Features Textile
The Kornit Digital Atlas MAX: Standing out from the crowd

A unique identity. Standing out from the crowd. These are some of the aspirations of millennials, who want to be noticed as distinct individuals, through their clothing and more.

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.