enables users to print directly on a wide variety of apparel and accessory items, it also allows screen print businesses and other types of operations to accept a broader range of jobs. They can print small batches quickly with low operational costs, but they also have the continuous printing capabilities to accommodate large production runs.”

The Avinci CX3200 engine enables sign printing companies to create textile prints of up to 3.2 m wide at a production speed of up to 270 m²/h. The engine uses eco-friendly, odourless water-based dye sublimation inks to print either directly to fabric or to transfer paper.

Being able to print directly to fabric is easy and ideally suited for fast handling of soft signage applications, such as banner displays, wall graphics and point-of-sales or trade show displays, as well as for special applications requiring print-through, such as flags. Transfer paper, in turn, allows for super sharp prints, eliminates any set-off, and limits media waste to a minimum. Additionally, it extends the application scope to sportswear and fashion garments, as well as home décor prints on non-coated polyester fabrics.

Philip Van der Auwera, wide-format marketing manager at Agfa, said, “The market demand for soft signage keeps growing, as it is lightweight, resistant to wrinkles and folding, and easy to transport and reuse. The Avinci CX3200 will meet the needs of existing textile printing companies, as well as enable sign and display printers to diverge into textile printing and bring in new business. We designed it to be fit for high productivity and maximum uptime. It is extremely robust and reliable, as well as easy to operate.”

At the heart of the Durst P5 Tex iSub is the integrated inline fusing for direct printing on polyester fabrics.

“The Durst P5 Tex iSub is operated by only one operator, and the process acceleration also increases our customers’ ability to deliver,” said Andrea Riccardi, head of product management, Durst Group AG.

The P5 Tex iSub is not limited to direct printing. Transfer papers can also be printed and processed in the usual way. The maximum print speed is 383 m²/hour when the 330 cm print format is fully utilized.

A unique feature of the P5 Tex iSub is contactless fusing. The contactless technology ensures colour consistency as well as sharp images and text.

A key feature of Kornit’s Max technology is XDi, which delivers 3D capabilities for new, high-density graphic decoration that can simulate embroidery, vinyl and heat transfer in a single, waste-free digital process.

Kornit also debuted the ActiveLoad Automation technology, a new robotic system to ease the burden of manual and labour-intensive media handling in the textile decoration industry. This increases total output per shift while ensuring minimal downtime and exceptional reliability.

The first product with Max technology is now commercially available in the Kornit Atlas Max, a carbon-neutral, industrial-scale DTG production system.  An upgrade to the Kornit Atlas systems will be available during the first quarter of 2022.

“Kornit’s new Max capabilities bring sustainable on-demand production to the mainstream. We plan to roll out the Max technology to additional lucrative market segments, such as team sports, athleisure, diverse categories of fashion and home décor applications,” said Omer Kulka, Kornit digital CMO.

“The industrial-level SureColor F10070H enables producers to support just-in-time digital production, eliminating the need for stockpiling garments and allowing shops to easily replenish weekly demand. Moreover, the SureColor F10070H is one of the fastest in its price point and costs about half the price of competitive solutions available today,” said Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America.

The SureColor F10070H comes equipped with easy-to-use Epson Edge workflow software featuring an Adobe PostScript 3 engine for colour management, smart nesting, pattern repeats and more. The printer also comes with Epson Cloud Solution PORT, providing a live view of the printer fleet including production rates and printer utilization to optimize workflow.

Created in 2005, Takedown began as a supplier to the wrestling market, and has grown its e-commerce operation with the use of sublimation, embroidery and cut-and-sew technologies. In 2020, their product line grew to include imprinted facial masks and other personal protective equipment—a recent adaptation among sportswear and other apparel manufacturers following COVID-19 market disruptions.

Takedown turned to Kornit Digital to maximize their impending growth of new and exciting demand on web business long-term.

“We are very excited to have this new Kornit system up and running,” said Dustin Kawa, CEO of Takedown. “At Takedown, it’s always our highest priority to provide our clients with exceptional service utilizing the latest printing technology.”

The installation was designed in a collaborative process between MKTG and PNH Solutions to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Adidas’ Superstar shoe. The 15-foot-by-15-foot brand activation was installed at the shopping mall on Feb. 21, 2020, with the event held from Feb. 22 to 23. The installation’s print, fabrication (welding, millwork, LED lighting), installation and decommission [of the project] was managed by PNH.

PHOTO: FOOT LOCKER CANADA

“PNH Solutions completed both the installation and decommission process with two people from its team,” says Katherine Hudon, marketing coordinator at PNH Solutions. “While the installation took about five hours, the decommission took around three hours.”

The idea

PHOTOS: JAKE CLEMENTS, MKTG

Because Adidas was celebrating an important milestone, Hudon says MKTG wanted to highlight the value of the brand’s Superstar shoe through its importance in culture and history. The aim was to create a powerful brand experience to increase foot traffic to the nearby Foot Locker store, create an online buzz on social media, and ultimately drive sales.

“Through a collaborative process, PNH Solutions, led by Carlos de la Rosa’s creative direction, and MKTG developed an activation with a bank vault and museum-inspired display cases to present the shoes as products worth protecting and preserving,” explains Hudon.

The installation

To further this point, PNH designed and built a photo booth to look like a bank vault and added lit-up podiums where it would display the Superstar shoes. The podiums were battery-operated, allowing the public to walk around them freely without the risk of tripping on wires.

PNH drew attention to the installation using an original concept with a lenticular wall featuring frontlit graphics, visible from different levels of the mall. Hudon says the addition of the lenticular wall further encouraged passersby to double-take and walk around the display to identify both images.

Once the public was on the site of the installation, they were treated to a live DJ and were able to get their photo taken inside the main structure by a professional photographer; they were later able to share those photos on social media with different hashtags.

The installation featured a double-sided silicone edge graphic (SEG) Fabric Lightbox on the ceiling, providing ambient lighting for the photographer on one side and advertisement on the other that was visible from higher stories in the mall. The SEG fabric frames will also allow Adidas to easily replace the graphics present for future campaigns, if desired.

To further entice customers to visit the nearby Foot Locker store and encourage sales, on-site brand ambassadors were promoting prizes with purchases.

PNH printed most of the graphics for the installation, from both the inside and outside walls on the main structure to the lenticular wall, on fabric. They did this using a dye-sublimation process on the Durst Rhotex 320. The remainder of the visuals featuring the campaign’s branding were printed on polymer flooring materials using the Durst Rho 900.

The reception

According to Hudon, the activation was well-received by the public, MKTG and Adidas. In fact, The Adidas Group was so impressed that it kept the products used in the installation to display within the main lobby of its Canadian headquarters.

“Thank you for everyone on the team that had a hand in making this come to life! The feedback from our client and from consumers on the ground was exceptional,” says Jake Clements, manager – Live at MKTG. “We are thrilled with how we made the concept come to life from start to finish. Despite the tight timelines, we were able to work together to deliver on stakeholder expectations. We appreciated the effort, attention and, most importantly, the teamwork that led to the final product.”

This article was originally published in the January/February 2021 issue of PrintAction.

The Panthera JR is designed to be a more affordable version of the original Panthera S4-1.8m and 3.2m models. Panthera S4 printing systems feature 2x CMYK ink configuration. The optional eight-colour ink configuration provides sharper images, more vibrant colours and richer blacks.

The Panthera JR has four i3200 Epson print heads that achieve speeds of up to 1,900 square feet per hour. Panthera printing systems feature a specially-developed print head controller that provides better precision and print quality, along with an anti-crash system on the carriage to protect the print heads from incorrectly hitting the transfer paper. The machine’s roll-to-roll feeding system helps eliminate paper waste, and can even print directly on fabric, in certain applications.

Panthera printers generally require less cleaning and less maintenance requirements. The Panthera JR features a touchscreen operation with an advanced remote-control panel.

The TS100-1600 is an entry-level, high-performance sublimation printer that meets a diverse range of on-demand production. It provides operators with the ability to produce highly detailed, photographic quality prints with a wide array of colours, gradient capabilities and tonal quality with print speeds up to 753 feet per hour.

These sublimation printers can also now use one-liter bottled ink that will help reduce running costs by about half when compared with conventional models, and means less frequent ink replacement.

The printer ships with RasterLink7 and is supported by TxLink4. It has a number of features including Nozzle Check Unit (NCU)2, Nozzle Recovery System (NRS)3, and Mimaki Advanced Pass System 4 (MAPS4).

The TS100-1600 comes with the recent Dot Adjustment System (DAS) feature, which offers automatic alignments to ensure consistent quality. The DAS also frees up time by performing common adjustments automatically.

The Tiger-1800B Mk III is a new high-speed textile production printer featuring the new Mimaki Printer Controller (MPC), a touch-screen operation software that allows faster operation and tighter control of production and quality.

This printer includes the Nozzle Recovery System (NRS) and MAPS4 to ensure consistent, stable and quality printing. 10GB-T Ethernet is also supported for efficiently loading large production jobs.

The Tiger-1800B Mk III combines high productivity with a maximum print speed of 4,144 feet per hour and long operating stability. It features 10kg ink tanks for increased runtimes and lower running costs, allowing customers to choose between high-speed printing for productivity, or high-quality printing for finer detail. Depending on ink type and print mode, four different droplet sizes are available.

In addition, the TxLink4 high-performance RIP software also supports this printer, allowing increased productivity and 16-bit rendering for smoother and more beautiful gradations.

Moving on up

2nd Skin offers direct-to-garment printing, vinyl transfer, sublimation printing and laser engraving divisions. The acquisition of Id pro significantly increased 2nd Skin’s production capacity, allowing the printer to run nine automatic screen-printing presses out of its new 17,000-square-foot plant. Now the company is able to produce 25,000 prints per shift, compared to its previous capacity of 5,000 pieces per day. Plus, following the acquisition, its range of services improved upon what Id pro was able to offer its distributor clients before the acquisition.

”Our goal was to become one of the biggest screen printers in Canada,” says Rémy Vézina, the owner of 2nd Skin. “With this acquisition, we will do direct sales and sales for distributors with Id pro. With our nine presses, we will be able to manage a huge capacity of production.”

In addition to the acquisition, 2nd Skin also purchased new embroidery equipment to enhance the services offered, increasing the number of embroidery heads from 13 to 19. The company has also started introducing automation of its processes, in an effort to optimize production and provide employees with a more advanced work environment.

Vézina says that the company plans to maintain all staff from both companies, a total of 42 employees. The move to the new building coincides with the consolidation of locations where employees do screen printing, embroidery, vinyl transfer and direct-to-garment work.

Beyond the pandemic

2nd Skin, like all businesses operating out of Quebec, had to close its doors in March for the COVID-19 lockdown, but the company only stayed shuttered for 12 days. The business was allowed to reopen because it had contracts with grocery stores to produce social distancing t-shirts. They also started working on the sale of face masks when they reopened.

Now that the company is back at work, running at full capacity following the COVID-19 shutdown, Vézina says that they’re doing more work related to social distancing, including the aforementioned t-shirts.

“We got a big contract of 45,000 t-shirts for grocery store staff, asking people to keep their distance,” he says. “We will also be doing some floor graphics, banners and things like that.”

Now that the worst of COVID-19 may be (hopefully) behind us, Vézina says the company has undergone several steps to prepare for the recovery. For one, Vézina says all of 2nd Skin’s sales and administrative staff has been working from home since the start of the shutdown. Meanwhile, production staff have been able to work staggered shifts to limit interaction while at work and on break or mealtimes.

In addition, Vézina says the company has deployed signs to remind employees to wash their hands, and has provided extra sanitizing materials to keep areas clean and germ-free.

Vézina is hopeful about what the pandemic’s hygienic necessities mean for businesses in the future, however. “When you have over 40 employees, and you have a flu epidemic, you have three weeks where you’re short-staffed or some staff is overworked,” he says. “With this, this new normal with washing our hands and signs, maybe there will be fewer epidemics in the future, and more productivity.”

Achieving goals

Looking forward, Vézina believes the pandemic will impact sales long-term. “I think everybody wants a shortcut, but you need three things for sales: the deals, the quality and the price. The bigger printers have the capacity to offer the best deals. If you offer the best deal, you can provide better prices or better quality with better equipment,” he explains. “We’re offering all three, while most businesses only offer two. If you offer quality and deals, you don’t have the price. I think that the future is going to see that big business can offer the best deals and respectable quality for a good price.”

The company recently launched a sales platform online in January, and plans to invest more in its web solution. Currently, 2nd Skin’s website is only offered in French, but the company plans to launch an English site soon.

“We want to take the markets in all of Canada, not only in Quebec,” says Vézina. It looks like 2nd Skin is well on its way.

This article was originally published in the September 2020 issue of PrintAction. 

“Americans are starting new businesses and shifting their product offerings at the fastest rate in more than a decade,” said Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. “As creative entrepreneurs and small businesses transition to meet new opportunities in a reshaped economy, there is an increased demand for entry-level dye-sublimation technology that allows customers to easily and confidently create and sell products.”

The purpose-built dye-sublimation printer delivers professional-quality prints using PrecisionCore technology. The printer comes with Epson dye-sublimation ink technology, a 150-sheet auto-feed tray and macOS and Windows print software, but requires no specialist knowledge to set up, operate or maintain.

The SureColor F170 uses high-performance ink technology with Oeko-Tex Eco Passport certified inks, which have been determined safe for use by adults, children and babies when applied to fabric and appropriately fixed. The ink bottles have auto-stop technology that allows for easy refilling without a mess. The SureColor F170 works with Epson DS Transfer Multi Use Paper, instant dry paper that avoids smudges and roller marks.

The printer features standard staggered dual head design to provide high quality and print speeds. It is available in four-colour (CMYK) and seven-colour (CMYK, Lc,Lm,Lk) configurations for DH21.

The XpertJet platform includes all new features designed to enhance the user experience, workflow and output quality, including new features to improve transport and printing of thinner papers. The XpertJet was designed to output various types of dye sublimation, including textile, hard surfaces, personalized products, signage and more.

New features of the XpertJet 1682WR include:

• Sleek, modern black cover design featuring easy maintenance access
• Automatic bi-directional alignment with built-in sensor
• Touch panel that only displays keys necessary for desired functions
• Internal LED lighting to easily monitor print status
• LED warning indicators for each ink cartridge slot
• Mutoh Status Monitor (MSM) to check the printer’s operation status in real time. MSM Mobile provides monitoring using a smartphone or tablet
• Media Feed Flange Design allows quick loading of media and exchanging of multiple rolls when flanges have been mounted in advance
• Hi-Torque Media Flange option for thin, lightweight papers
• Pressure Roller System to manually select and engage individual pressure rollers to minimize cockling

“We’ve kept the core components that makes Mutoh dye sub printers strong and reliable while adding new technologies that make the printer easier to use,” said Randy Anderson, product manager for Mutoh.

The XpertJet 1682WR is available now for pre-order through an authorized Mutoh reseller and will start shipping out this month.

The company will be an authorized re-seller of the Ricoh Ri 1000 Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printer as well as other new products and services, which will be announced early next year.

“This new venture will focus primarily on the customer. Our aim is to do more than sell businesses a new tool or printer,” said Karl Tipre. “We’ll provide a full-solution business opportunity that connects customers to field-service options and other printer operators, allowing users to share and receive jobs.”

The DTG Connection team’s over 30 yeas of combined experience in DTG printing will allow the company to use its knowledge of customer needs to provide an excellent experience for Ricoh Ri 1000 owners.

To celebrate the launch of the new company, DTG Connection has a special offer for customers: every Ricoh Ri 1000 purchase will now include a free 16” x 20” heat press and will be shipped for free.

The printer produces wash-resistant and vibrant tagless images on cotton, nylon, polyester, denim, fleece, spandex and ribbed textiles, according to the company. According to Boston Industrial Solutions, the S150’s process is superior to tagless pad printing because of the ability to print bright white images on dark substrates at low cost. In addition, the company says the process is “superior to heat-transfer labels for jeans and denim materials at incredible speed and cost savings”, which it adds is impossible with the pad-printing process.

The Volta S150 is a tagless label printer that can be used by both start-ups and heavy-duty industrial textile printers. Face masks can also be printed on S150, as well as printing on flat, promotional products and industrial parts up to 4.2 inches high. The printer includes an easy-to-use PLC and tool-less set-up for quick job changeovers, an adjustable x-y fixture holder table and variable inking. The printer also features print frequency controls that allow the operator to control print opacity, quality and speed. The printer can be used with Natron screen printing inks, including silicone inks for both textiles and rubber, LED UV screen printing inks, water-based inks and solvent screen printing inks.

Greater flexibility
Although screen printing offers similar print quality, it usually requires large minimum order quantities and tooling costs. With dye-sublimation, print service providers have greater flexibility to digitally produce one-offs at a fraction of the cost. As a result, brands can get on-demand, high-quality signage for time-sensitive promotions without having to commit to larger orders. Examples of soft signage using dye-sublimation include:

• Backlit banners, Silicone Edge Graphic (SEG) frames and lightboxes;
• Barricade and fencing covers;
• Construction hoarding;
• Fabric banners;
• Sampling counters and table covers;
• Tents and domes;
• Tension fabric displays;
• Umbrellas; and
• Window displays.

Dye-sublimated fabric can also be used to make custom products, such as pop-up retail displays or tradeshow exhibits, as the material can bend and stretch to fit any frame or structure.

Top-quality images
Instead of an inkjet printer’s individual dots and pixels, a dye-sublimation printer offers a continuous flow of colour, which produces clearer and brighter visuals.

Better durability
As the heat-sensitive inks transfer to the surface of the media, they become part of the material. Without dot or pixel patterns, the final product is more durable, as the ink doesn’t fade and the prints don’t damage easily, even after repeated uses and washes.

As a more durable product, dye-sublimation printing offers new opportunities for advertisers that want to use their products for an extended period of time. This is an especially attractive feature for brand managers looking for durable marketing products to refresh retail environments or to use as part of a long-term campaign that has multiple setups and teardowns.

With water-repellent print media and fade-resistant inks, dye-sublimated fabric can also be used to make promotional shelters (pop-up tents and domes), flags, umbrellas and outdoor media walls.

Ease of use
As the ink is embedded into the fabric rather than on the surface, dye-sublimated prints can be manipulated without the image fading or cracking.

Dye-sublimated fabric is easy to use, as it can be folded or rolled. While some print media options may need to be ironed or steamed after shipping, others – like fabric mesh – don’t crease and can be used as soon as they arrive onsite.

As practical and effective marketing products, Silicone Edge Graphic (SEG) fabric frames and lightboxes have been especially popular for retail displays and tradeshow exhibits. Due to the silicone beading, the dye-sublimated fabric print can be installed into the aluminum frame’s recessed groove easily and quickly without professional help. Claude Castonguay, Director of Research & Development at PNH Solutions, estimates that exhibitors can deduct about 25 percent from their total installation and decommission time when they use SEG fabric frames and lightboxes in their tradeshow booth compared to other finishing options, such as grommets, Velcro or pole pockets. Castonguay adds that silicone-edge beading also ensures the fabric banner remains taut, resulting in a cleaner, more professional finish.

Cost-effective
As a compact and lightweight material, dye-sublimated fabric is cost-effective, as it can be shipped in smaller packages, which helps organizations reduce their shipping, drayage and warehousing costs.

Beyond printing company names, logos and images, brand owners can mimic the look of heavier materials, such as wood or stone, using dye-sublimated fabric for their pop-up activations and tradeshow booths.

Wholesale shoe distributor Tin Shack used dye-sublimated fabric with wood panelling instead of real wood for a recent tradeshow booth campaign to reduce its shipping, drayage and warehousing costs. With a modular frame and compact materials, Tin Shack was able to fit the 10 x 20-foot tradeshow booth into two shipping crates, which helped to save on various costs throughout the job.

PNH Solutions designed, built and installed a 10 x 20-foot tradeshow booth for Tin Shack using backlit graphics (standing SEG fabric lightboxes) printed on a Durst Rhotex. Photo: PNH Solutions

Sustainability
Unlike screen printing, where large amounts of water is needed to dye the fabric, dye-sublimation doesn’t require water for dying, as the process involves turning colour into gas. As a result, dye-sublimation printing is considered the most environmentally-friendly, sustainable printing process for fabric that doesn’t contribute to waste water pollution and ground contamination.

Combined with water-based inks that are odourless and free of VOCs, dye-sublimation printing can use biodegradable polyesters as print substrates that are free of harmful substances, like heavy metals, toxic dyes, crop protection substances and carcinogenic substances, such as formaldehyde.

Conclusion
As a viable alternative to other forms of printing processes, it’s no surprise that dye-sublimation printing is growing in popularity. In addition to increased flexibility, dye-sublimated printing produces high-quality, durable and cost-effective marketing materials that are easy to manage and more sustainable to manufacture.

Katherine Hudon is Marketing Coordinator at PNH Solutions, a fully-integrated large-format print service provider and custom hardware supplier that specializes in turnkey marketing products for events, retail environments and tradeshows. Based in Montreal, Que., and Toronto, Ont., PNH completes projects all over the world.

This feature was originally published in the January/February 2020 issue of PrintAction, now available online.

“The printed textile market is seeing tremendous growth, complemented by new printing technology innovation,” said Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America, Inc. “We are committed to driving the digital textile market and excited to expand Epson’s award-winning product line to deliver our first industrial direct-to-garment printer for high-production print shops. Designed for mid-to-large size garment printers looking for a high-production, cost-effective equipment, the SureColor F3070 can produce a full-size shirt in about a minute, allowing shops to print hundreds of shirts per day.”

Ideal for digitally printing custom garments on a variety of fabric types including cotton, linen, and rayon, the SureColor F3070 features a new dual 2.6-inch PrecisionCore printhead for high-quality output at production speeds with one-pass printing for both colour and white ink. Coupled with the first bulk ink system integrated into an Epson direct-to-garment printer, it is capable of housing 1.5 litres per colour and 3.0 litres of white ink for less frequent refilling, lower operating costs, and less waste.

The press also features an ultra-durable linear rail system and CNC milled print carriage. It’s designed for years of production and features user serviceable parts, including printheads, and low maintenance time ideal for high production print on-demand service providers, fulfilment houses and in-house print on-demand production, according to Epson.

The TX300P-1800 MkII offers the ability to switch between transfer paper for dye-sublimation printing or direct-to-textile printing on one unit, and also offers additional dual-ink possibilities.

“This model builds on the success of the TX300P-1800 direct-to-textile printer by increasing the capabilities in one unit, so that our customers can benefit from enhanced versatility in terms of fabrics, applications and target markets,” said Michael Maxwell, Senior Manager at Mimaki USA. “The TX300P-1800 MkII offers our customers the opportunity to grow their business with the flexibility to print not only on polyester fabrics, but also cellulose fabrics such as cotton and hemp.”

When printing in direct-to-textile mode, excess ink that penetrates through the fabric is drained through a platen with an ink-receiving trough. To switch to transfer dye-sublimation mode, the user attaches a vacuum platen to support transfer paper. It can accept textile media up to 75.6 inches wide or transfer paper up to 76.7 inches wide.

As Mimaki explains, the dual-ink capability of the TX300P-1800 MkII printer helps broaden the range of applications and markets served. It can be configured with three different ink combinations including textile pigment/direct sublimation, textile pigment/sublimation transfer, or direct sublimation/sublimation transfer. Mimaki USA announces next generation TX300P-1800 MkII dual-capability textile printer TX300P-1800 MkII users can also install a single type of ink, and can choose from direct sublimation, textile pigment, disperse dye, reactive dye and acid dye, depending on the application. All inks are available in two-litre ink packs, and are installed in the Mimaki Bulk Ink System 3 (MBIS3).

The TX300P-1800 MkII printer is expected to be available in November 2019 from authorized Mimaki dealers in Canada, the U.S. and Latin America.