Digital Textile 2011 Issue 2

for production Pre treatment >

Ink >

l 

®

www.monnalisatdp.com

Via Livescia 10/12- 22073 - Fino Mornasco (CO)- Italy tel +39 031927988 - fax +39 031929688 www.fortex.it [email protected]

for production Pre treatment >

Ink >

l 

®

www.monnalisatdp.com

Via Livescia 10/12- 22073 - Fino Mornasco (CO)- Italy tel +39 031927988 - fax +39 031929688 www.fortex.it [email protected]

Digital 

t e x t i l e 

Editor: Assistant Editor: Technical Editor: Design and Production Manager: Display Advertising Sales: Subscriptions: Managing Director:

THE YEAR OF FAST PRODUCTION

Perkin House, 1 Longlands Street Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 2TP England Tel: +44 (0) (0)127 1274 4 37880 378800 0 Fax: +44 (0)1274 (0)1274 378811 (Genera (General) l) Fax: +44 (0)1274 (0)1274 378812 (Editoria (Editorial) l) e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.digitaltextile.net

market wants or needs printers with this level of productivity productivity.. It follows that the commercial success of

Printed in the UK by The MANSON Group Limited 8 Porters Wood Valley Road Industrial Estate St Albans, UK AL3 6PZ

all this R&D investment is dependent on a wholesale change of direction in the mainstream textile-printing market – among the flat and rotary screenprinters,

Ross Barker, World Textile Information Network, Perkin House, 1 Longlands Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 2TP, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0)1274 378800 Fax: +44 (0)1274 378811 E-mail: [email protected]

Bruno Fisch & Werner Meier Iff Media ag, Emmersbergs Emmersbergstrasse trasse 1, CH 8200 Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Tel: +41 (0)52 633 0888 Fax: 41 (0)52 633 0899 E-mail: [email protected] Katsuhiro Ishii, Ace Media Services Inc. 12-6, 4 chome, Nishiiko Adachi-ku, Tokyo 121-0824, Japan Tel:0081 3 5691 3335 Fax: 0081 3 5691 3336 E-mail: [email protected] Mr Bob Moore PO Box 4032, Cave Creek, AZ 85327-4032 USA Tel: +1 480 595 0494 Fax: +1 480 595 1749 E-mail: [email protected] Mr Yogesh Jog, Bridge Media, D-2/M-4, Amikrupa Housing Complex, B/H Sweet Home Society, Near Shreyas Foundation, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-15 Ahmedabad-1 5 Guajart, India. Tel: 91-79-6622428 Fax: +91 79 656 3533 E-mail: bridge_med [email protected] [email protected] Mr Joseph Lu Senior Advertising Manager, Room 708,Wise Logic International, Center,No.66 Shanxi Road North, Jing'an District, Shanghai 200041, China Tel: +86 21 5116 8877 ext. 631, Fax: +86 21 5116 0678, Mob: +86 1862 158 6833, Skype: josephlq (6 issues) Worldwide £199.00 For subscription details and directory availability,, please contact Sue Pritchard at availability World Textile Information Network on + 44 (0)1274 378801. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.digitaltextile.ne www.digitaltextile.nett ™

The first of the breed was Reggiani,

most of them in Asia, who account for the

introducing the Kyocera print head for the

overwhelming majority of printed textiles

first time in its ReNOIR printer. Then there

and for most of whom digital technology

was Zimmer with its Colaris, now promised

has never before been a serious option.

in a new XT version, specifically for home

If that happens, we may see digital

textiles. And then MS of Italy came into the

printing at last start to edge up from its

market with its JPK series.

minute ±1% share of the global industry.

This year the bar is being pushed even

After a decade of false starts it’s a

higher.. Forthcoming, and due for launch at higher

turnaround that seems unlikely – but the

FESPA FESP A Digital or ITMA Asia, are the Stork

machinery builders have been prepared

Sphene, the La Meccanica QualiJet K

to bet their cash on it, and they should

series and a so-far unnamed printer from

know their markets.

Durst’s new textile division – each targeted at production of around 500m/hour – as well as a 1,000 sqm/hour printer from Konica Minolta and, topping them all in productivity,, the 7,000 sqm/hour MS-RIO. productivity What is striking about all these new machines is that they are all aimed at a market that so far scarcely exists. Those fabric printers in the high-end fashion sector that have already bought into the

JOHN SCRIMSHAW

digital-printing concept are scarcely

Editor

enough in number or output to soak up all these new machines. And there’s no evidence that the booming soft-signage

  WORLD TEXTILE INFORMATION NETWORK 

© World Textile Information Network Ltd. 2011 All rights reserved. WTiN and World Textile Information Network are registered trademarks. ISSN 1742-1128

DIGITAL TEXTILE

Shaping the digital textile future with innovative ink

Reach further—be innovative We are at the forefront of the digital textile revolution with our formulation and application expertise. Our high quality robust inks enable industrial scale digital printing with high reliability. Top quality control process for reactive, acid, disperse dyes as well as pigments.

www.huntsman.com/textile_effects

Please visit us at FESPA Digital Europe • May 24– 27, 2011 • Booth A1-C88 • Hamburg, Germany

NEWS

Triton Systems Acquires VOmax Product-development company

“Acquiring VOmax is a perfect

Triton Systems has acquired a

opportunity for Triton to partner

majority interest in VOmax, a

with an active lifestyle wear

manufacturer of performance

company where we can apply our

apparel for the cycling industry.

Asset antimicrobial, water-

VOmax is the exclusive

repellent and stain-resistant

manufacturer of licensed cycling

coatings. Our Asset coatings

jerseys, shorts and arm warmers

technology is an energy-efficient,

for the US National Hockey

solvent-free process for ultra-

League (NHL), the National

thin, rugged, highly functional

Basketball Association (NBA) and

surface modifications and

Major League Baseball (MLB).

coatings – ideal for woven and

Using dye-sublimation printing, VOmax activewear

non-woven fabrics.” The company’s facilities in

features custom and licensed

Northhampton, Massachusetts,

graphics, designed for the

will continue to operate under the

cycling, triathlon and running

VOmax name.

325,000 Vintage Prints Online

markets. According to the

Micheal Restuccia, president

EzTextiles has added over 325,000 vintage prints to its

company, its lightweight

and CEO of VOmax, said: “This is

online digital-textile design resource. The new vintage

speciality-fabric blends are

great fit for both companies and

library includes over 75 categories of 300dpi TIF vintage prints

breathable, muscle supporting

the transaction will strengthen

in a range of colours, also available in repeat. As fashions

and stretchable, offering superior

our ability to serve both new and

evolve, the company plans to add more vintage prints and new

wicking and moisture resistance.

existing customers. We are

image categories.

Ross Haghighat, Triton president and CEO, said:

excited to partner with Triton as we take VOmax to the next level.”

Currently, EzTextiles.com contains over 25 million royalty-free woven plaids, stripes, prints and knit designs for the apparel, accessories and home-fashion industries. Each library offers

Kornit and Fruit of the Loom to Partner

search and visualisation tools, with the capacity to save images

Kornit Digital and apparel company Fruit of the Loom have formed a

make this exciting vintage collection and blog available to

strategic partnership aimed at the ‘direct-on-garment’ printing market.

EzTextiles.com visitors and subscribers. After years of collecting

The partnership will combine the printing capabilities of Kornit's

and cataloguing these images, this important step furthers our

machines with Fruit of the Loom's new garment dyed T-Shirt. The T-

goal of providing a user-friendly and cost-effective design tool

Shirt is made from a fine-gauge yarn with a tight stitch density, said to

for a wide range of industry students, freelancers, professionals,

produce a good print surface and super soft touch.

and executives.”

to a personal collection and evaluate patterns on 500 built-in apparel, footwear, accessories, home-fashion and other product sketches. The company has also launched a blog. Tracy Sano, EzTextiles vice-president, said: “We are pleased to

The two companies recently exhibited their combined technologies at opportunity to create their own shirt design via an interactive kiosk

Brazil Congress

and watch a live printing demonstration using Kornit printers.

Brazils’s Textile Technicians

show. Among the presentations

Both companies will be exhibiting at the NBM Show in Indianapolis,

National Congress (CNTT) is to

at the congress, Sintequimica

from June 9-11, the ASI Show in Chicago, from July 19-21, and at the

take place in Fortaleza from

will outline results achieved with

Imprinted Sportswear show in Texas, from September 29-October 1.

August 9-12, alongside the

its Superprint DPP pretreatment

Maquintex textile-machinery

for pigments.

the Imprinted Sportswear show, where visitors were given the

4

DIGITAL TEXTILE

NEWS

Climate Award for Eco-apparel Continental Clothing Company’s EarthPositive Apparel was named Best Initiative by a Small or Medium-Sized Business at the UK’s Climate Week Awards in

Inkjet Courses to Precede Conference IMI Europe is to host two courses in advance of the 2011 IMI

London, attended by the Secretary

a low water footprint, and

Europe Ink-Jet Technology Showcase in Barcelona, in J une.

of State for Energy and Climate

minimises or recycles other

Held from June 6-7, a course on ‘The theory of ink-jet

Change, Chris Huhne.

waste.

technology’ will cover the basics of ink jet and ink technologies,

Continental Clothing, a supplier

Mariusz Stochaj, head of

through to the latest advances. It will be hosted by Mike Willis of

of blank cotton T-shirts and

products at Continental Clothing,

Pivotal Resources, as well as Dr Alan Hudd and Dr Tim Phillips of

sweatshirts for fashion brands and

said: “We are very excited to

Xennia Technology.

corporate use, has established a

receive the nomination. Our low-

Held simultaneously, a UV ink-jet printing course will focus on the

‘blueprint’ for low-carbon fashion.

carbon EarthPositive T-shirts have

formulation of UV-curable inks, their use and how to cure them.

The maker of this year’s official

been immensely popular, showing

The IMI Europe Ink-Jet Technology Showcase, held from June 8-

Climate Week T-shirt spent two

not only that it is possible to make

9, will include six tutorials and four keynote speeches from ink-jet

years developing its EarthPositive

clothes cleanly and responsibly,

industry experts. In addition, suppliers of hardware, inks, curing

range, which it says has a carbon

but also that there is a growing

systems and other components will each give a 15 minute

footprint 90% lower than conven-

demand for low-carbon,

presentation on their company and products.

tionally produced clothing.

sustainable products.”

Mike Willis, IMI Europe managing director, said: “This annual

Continental analysed and

The awards were judged by an

event, now in its 10th year, brings together the leading suppliers

improved every stage of its

‘all-star’ panel including best-

of ink jet technology and services. This is a tremendous learning

production process. The clothing

selling author Ian McEwan, Lord

opportunity as the programmes will include keynote presen-

uses organic cotton and is made

Nicholas Stern (author of the

tations from leading industry experts plus Tech Talks discussing

using electricity generated solely

Stern Report), former Irish

some of the latest scientific findings and techniques critical to ink

from wind power. It is transported

President Mary Robinson, eco-

jet integration and implementation.

without using air freight, with

adventurer David de Rothschild,

The 2011 IMI Europe Ink Jet Technology Showcase will be held at

100% biodegradable and recycled

and Tim Smit, founder of the Eden

the Hesperia Tower Hotel in Barcelona, Spain, from June 8-9.

packaging. Continental’s factory in

project in Cornwall.

Both courses will be staged at the Hesperia Hotel, from June 6-7.

India treats wastewater to ensure

Big Match Banners The recent Carling Cup football

banner strips in the finalists’ team

final between Arsenal and

colours, with the crests of each

Birmingham City, at London’s

team and individual player

Wembley Stadium, was special in

banners.

more than just a sporting sense

Live Event Branding director

for fabric-branding company Live

Rory Blackwood said: “The

Event Branding.

branding took four weeks to

In what it believes was the

complete and we were honoured

largest-ever fabric display in

to be involved with event360, who

Europe, the company produced

executed the whole event.

more than 6,000 square metres of

“It was a fantastic display and

pitch branding, featuring a mixture

wonderful for Live Event Branding

of digitally printed banners and

to once again be involved with

bespoke pre-dyed cloth to Pantone

such a major sporting event, and

entertainment specialist event360,

chose Live Event Branding for their

shades.

for the display to be seen by

said: “For a high profile event like

ability to deliver to our exacting

80,000 people in the stadium and

the Carling Cup Final it is vital that

requirements and once again they

millions worldwide.”

our products exceed the

did a great job.”

Before the kick-off the Wembley pitch featured huge multi-coloured ISSUE 2 2011

Julian Marks, partner at sports-

expectations of our clients. We

5

NEWS

Best Goes into Dye-Sub

Twin Conferences at FESPA Asia

Large-format graphics

FESPA Asia

Singapore, which is a world-class

printer Best Digital used

2011 is to

event destination by any

April’s Sign & Digital UK

host the

standards, and is readily

show to announce its

Digital Textile

accessible from across the Asia-

move into dye-

Conference,

Pacific region, including

sublimation textile

a forum designed to help printers

Australia.”

printing, with the

entering the digital market gather

purchase of an ATPColor

strategic ideas, when it takes place

floor space already sold, FESPA

DFP 1000 printer. The

in Singapore in October.

expects 7,500 of Asia’s top

new printer is 2600mm wide and

Rawlings, Best Digital managing

has the capacity to print on a

director. “With our in-house

FESPA Screen Conference, where

owners and agencies, to attend.

variety of fabrics and weights.

production suite and state-of-the-

leading screen printers will

The 180 exhibitors on show will

art large-format and grand-format

discuss the technical aspects of

include EFI, first-time corporate

green credentials, is the way

digital machines, our fully trained

print and special effects, alongside

sponsor of the event, platinum

forward and this is just our first

installation teams are available to

current case studies, trends and

sponsor J-Teck3, Xaar, d.gen and

toe in the water,” said Geoff

install any project worldwide.”

market.

EskoArtwork, global software and

“Dye-sublimation, with all its

The event will also stage the

With two thirds of available

James Ford, FESPA Asia event

printers, alongside business

finishing partner.

Neenah Moves Distribution to Germany

manager, said: “Asia is a highly

Neenah Paper Technical

associate marketing director,

dynamic market for wide format

Asian round of the FESPA Wrap

Products has shifted direct sales

said: “We have built an interna-

print, and we're using our

Cup Series, recognising printed

and distribution of its heat-

tional business with our heat

campaign to call on printers in the

graphics for vehicle wrapping. The

transfer papers in Europe to

transfer papers for laser, ink-jet

region to come to the event to find

winners will progress into a grand

Lahnstein, Germany.

and offset printing and this will

the ideas and inspiration they need

finale held at FESPA 2013 in

allow us to better meet the needs

to take pole position with their

London.

US, the new arrangement enables

of our European customers.”

businesses.

faster delivery and less expensive

In addition, the company’s

Instead of shipping from the

“FESPA has already run several

FESPA Asia will also host to the

FESPA Asia 2011 will be held at Suntec, Singapore, from October

transportation across the

website now has the capacity to

ground-breaking shows in Asia,

26-28. The FESPA Asia Summit

European Union, said Neenah.

supply direct orders from 100

and our community's expectations

will be staged in Singapore from

sheets to multiple cartons.

are high for this latest event in

June 16-17.

Gerry Rector, Neenah

BE IN THE KNOW DT readers who haven’t yet booked their place at the FESPA Digital Textile Conference in Hamburg, on May 25, risk missing out on fantastic line-up of speakers: • Dr John Provost, Technical Editor, Digital Textile  Digital Textile Printing –  Revolution or Evolution?  • Dr Andy Hancock, Technical Director, Mexar Ltd Direct to Garment Printing –  Past, Present and Future  • Jos Notermans, Business Unit Manager Digital Textiles, Stork Prints BV Digital and Rotary Printing: the  Best of Both Worlds  • Mickael Mheidle, CEO and President, Sawgrass Europe New Chemistry to Speed-up 

6

Growth of the Industrial Digital  Printing Segment  • Paolo Milini (Sales Director) and Omar Ceruti (Export Sales Manager), MS Italy Super-Fast Fashion – the New  World of High-Speed Digital  Fabric Production Printing  • Kevin Myers, Head of Global Inkjet Business, Huntsman Textile Effects Getting Quality Coloration  Results on Polyester with the  Latest Technologies  • Sophie Matthews-Paul, Global Technical Consultant

Shifting Perceptions – the  Flexibility of Digital Textile  • Alan Noble, Managing Director, Cameron Balloons Niche Application of Digital Textile  • Mike Horsten, Owner, ZEMT Consulting Graphic Applications of  Digital Textile  • Hervé François, Managing Director, Color Textil Digital Investment for Tomorrow’s  Textile Market  • Dr Mike Fralix, President and CEO, TC²

Sustainability, Mass  Customization and the  Digital Supply Chain  • Dr Alan Hudd, Managing Director of Xennia Revolutionising Functional  Printing onto Textiles Using  Inkjet Technology  • Professor Qinguo Fan, University of Massachusetts Pushing the Frontiers of  Digital Textile Printing  All that and more in just one day! Book now at www.fespa.com/dtceurope EXHIBITION PREVIEW PAGE 28

DIGITAL TEXTILE



    

    

             

    

 

NEWS

 Asia to Be ‘Fast Printing Hub’

Jaysynth chairman Sharadchandra Kothari (centre) with his sons Parag Kothari (left) and Nikhil Kothari

Asia is likely to become the hub of high-speed digital-textile printing, according to Sharadchandra Kothari, chairman of the Indianbased ink producer Jaysynth. Commenting ahead of May’s FESPA Digital show, in Hamburg, Germany, Kothari based his prediction on the fact that half of all conventional printing was carried out in the region. He added that the

Film Fantasy Nets Award

ink price would play a significant role in bringing down running costs and, when volumes rose, the cost of printers would also come down. He saw ‘huge potential’ in digital printing of home textiles and said quite a few large-format modified printers with high drop volume were now available at budget prices. Jaysynth was already supplying its high-viscosity reactive inks in this market. But he said digital printing could not replace conventional print

The Wild Group, a branding

substrates to produce an authentic

without pigment inks, as early half of all conventional printing was

specialist based in

printed sail and 70 waterproof

with pigment, which was more economical and user friendly that dye-

Southampton, UK, was named

garments for the launch of the

based inks. The home-textile sector was among the biggest users of

winner of the Best Textile

20th Century Fox’s ‘Chronicles of

pigment inks, and Jaysynth was launching both high- and low-

Printing Project award at the

Narnia’ film. The large solvent-

viscosity pigment inks at FESPA Digital, for the home-textile and

recent Sign & Digital exhibition.

based print for the sail was

garment markets.

digitally printed on Dacron. The

• FESPA Digital – page 28

The Wild Group overcame harsh time constraints and unusual print

Wild Group also produced Mustobranded jackets

over the years. It makes it all

embroidered with

worthwhile and we’re even-more

commissioned by round-the-

the Narnia logo.

hungry for the next big project.”

world yachtswoman Tracy

Matt Straker, the

The Wild Group owner Greg Hoar (left) and managing director Matt Straker at the Sign & Digital awards.

8

The company has both

In 1997, the Wild Group was

Edwards to livery her 92ft

Wild Group

solvent and dye-print

catamaran, as she led the first

managing director,

capabilities, and has recently

all-female crew to circum-

said: “It hasn’t really

purchased an HP dye-based

navigate the world non-stop.

sunk in yet but it’s

printer. Working on digital

awesome to be

printing, branding clothing,

supplier of all hull and sail

recognised for all the

exhibition work and signage, the

branding for the 2004 Olympic

hard work and

Wild Group specialises in

Games, which involved the

impressive projects

printing graphics for yachts and

production of 6,000m of digitally

we've worked on

other marine vessels.

printed vinyls and sailcloth.

The company was also the sole

DIGITAL TEXTILE

PRE- TREATMENT

BE PREPARED Pre-treatment is the Key to Success in in Digital Textile Printing By Dr John Provost, Technical Editor

T

he initial cloth preparation and the

fabric and prevent it from ‘wicking’ and ‘flushing’

subsequent pre-treatment for digital-

before it dries and during the fixation stage.

textile printing are among the most critical steps in ensuring that the final

Over the last year, since the original article was written, I have had many discussions with digital-

print delivers the required design aesthetics –

textile printers and digital-textile machinery

not only in terms of print definition, colour and

suppliers, some of whom were entering the

brightness, but also in terms of the colour-

digital-textile printing world for the first time, and

fastness performance.

one of the major focus areas was the pre-

This area was discussed in detail in Digital  Textile Issue 1, 2010, with particular emphasis on

treatment stage. There are two approaches to pre-treatment for

the pretreatment process routes for dye-based

the digital textile printer; one is simply to

inkjet-textile print systems, using reactive, acid

purchase ‘pre-treated’ fabric from one of the

and disperse-dye based inkjet inks.

many agents, converters or suppliers to the

As we noted in that earlier article, the chemicals normally added to conventional textile-printing pastes to promote dye fixation, satisfactory

industry, for the particular textile end-use and ink system being used. Many of the digital-textile-machinery manufac-

colour fastness and – importantly – print

turers have partnered digital-fabric suppliers and

definition cannot be added to inkjet-ink

recommend specific fabrics for their digital-textile

formulations. These additives can be of a wide

inks. With the new wide-format polyester signage

range of chemical types (thickeners, urea, acid

market, this is very much the industry practice –

donors, and alkalis) and there are many reasons

for example, EFI (VUTEk), with its recently

why they cannot be used, not least the rheology

launched wide-format signage printer, the

properties of the print thickeners, which have

TX3250r, a 3.2-metre polyester printer, is

viscosity levels many times higher than can be

recommending polyester fabrics from Georg +

jetted from print heads. Also, many of the

Otto Friedrich, of Germany, with its Hilord

chemicals used in conventional textile printing

disperse-dye inks. Other digital-fabric suppliers

have damaging effects on the manufacturing

and producers can equally supply suitable

materials used in the print head.

polyesters for digital printing.

Therefore, the general process route in digital

My only comment with this approach is to

inkjet printing of textiles is to run the fabric

choose a reliable supplier, which has control of

though a chemical bath (padder) in order to fix

its production and pre-treatment stages and has

necessary chemicals on the fabric before the

suitable quality-control systems in place. Also,

printing stage. One of the key requirements is the

the digital-textile printer should carry out

addition of a thickener agent or other propriety

printing trials under controlled conditions and,

chemicals to ‘hold’ the deposited inkjet ink on the

importantly, ‘retain’ a reference sample of the

ISSUE 2 2011

9

PRE- TREATMENT

different fabrics and cloth constructions for their customers. Here it starts to get a little more complicated! In the conventional, analogue, screen textileprinting industry, there is a well-known term ‘PFP’, which means ‘prepared for print’ ; this is either done ‘in-house’ by the textile printer or is commissioned to a 3rd -party textile producer. Whichever method is used, the ‘greige’ (grey) fabric must be efficiently prepared to controlled test parameters that the digital-textile printer and fabric producer have agreed. For example, for a cotton fabric to be printed with reactive dyes, the process route Figure 1 – Overview of digital textile pre-treatment applications

consists of ‘Singeing-Desizing-ScouringBleaching-Mercerisation-Wash-off-Controlled dried’. There are different cloth-preparation routes for the wide range of fabrics that can be printed and there are many standard textbooks, which give details of the process routes involved and the test methods and protocols, to ensure satisfactory preparation (for example reference 1). To differentiate the initial cloth preparation from the pre-treatment required for digital-textile printing, a new term, PFDP, should be used: PFDP stands for ‘prepared for digital printing’ . Figure 1 gives an overview of the digital-textile pre-treatment applications and how the PFDP stage is an integral part of digital-fabric production. Detailed starting recipes for dye-based inkjet systems were given in the earlier article (Digital Textile Issue 1, 2010), and modifications by particular textile-dye ink manufacturers can be found in their respective literature (for example Huntsman pre-treatment recommendations for

Figure 2 – Textile coating for digital printing at Neschen AG (Photo courtesy Neschen

reactive inks can be found in reference 2). Padding treatments for digital-textile printing,

agreed polyester fabric (and store it under

as with all textile-processing recommendations,

controlled temperature/humidity conditions),

are, at best, starting points only, as there are so

for subsequent testing if any quality dispute

many possible machine and processing

should arise.

variables within any textile plant. Therefore, it

There are many instances of very wide ‘batch-

goes without saying that individual digital textile

to-batch’ fabric variations from some agents

printers should carry out their own trials to

and suppliers, who are sourcing digital-textile

determine the optimum processing method.

fabric from sources outside their control. The second approach is to prepare your own fabric for digital printing; many digital-

However, some of the main points to watch in the PFDP (prepared for digital printing ) stage are the follows:

textile printers have to follow this route, particularly if they are processing a wide range of

10

• Pad liquor should be made up ‘fresh’ prior to DIGITAL TEXTILE

   ™   n   e    d   n   e    J   n   a    h    t   a    N    f   o   y   s   e    t   r   u   o    C

Who printed the flamboyant colours?

See us at FESPA Digital, A1-B31 Stork Prints invented digital textile printing two decades ago and today only our original inks guarantee the best quality for such applications. Together with inkjet printers and manufacturers worldwide, we offer the highest quality soluti ons for digital textile printing.

www.spgprints.com

The origin of success

PRE- TREATMENT

padding and mixed well • Pad liquor application should be uniform

One of the digital-textile printing sectors that

across the fabric width, and efficient pad

is growing significantly is DTG (Direct to

mangles such as the Küsters ‘swimming-

Garment) printing. In the main, this means

roller’ types should be used

digital textile pigment printing of T-shirts.

• Pad liquor pick-up should be as low as possible • Drying temperature should be controlled

The DTG printer must be aware that the garment preparation of his T–shirt can have a significant effect on his final print, although in

across the width of the fabric and

the majority of cases, the knitted-yarn quality,

‘face-to-back’, preferably using a modern

garment manufacture, cloth preparation and

multi-bay stenter.

‘finishing’ (usually a pre-shrinkage stage) are

• After the fabric is pre-treated, the processed

really out of his control. Also, for the DTG

fabric should be covered and kept in

printer, control of the exhaust-dye ing stage (for

controlled conditions, particularly to avoid

dark grounds) is equally out of his hands.

problems of moisture absorption and

The Küsters DyePad

fact caused by poor initial fabric preparation.

However, some printing faults can be caused

exposure to light.

by poor yarn qualit y, inadequate singeing and

As we have said, the initial fabric preparation

the application of ‘softening’ agents after the

(PFP) stage is just as important as the digital-

garment manufacture, and the DTG printer

textile pre-treatment stage and should have

must be able to recognise some of these faults.

been carried out efficiently, as many of the

In the best-case scenario, the sourcing and

problems that are claimed to be the fault of

quality of the T-shirt should be controlled and

poor digital-textile pre-treatment (PFDP) are in

monitored, although in reality this is only possible for the largest T- shirt print producers. The application of the DTG pre-treatment is normally a propriety chemical mixture (usually a textile acrylic polymer and an inorganic acid catalyst – for example, reference 3), and is applied by one of three different methods: • Manual spray system prior to DTG printing • Automatic ‘off-line’ spraying system (controllednozzle systems) • In-line system – integrated into the print stage (‘wet-on-wet’) Again, as with dye-based digital-textile systems described earlier in this article, whichever method is used, it must be repeatable under controlled conditions and periodically monitored by a defined qualitycontrol technique. In conclusion, pre-treatment is a critical stage in both dye and pigment digital-textile printing systems, and there are no ‘shortcuts’ to

1. ‘Chemistry & Technology of Fabric Preparation & Finishing’,

ensuring quality textile prints. The initial cloth-

Dr Charles Tomasino, College of Textiles, NC State University,

preparation stage, termed PFP, is just as

USA, 1992 (http://www.p2pays.org/ref/06/05815.pdf - last

important as the PFDP stage, and whichever

accessed 05/04/2011)

textile fabric is being processed, the initial

2. http://www.huntsman.com/textile_effects/Media/ 873034e_NOVACRON_MI_intra.pdf 3. US Patent 2008/0092309 (Priority Date 15th September 2006)

processing trials and final established production method have to be controlled and continuously monitored to ensure optimum textile prints.

12

DT 

DIGITAL TEXTILE

TECHNOLOGY

Durst Spotlights Textile Division

La Meccanica QualiJet K

Durst Phototechnik, a manufacturer of industrial digital printing equipment, is to present its new textile business unit at the FESPA trade show in Hamburg from May 24-27. Based at the company’s development facility in Kufstein, Austria, the Durst Textile Team is tasked with designing highperformance textile machines

La Meccanica  Announces ‘K’ Series

and exploiting the proprietary

La Meccanica is the latest machinery developer to

either 8 colours or 4 x 4 colours.

Durst Quadro printhead

announce a wide-format textile production printer

The machine will come with a driven unwinding

technology for a variety of

based on the Kyocera KJ4B print head.

system as standard and fabric ttransport by

textile specifications.

The new QualiJet K8 and K16, to be shown at both

adhesive belt, with a double-brush washing

FESPA Digital and ITMA, will be equipped with

system. The in-line dryer can be specified with a

in the process of developing a

either a single row of 8 heads or a double row of

choice of heat sources.

digital textile printer with a

16. In the 16-head version it will have a maximum

An open bulk ink system offers a total capacity of

printing speed of over 500

speed of 560 sqm/hour, at 600x600dpi, or 490

20 litres per colour, in double 10-litre talks with

sqm/hour, to be unveiled at

sqm/hour in quality mode. Ink set-up may be

automated switching.

The company is also currently

ITMA 2011 in Barcelona. As part of its KAPPA project, Durst

Nazdar Unveils Dye-Sub Inks

researchers in Lienz, Austria,

requirements and achieving

have been testing high-grade

diversification and an edge over

textile inks based on dispersion,

the Asian-based mass

Digital ink manufacturer Nazdar

president and general manager

reactive and acid inks for

producers. We are confident that

has launched a new range of

at Nazdar, said: “The wide-

compatibility with the machine.

a new era for textile printing will

Lyson digital water-based dye-

format dye-sublimation market

be ushered in at ITMA 2011.”

sublimation ink for transfer on

has been evolving into longer

to textile substrates. The

print runs with expanded colour gamuts.

Christoph Gamper, segment manager for textiles at Durst,

“We are engineers - but with a

said: “With the KAPPA project,

commercial dimension. Our

company will present the inks at

we will be moving digital textile

customers expect from us high-

FESPA Digital.

technology a significant step

end technical systems which will

forward. Although digital textile

ensure them a clear return on

designed to deliver vibrant

in these categories at each

has made a name for itself in the

investment,” said Durst CEO Dr

colour and durability for

early-adopter site and we expect

fields of design sampling and

Richard Piock. “With the KAPPA

sportswear garments, soft

general market expectations will

soft signage, it still plays a

project we will be offering our

signage and home textiles.

be exceeded as well.”

comparatively minor role in the

customers all of this at ITMA

The inks are formulated for

global textile supply chain.

2011 and we will be

use on a variety of wide-format

are available in cyan, magenta,

demonstrating our competency

digital printers using Epson

yellow, black, light cyan and

in the digital textile sector.”

DX4 and DX5 print heads,

light magenta. The 1 litre bottles

including Roland, Mimaki and

are compatible with the majority

Mutoh models.

of bulk-feed systems currently

“Particularly with the European textile sector in mind, digital textile offers the

Last year Durst brought out

opportunity of responding

the Rhotex 320 dye-sublimation

swiftly to customers' changing

textile printer.

ISSUE 2 2011

The Lyson TX650 series is

Richard Bowles, vice

“Our new Lyson TX650 ink set has exceeded user demands

The Lyson TX650 series inks

available, said Nazdar. 13

TECHNOLOGY

Stand-Alone Fixation Unit SETeMA is to launch the standalone version of its I-Fix direct textile fixation unit at FESPA Digital 2011. I -Fix is an autonomous heat fixation unit developed for the fixation of disperse direct and disperse transfer/sublimation dyes. When used in its standalone version, the unit can manage a print output of approximately 200 sqm/hour. All SETeMa products are available in three fabric widths - 1.85m, 2.50m and 3.40m. I-Fix can also be coupled in-

Teleios GT at EuroShop

First Teleios GT in USA 

line to each digital printer

Media One USA has installed the USA’s first

and RF-400 (roll feeder unit). A ‘unique’

without the need for a

d.gen Teleios GT large-format direct-to-fabric

textile-feeding system is claimed to allow

mechanical or electrical

printer at and WS Display’s facility in

easy printing on textile without curvature

interface, synchronising textile

Carlsbad, California.

or twisting.

printing and fixation in one

The 74-inch (1800mm) Teleios GT is

"We are thrilled with the d.gen Teleios GT. It

step. Placed in-line behind the

capable of printing 100 sqm/hour and is

will not only allow us to increase

printer, the I-Fix will not

claimed to run round the clock without loss

production, but also maintain the

influence the printing

of quality. Eight print heads, with 540dpi, are

exceptional prints that our cliental have come

process with heat generation

installed in a staggered configuration,

to expect," said the owner of WS Display,

and evaporated solvents,

delivering 4-colours in 3-pass mode. A 120-

Craig Van Velzer.

said SETeMA.

inch version is scheduled for introduction in

The Teleios GT was also presented by

May, when a second 77-inch model is also

distributor Multi-Plot at EuroShop 2011, in

on-board fixation, can be

due to be installed at Rainbow P ennant in

Düsseldorf, Germany, in March. Multi-Plot

upgraded with the I-Fix as it

Oklahoma City.

said that with appropriate water-based

works independently from the

The machine takes 2kg bulk ink cartridges

inks, the final textile product was eudermic

printer hardware and software.

and is available with the TU-400 (take up unit)

and eco-friendly.

Existing printers, without an

Due to its pressure-free fixation, I-Fix has been designed to maintain textile

dwell times from 10 seconds

structure. The unit offers low

to several minutes, I-Fix has

Grand Format

overall energy consumption

been engineered for a wide

Fisher Textiles has added GF

test and is available for the first

due to a closed isolated

range of fixation and drying

2328 Satin (FR) to its line of

time at 120in as well as 79in

chamber. In addition, the

applications. Operational

grand-format fabrics for

wide. Fisher says the new

printer’s winding system can

within 15 minutes, the unit is

dye-sublimation, UV and

fabric offers ‘great definition’

be re-used. An integrated

designed to guarantee a quick

latex printing.

and presents a very high-

exhaust removes noxious

heat transfer to the textile

fumes to keep the working

resulting in sharp, deep

sheen satin fabric that is

for elegant-type applications,

environment clean.

shades and good penetration

lightweight (3.8 oz/y2) and

including banners, roll-up

of the ink/dyestuff through

100% polyester. It is flame-

banner stands and

the substrate.

retardant, passes the NFPA 701

trade-show exhibits.

With a temperature range between 50°C-220°C, and 14

GF 2328 Satin is a high-

quality print, which is excellent

DIGITAL TEXTILE

Scan the QR code for more information

FESPA

AMERICAS

ORLANDO SUCCESS Busy Show Proves Doubters Wrong

T

he first ever FESPA Americas show, held alongside Graphics of the

FESPA Americas offered a packed visitor

Americas and the ISS show, from

programme, designed to appeal to a broad

February 24-26h in Orlando, Florida,

spectrum of the industry- screen, fabric and digital

saw visitor numbers up by 16% compared with last

printers. This included the Textile Debate – an hour

year’s GoA – partly vindicating European-based

long panel session chaired by Digital Textile editor

FESPA’s controversial decision to test its mettle in

John Scrimshaw and opened with an industry

the USA.

overview from technical editor Dr John Provost.

David Murphy, HP’s director of marketing for the

Other panel participants were Dr Mike Fralix, of

Americas, reflected the general opinion when he

[TC]2, and Kevin Kelly, of garment printer Blue

said: “We’re really pleased with what we have seen

Heron Industries.

here at FESPA Americas – it is a really busy and

Live!, a world-first from FESPA bringing together

You can feel a new

global brands EFI, HP, Roland, Caldera and

level of energy and

EskoArtwork to run three functioning, end-to-end

dynamic exchange

print production lines on the show-floor.

attendees.” Next year the

‘Rock Star’ winner Robert Parker (right) is congratulated by FESPA’s Marcus Timson

The Wide Format Print Shop Live

Nike’s Martin Wragg

Attractions included the Wide Format Print Shop

successful show.

of ideas among

16

appropriate venue.

The show also introduced the Screen Master’s Workshop, a ‘boot-camp’ for aspiring screenprinters. Screen masters Michel Caza, Scott

show returns to

Fresener, Charlie Taublieb, Bhargav Mistry and

GoA’s traditional

Ad Versteeg offered workshop participants a

home in Miami,

hands-on learning experience of the complete

which most agree

screen printing process.

is a more

Describing FESPA’s intentions in launching the

3D special effects from AnaJet

DIGITAL TEXTILE

FESPA

AMERICAS

A celebratory cake to mark GoA’s 35th anniversary Brother GT782 dual plater garment printer

The Textile Debate - Kevin Kelly (left), Dr Mike Fralix, Dr John Provost and John Scrimshaw

Orange County Convention Centre

Americas event, which stirred up a hostile reaction from the rival SGIA, sales and marketing director Marcus Timson said: “With FESPA Americas, we wanted to create an event which brought something completely new to the American market. For us, that meant introducing visitors to the newest, innovative technologies on the market, educating them on the latest market trends, and ensuring everyone got the most out of the event ‘experience’- which we started before the show even began with the introduction of our Rock Star Treatment competition.” Visitors who registered to attend FESPA Americas were asked to submit a 100-word answer to the question (What do you think 2011 holds for the wide 

2-day Global Business Forum, where the keynote

format marketplace? ). From the hundreds of entries

address was given by Nike’s product-decoration

received, Robert Parker, owner of Visually

chief Martin Wragg, discussing the company’s

Adaptable Graphics, was selected to receive an all-

sustainability ethos.

expenses paid VIP trip to the show. While there he had the chance to participate in the ISSUE 2 2011

Busy circulation in the halls

The next FESPA Americas will be in Miami from March 1-3, 2012.

DT 

17

TECHNOLOGY

Ink Technologies Rebrands

Mimaki Launches Super-Wide Printer

Mimaki JV34-260

Peter Williams

Ink Technologies Ltd (ITL), a British manufacturer of aftermarket inkjet inks, has changed its name to Digitl Ink Ltd. The company will continue to operate in Manchester, UK, with former sales and marketing director Peter Williams appointed managing director. Digitl Ink will continue to produce its range of qualitymatched alternative inks for small, wide and large format printing applications. The series includes eco and full-solvent, water-based, UV-curable and coding inks. Mr Williams said: “Digitl Ink was already the mainstay of our brand identity, so it was a logical transition to make it our name when we decided to reinitiate the company. We remain committed to providing consistent, high-quality alternative inks for all leading printer brands, to continuing production in Great Britain and to offering the best customer service available in this sector.” Digitl Ink products are suitable for Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh, Agfa, HP and Seiko printers. Last year the company released Versatile Textile and Vinyl (VTV), which enables production on both fabric and film substrates, without ink changeover.

Mimaki has launched a superwide inkjet printer, available in Europe from April. Based on the JV33 series, the new JV34-260 has a printing width of 2.6m and is designed for signage, banners and flags. The printer is compatible with water-based, solvent or sublimation inks on a variety of materials, including transfer paper and polyester. The JV34-260 incorporates two print heads in a staggered arrangement, producing a print speed of approximately 30sq m/h, at 540 x 720 dpi. The variable-dot technology is said to offer accurate and high-quality images with smooth gradations even when printing in a fourcolour mode. The print head can be adjusted according to the thickness of the substrate. Narrow media widths of less

than 1,620mm are supported by the small take-up device. The printer features Mimaki’s Automatic Media Feeder, engineered to ensure continuous web tension over the whole width of the substrate. The feeder supports a maximum roll weight of 100kg. Designed to allow continuous ink supply, the JV34-260 includes Mimaki’s Uninterrupted Ink Supply System, which automatically detects when an ink cartridge is empty and supplies ink from another cartridge. This system can be used in combination with the company’s Bulk Ink System, which contains two litres per colour. The printer also has a three-stage heater, which warms the substrate at the start of the process and dries the ink after printing.

InteliCoat in EMEA Distribution Partnership Printable-fabric manufacturer InteliCoat Technologies has signed a partnership agreement with Sentec International BV and its affiliate Plottec GmbH, to supply Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). As part of the agreement, InteliCoat will change its supply route for its textiles and other printable substrates in the EMEA 18

area. Its master-roll inventory will now be stocked locally and converted by Plottec GmbH, a German converting company. Sentec, a distributor of largeformat media in the EMEA area, will distribute the finished rolls on behalf of InteliCoat, which hopes the changes will result in greater availability of its products to European markets,

as well as shorter lead times and improved service levels. Joseph Lupone, president and CEO of InteliCoat Technologies, said: “We want to emphasise that under this new arrangement, the products that our customers receive will be the same InteliCoatmade products that they know and love and that they will

continue to work directly with InteliCoat sales and support personnel, who have been transferred to Sentec. “This is truly a positive change for our European users, as the quality, support and stability of InteliCoat will now be further enhanced by Sentec, which has a long history of outstanding work.” DIGITAL TEXTILE

TECHNOLOGY

New VUTEk Sublimation Printer EFI chose the Sign & Digital UK show to unveil its new grand-format dye-sublimation fabric printer. The EFI VUTEk TX3250r 3.2m is designed to print directto-textile or indirect via transfer and comes with odourless sublimation inks from Hilord, said to offer rich, durable colours for polyester-based materials. The new fast-drying ink enables the TX3250r to print at speeds up to 100sq m an hour, on polyester-coated, rigid or flexible substrates. At this speed, says EFI, flags can be printed with excellent colour saturation on both sides.

VUTEk TX3250r

In conjunction with the Klieverik calender, the TX3250r can be used for a range of industrial applications, such as soft signs, banners, point-ofsale and flags. Scott Schinlever, EFI VUTEk's general manager, said: “We are very excited to be adding the TX3250r to our

leading portfolio of superwide format products. It is an outstanding example of EFI bringing innovation to the market. “The TX3250r offers unrivalled print quality and saturated colours for wide-format textile at production speeds, so our

customers can tap into highgrowth applications.” EFI says the new printer's industrial design makes it suitable for 24/7 operations. It evolved from the original VUTEk FabriVu printer concept, which was introduced in 2002. • Show report page 27

DTG to Launch ‘M’ Series Impression Technology Europe (ITE) is to launch its M Series of DTG direct-to-garment printers at May’s FESPA Digital show in Hamburg, Germany. A feature of the new machines is the !QW Interweave correction formula, which the company says eradicates the banding that is a frequent fault in lower-resolution printing. The system detects the hard edge commonly seen between each pass and compensates with an intelligent dot placement and ink flow to give sharper prints. Even with bi-directional printing, says ITE, the !QW dot replacement vastly reduces or even eliminates the band-to-band tone differences. This allows faster, lower-resolution printing and so thus increases the productivity of the machine. A new inkdelivery system helps control the levels of ink delivered to the head, greatly reducing wastage. ITE said it had DTG had established itself over the years as market leader in this field, and much of this was due to the fact that its R&D was always aimed at making the machines more productive. This new model was no different, with a host of hardware, firmware and DTG ‘M’ Series software changes that would ensure DTG customers maintained their advantage over the competition. ISSUE 2 2011

19

TECHNOLOGY

Mimaki Software

McLink Introduces SoftSign UK supplier McLink has launched its SoftSign range of wide-format printers, all offered with a choice of inks from Huntsman, whose range encompasses dye sublimation, disperse, reactive, acid and pigment. Bulk-ink delivery is standard, from l-litre bottles The Softsign Print & Fix, for

RIP-software specialist ColorGATE has launched its Productionserver 6 Mimaki Edition, which it says provides perfect support for the complete range of functions of Mimaki’s largeformat printers in the JV33 and CJV30 series. Soft Sign System

ColorGATE managing director Thomas Kirschner said: “The Productionserver 6 Mimaki Edition takes the best possible advantage of what these printers have to offer, particularly of such innovative printer functionalities as spectacular metallic effects for banners or for car wraps, as well as brilliant full-colour printing on transparent substrates with white ink.” This Edition supports all Cat 1 printer drivers for Mimaki printers and offers modules such as Container, Color

Calender Belt

Correction, Linearization Assistant and Media Device Synchronization (MDS). Expansion packages include Quality Control, Profiling, Contour Cutting, Finishing and Cost Calculation. Sticky Belt

™

 WORLD TEXTILE INFORMATION NETWORK 

direct-to-textile printing, is based on the Roland RS Versa Art and includes a 1.6m-width printer complete with McLink Sublifix fixation unit and software. The recommended inks are Huntsman’s Terasil Brite disperse range. Tested using Brook International fabric products, the printer is compatible with both light and heavy weights. The SoftSign Calender Belt model has an in-line fixation calender. Based on the Roland XJ printer, it has been designed to eliminate the need for transfer paper, by allowing the direct printing of polyester fabrics. The new McLink series also features a printer with in-line Sticky Belt and built-in washing unit, meaning the fabric moves along the bed with greater accuracy.

 WTiN - a new online information resource for the global textile community

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To find out more, visit © World Textile Information Network Ltd. 2011. All rights reserved. WTiN and World Textile Information Network are registered trademarks.

20

DIGITAL TEXTILE

TECHNOLOGY

Gerber to Cease Flatbed Production Gerber Scientific, the parent company Spandex Ltd, is to exit its flatbed-printer business to focus on thermalprinting products, in a move expected to save the company approximately $3.3m annually.

KM Goes High-Speed Konica Minolta has revealed it is to launch a high-speed inkjet textile printer, equipped with newly developed print heads, at ITMA 2011. The model features print-bars furnished with

over 80,000 nozzles, to deliver a maximum print speed in excess of 1,000 sqm/hour. ITMA 2011 will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from September 22-29.

Fujifilm Launches Polaris Heads Fujifilm Dimatix has launched a new series of models expanding its Spectra Polaris brand of 512-jet, generalpurpose, binary, drop-ondemand print heads. Known as the PQ-512/15 AAA-2C, PQ-512/35 AAA-2C and PQ-512/85 AAA-2C, the three new models have 15, 35 and 85 picolitre drop sizes. Arrayed at 100 dpi, on Polaris 512-jet print head can simultaneously jet two-colours. The new configuration allows for two print heads to be used to produce full four-colour images. The print heads have a metal nozzle plate and integrated mounting frame, designed to ensure drop-in alignment. The machines also include Dimatix VersaDrop jetting binary operating technology. ISSUE 2 2011

A repairable feature allows each 256-channel jet module to be exchanged and registered without need for special tools or recalibration. Each channel jet module is dual-ported to facilitate fast ink flushing and recirculation. Heaters and temperature sensors control ink viscosity at jetting temperatures up to 60°C. Polaris 512 print heads are equipped with a fluid interface allowing single or two-colour operation. Shared physical qualities across Fujifilm’s QClass platform allow printer designs to be cross between different model types and printing applications. As an AAA designated print head, Polaris is compatible with aqueous ink formulations, UVcurable and aggressive organic solvents, making it suitable for

commercial and industrial printing of wide-format graphics, textiles, ceramics, labels and packaging at resolutions of up to 1000 dpi, said Fujifilm. Marc Torrey, vice president of marketing at Fujifilm Dimatix, said: “Our new two-colour Polaris PQ-512 AAA-2C print heads continue to demonstrate the power and flexibility of the Q-Class platform to drive a new range of printer models from high performance to value priced products. “Its integral mounting frame solves many complex design issues like print head-to-print head registration and orientation, colour capability, temperature control and replacement strategy, resulting in a decrease in time-to-market for new printer products.”

Gerber will immediately cease production of its UV flatbed printers, including the Gerber CAT UV and Solara ion. The revenue generated from its UV flatbed printer business is expected to be around $3.5m-4m for the fiscal year ending April 30. According to the company, the flatbed printer market cannot support its long-term growth and earnings objectives. Marc Giles, Gerber Scientific president and CEO, said: “We are committed to achieving our transformation objectives and could not justify the cost of capital for a product line whose market fundamentals have not improved appreciably since the economic recovery began.” Gerber will now focus on its line of thermal products, including the EdgeFx printer, Omega software and speciality graphics materials. The company will, however, continue to provide its existing flatbed printer customers with access to service, support, parts and ink for a minimum of five years from the date of the announcement.

21

TECHNOLOGY

CONTINUOUS SINGLE-PASS PRINTING WITH THE MS-RIO Paolo Milini and Omar Ceruti, of MS Italy, explain how their new super-fast machine can beat the performance of rotary screenprinting

T

o better understand the great

of heads in a width of 1.6m, enough to

modes, or even in different production

advantages that might be

produce between 2,000 and 5,000

plants – or even in different companies!

gained by continuous-mode,

metres daily, according to settings and

single pass digital printing of

working shifts – which is equal to the

results in slower delivery to the final

fabrics, it is first necessary to explain

traditional flat-screen production available

customer.

how the features of such a system

today. This means that multi-pass digital

compare with existing installations in the

printing can easily be a substitute for

digital-printing field – the familiar multi-

traditional, conventional production in

pass printers.

application such as sampling, and small

This increases production time and

and medium runs. Digital printing in continuous single-pass mode with the MS-RIO achieves its After preparation and digital printing the

advantages over multi-pass discon-

textile needs to be steamed at settings

tinuous printing by virtue of the high

This phase needs chemical solutions that

that will vary depending on the

number of print heads deployed.

must be applied to the textile before

composition of the textile, the water-

printing, to help the fixing of the water

based inks used and the coverage of the

the heads, positioned on carriages above

based inks by steaming after printing.

designs applied. This phase requires

the textile, move from edge to edge of the

They are usually applied with foulard

between 10 and 45 minutes with our MS-

printer. Carriages can have different

machinery or flat-screen tables and then

VAPO Steamers, with 15 to 110 metres

dimensions and settings according to

dried in stenter machinery or under

capacity, dedicated to digital printing with

each manufacturer’s design, and the

conventional dryers.

the latest generation of water-based inks.

pause in fabric transport necessary for

In a conventional multi-pass machine

the passage of the carriage increases the time needed to print. The digital printers available on the

After preparation, digital printing and

market today all operate in multi-pass

steaming, the textile needs to be washed

mode. This means that the textile moves

and dried, when all the excess ink on the

step by step, in increments that vary

textile will be released rather than

according to the dimensions of the heads

adhering to the final fabric. Here, we have

and technological capacities such as

a continuous MS-WASH unit, capable of

resolution, etc. In this scenario the heads

washing fabric in expanded rather than

on the carriages move from selvedge to

rope form.

selvedge, printing the colours needed to

This multi-pass process has the Figure 1: Multi-pass printing, showing head movement on the MS-JPK

create the design. After printing, the

flexibility to be comfortable for small and

textile needs to be fixed by passage

medium runs that have been the typical

through several drying units, according to

digital output in recent years, but it

the printing speed that can be handled.

carries inconvenience in its complicated

heads on the MS-JPK, which can easily

and discontinuous production route,

reach a speed of 370 linear metres per

can reach up to 370 linear metres per

which is due the fact that the various

hour, depending on the resolution and

hour on a version settable with three lines

different phases are handled in separate

pass settings.

In our solution, the MS-JPK series, we

22

Figure 1 shows the movement of the

DIGITAL TEXTILE

TECHNOLOGY

Figure 2, in contrast, shows the singlepass continuous configuration of the MS-

Table A: Comparison on the MS-RIO and traditional rotary screenprinting machines Traditional Rotary Conventional

MS-RIO Continuous Single-Pass

No. of Colours per Design

Limited to the Cylinders from 8 to 12

Unlimited

Max Dimensions of Design

Repeat 640mm most common Repeat 1180mm very rare

Up to 8 meters

Printing Speed

Up to 30 m/min with magnet Up to 45 m/min with blade

Up to 75 m/min.

Type of Design and Shades

Limited to the possibilities of the mesh of the cylinders

Very detailed with linear shades due to perfect grey scales

Defects and selvedge bandings

Sometimes difficult to avoid or eliminate

Not existin g

Ecology impact and sustainability

Very high due the waste for the washing of cylinders and excess of colours printed.

Near to zero

Minimum Quantities

Very high cost per metre depending on cylinder costs

From 1 to any number of metres printed the cost of engraving is always zero

Dead Time settings for changing designs or colourways

Very high depending on number of cylinders to be mounted and washed

Zero

Personnel involved

2 men for each machine, +1 for colour kitchen, +1 for services

2 persons

Time for sampling design

Depending on engraving timing of cylinders, maybe some weeks

In real time

Costs collection designs

Very high for effect of engraving the cylinders

Very low: limited only to the printing and textile costs

RIO, with fixed heads mounted across the belt of the machine, on several transverse bars, according to the numbers of colours. Delivering high resolution across a 1.9-metre width, this intuitive configuration of print heads permits continuous printing without losing the time taken up in setting and printing in uni- or bi-directional scanning mode, thus increasing the speed of the digital printer according to the number of lines installed on each bar, which can be 1 or 2.

Figure 2: MS-RIO single-pass continuous printing, showing 1 or 2 lines of heads on each colour bar

An impression of the forthcoming MS-RIO

Obviously, the number of bars and heads on the MS-RIO will depend on the number of colours to be printed,

positioned

and can also adjusted according to the

on the belt and run it

calibrations chosen by user.

until the last has been

As already demonstrated by our model MS-JPK38, we can easily ramp up to fast

printed. Table A shows the advantages of the

production. Our MS-RIO project can

MS-RIO single-pass continuous machine

continue

reach speeds up 75 metres per minute,

over traditional, conventional rotary

to work with its

so this machine can run faster than the

printing machines.

own suppliers of auxiliaries and inks, and

traditional rotary screenprinting machines

The range type of textiles that can be

this decision will also make the market

available on the market today, without all

printed in our MS-RIO single-pass

more competitive. In the future we are

the setting time and test runs of a few

continuous machine is complete –

sure there will be a reduction in the ink

metres before the production, with

practically all textiles that today can be

cost, which today is still more than 50% of

cylinders mounted on the machine to

printed on conventional digital printers. To

the cost of digital print.

compose the ‘X’ number of rotary

deliver the optimum solution, we decided

screens. Users can start directly from the

to leave free the final choice of ink

printing mill with a complete MS-RIO line,

first metre of textile inserted and

supplier so that each end-user can

as illustrated in Figure 3.

Our vision for the future is a digitalDT 

Figure 3: A continuous printing-line concept incorporating the MS-RIO 1. Huge introduction roll of textile 2. Foulard squeezing and preparing machine 3. Continuous digital printing machine MS-RIO Single-Pass

ISSUE 2 2011

4. MS-HT (High Temperature) steamer 5. MS-WASHER 8V continuous washing plant 6. MS-2T400/40 drying unit

23

DESIGN

TRENDS

ALL THE FASHION FOR 2012 Janet Prescott reviews print design themes for the coming seasons

P

rints are bringing out the colour that has been injected

printed fabrics, prominently in the trend areas – sometimes

into the fashion mix for 2012. After several seasons

dedicating a whole fashion trend to digital designs, though

where blocked colour has been dominant, prints have

professionals remarked that it was becoming difficult to

become high-profile and individual.

distinguish digital from traditional techniques.

At the season’s fabric shows in Milan and Paris there was a

Designs that were originated for men’s fashion – florid ‘60s

wide variety of styles and inspiration, so that very few

resort shirts, further revived in the ‘80s, with colourful, large,

choices were repeated from one design label to the other,

‘over-the-top’ designs – appeared again in women’s collections

apart from the approach to colour. The economic situation

for Spring-Simmer 2012. Complicated photographic effects, with

has resulted in designers making s ure that they are offering

the advent of digital techniques, put disparate images side-by-

something new and unique.

side, united by the colour: palm trees, swimming turtles and car

Most of the prints seen in the new collections have been digitally engineered, as the technique enables an original idea to

lots were printed on one fabric, in a pale-blue cotton, printed with super-realist clarity, to be used for ultra-cool jeans-wear.

be made unique by altering small details. Digital printing is not chosen because it is cheaper, it was stressed – contrary to the impression of many. Though it is more flexible and allows infinite rapid changes during development, the cost of the inks involved often cancels out any other price advantages over more traditional ways of transferring a design to a length of fabric. The main attraction is the consistency of end-product, the scope afforded by digitally engineering an image, the possibilities for use of mixed media, artworks and photography combined, and the edgy, urban look achieved, which has come to be associated with many of the more cutting-edge digital designers. However, many designs, including florals or precise,

Leggiuno’s botanical drawings of sea creatures

old-fashioned botanical themes, were also digitally created. The technique was initially used mainly for womenswear,

Many designs for Summer 2012 were very small and detailed,

but men’s designers are now exploiting its potential,

aimed at shirtings, dress and blouse fabrics. These gave an all-

especially with super-realist photo prints, to appeal to the

over effect of dense colour, but on looking closer revealed micro

youth market. The dynamic, young casual market and

designs, such as Leggiuno’s botanical drawings of sea

upmarket jeans area relies on unusual approaches for trend-

creatures, fishes and ships, arranged in a dense pattern with an

defining original visuals. Imaginative prints for menswear

ecru ground and coloured in green, blue, gold and orange at

formed part of Winter collections 2011/12 at Pitti Immagine

Milano Unica. All over lozenge shapes appeared in pale

Uomo in Florence, in Januar y, ranging from large, bold

watercolours at Liberty Fabrics, designed in a painterly impres-

designs to pointilliste , micro looks.

sionist style, together with town-art motifs featuring coloured

The major fabric shows for the next season (Summer 2012), including Première Vision, in Paris, and Milano Unica, displayed eye-catching examples of digitally produced

24

ladders. Cover Italia and Ercea International prints were also creative and pointed new directions. Bold designs, overlaid images, contrast and colour caught the DIGITAL TEXTILE

DESIGN

Pale watercolours from Liberty Fabrics

TRENDS

Some prints are inspired by artists such as Mondrian and Picasso

spirit of the moment. Trends at Pitti Uomo had emphasised the fashion for darker urban scenes, interpreted in ultra-cool prints of buildings, roads and everyday landscapes, washed with colour like red, pale green or blue, and graffiti shapes – seen in black, white and red at Ercea International.

Palm trees, turtles and car lots come together in a single design at Milano Unica

Urban inspired print from Ercea International

One of the more notable new looks at Moda In centred round patchwork-look prints, made up of bright photo images for a montage of postcards, in a carefree 1960svacation style – Beach Boys and the surfing scene. Super-realist photo images of people and folk icons, such Parrot print at Milano Unica

a clown, faces looking out and hands extended, gave a

eye. Key colours included blues, greens, pinks and primrose

3D, trompe l’oeil result, with collage effects, portraits of

yellows, in soft tones, often used in revived historic prints –

faces or images of buildings.

DT 

wildlife themes such as parrot prints, seascapes and abstracts, all recoloured. There was a strong bent towards bolder and arresting art themes of the 1950s and ‘60s, interpreted in deep bold colours and unusual, confident abstract shapes. Warm terracotta, orange and red grounds contrasted with bold shapes in black and white, sometimes outlined with thick black lines, or on a ground of primitive symbols. Mondrian-style blocks of colour and Picasso-esque bold shapes resulted, as in the example shown top right. Big bold shapes and splashes of colour over a decorated ground, made the fabrics full of visual interest. Some Italian printers are commissioning young painters to capture the ISSUE 2 2011

Apparent 3D effects were seen at Moda In

25

SIGN & DIGITAL UK

COMPETITIVE MARKET IN POLYESTER ‘DIRECT TO PRINT’ Dr John Provost reports

T

he annual Sign & Digital UK show, at the NEC in April, saw the introduction of another digital-textile

print definition. The fixation stage is off-

printer aimed at the polyester wide-format signage

line and at the exhibition

market – the EFI VUTEk TX3250r, using the ‘direct-

Klieverik was on the VUTEk

to-print’ method.

stand, demonstrating its

This adds to the growing number of digital-textile printers

grand-format GTC81/3400

introduced into this sector in the last few years. All these printers

heat calender. As with all

are using disperse dyes of the low-energy types (dye-

direct-to-print digital

sublimation chemistry), in different ink formulations, developed

polyester printers, pre-

for direct printing on to polyester and subsequent fixation (either

treated fabric is used and

‘in-line’ or by a separate fixation stage using a heat calender).

VUTEk has partnered with

The advantage with polyester ‘direct to print’ is that there is no

Georg + Otto Friedrich to

wash-off stage after the fixation and it shortens the process route

supply polyester fabrics.

of dye-sublimation systems, which require an intermediate paper-printing stage, followed by heat-calender transfer/fixation. Since the introduction of the polyester ‘direct-to-print’ approach

The introduction of the new EFI VUTEk machine, added to the number of

at FESPA in 2004, by d.gen with its Teleios digital-textile printer,

‘direct-to-print’ polyester-

more and more digital-textile-printer manufacturers have entered

signage printers already in

this market. In addition, the grand-format digital-printer manufac-

the market, makes this one

turers, whose primary signage media was PVC, have also seen

of the most competitive

the opportunities and followed the trend - first Agfa with its

segments in digital textiles.

AquaJet Jeti 3324, then Durst with the Rhotex 320 at FESPA

This is good news for the

Munich last year, and now EFI VUTEk, with its TX3250r.

digital-textile-signage

Table 1 summarises some of the currently available polyester ‘direct-to-print’ machines.

EFI VUTEk TX 3250r direct-topolyester digital-textile printer

printers, as it gives more machine options and

The EFI VUTEk TX3250r (pictured) is a development from the

should put increased

VUTEk FabriVU model and uses Seiko print heads. EFI VUTEk

pressure on prices of both

has partnered Hilord to provide the disperse-dye inks for the

hardware and

machine, and these inks differ from the aqueous disperse-dye

consumables.

inks used in the other machines in Table 1, in being solventbased – which it is claimed gives improved ‘dot gain’ and

EFI VUTEk TX3250r (with Seiko print heads)

Elsewhere at Sign & Digital UK, Hybrid Services launched several new products, including the

Manufacturer

Model

Print Head

Print Head

D.gen

Teleios GT

Seiko 508

2.10

wide dye-sub banner

Mimaki

JV34-260

Epson DX5

2.60

printer and the TS3-1600

Mutoh

Viper TX

Epson DX4

2.24

entry-level dye-sub printer for soft-signage production.

ATP Color

DFP 1320G4

Epson DX5

3.30

Hollanders

ColorBooster XL320v

Seiko 508

3.20

Agfa

AquaJet Jeti 3324

Fuji Dimatix

3.20

Durst

Rhotex 320

Fuji Dimatix

3.20

EFI VUTEk

TX3250r

Seiko

3.20

ISSUE 2 2011

Mimaki JV34-260 2.6mKlieverik grand-format heat calender GTC 81/3400

Mutoh was promoting its various textile offers, such as the Viper TX 100, incorporating a built-in, switchable and rotatable print bed; the Viper TX SoftSign with in-line fixation unit; and the Viper TX Professional direct-to-fabric production printer with adhesive belt and integral dryer.

DT 

27

FESPA

DIGITAL

DIGITAL PRINTING ENTERS A NEW ERA Opportunity Knocks at Sell-Out Hamburg Show

F

ESPA Digital will open in Hamburg,

capabilities were a defining factor for the

Germany, on May 24, as a sell-out event.

businesses that best weathered the economic

More than 360 exhibitors – including 60

storm. More than two-thirds of visitors to FESPA

that are new to the show – have taken over

2010 in Munich last year said that digital was a

18,000sqm of space. Frazer Chesterman, FESPA managing director, says much has changed since the last edition of the

priority for them, and the focus on digital investment for the future has never been stronger.” Textile specialists will take note of the spate of

show in 2009 – not only in terms of the economic

new, fast production machines arriving in the

climate but also in the widespread take-up of digital

market, taking advantage of the latest generation of

technology across broad areas of printing. “Back in

print heads from manufacturers such as Kyocera

2009, digital wide-format printing was still, to a large

and Seiko. There is also increasing competition in

extent, in its adoption phase, with the majority of

the market for wide-format and grand-format

printers in our community still deliberating a digital

polyester signage printing – with much research

investment, or making gradual progress up the

being devoted to the development of new and

digital learning curve,” he said.

better sublimation and disperse-dye inks.

“In the two years since that show, the economic challenges faced by all businesses have reshaped

Frazer Chesterman

the wide-format print landscape, encouraging PSPs

Many of these technical achievements and the

to develop new revenue streams, adopt innovative

business opportunities associated with them will

technologies and business strategies to win new

be reflected in the programme of the one-day

business and carve out new niches. Without doubt,

FESPA Digital Textile Conference, on May 25, in

digital has played a key part in their evolution.

which the topics will range from garment printing

“From every quarter, we hear that digital

to industrial fabric functionalisation. Packed with expert knowledge and opinion, the conference will include open panel sessions in which delegates will be able to ask questions and make their own contributions. On the recent announcement of the signing of Hollanders as Gold Sponsor, Digital Textile editor John Scrimshaw, who will also chair the conference, said: "We're delighted to have the support of Hollanders for the FESPA Digital Textile Conference. "As a company that is dedicated to textile applications, Hollanders has

Hamburg Messe

28

always been among the DIGITAL TEXTILE

FESPA

leaders in driving the industry forward and its involvement in Hamburg will add strength and prestige to this key event." Xennia Technology and J-Teck3 are also sponsoring the event. Full programme details are at

DIGITAL

streamlining their manufacturing process. In addition, d.gen’s CEO and president Kilhun Lee will explain the advantages and disadvantages of digital-textile printing for soft signage and explore the prospects and marketability of this application. The Fresener’s Fabric Showcase Theatre programme is

Although referred to usually just as FESPA Digital, this event

specifically compiled to benefit the garment decorators and

comprises two sister exhibitions – FESPA Digital itself, running

textile printers who will visit FESPA Fabric. The programme

from May 24-27; and FESPA Fabric, with a focus on garment

will support them with latest industry intelligence, guide

printing, which will conclude one day earlier, on May 26.

them through recent technology developments, and

Among the features of the two shows is the evolution-themed educational programme in the Digital Showcase Theatre (Hall A2) and Fresener’s Fabric Showcase Theatre (Hall B1). The comprehensive programme for the Digital Showcase

demonstrate how these can be used to grow business. The three-day Fresener’s Fabric Showcase Theatre programme can be accessed at

. It

features 18 sessions co-ordinated by Scott Fresener, SGIA

Theatre, which consists of 15 free-to-attend seminars, is now

Parmele Award winner and owner of T-Biz International.

available online at

Fresener will himself host a number of seminars on topics

. Taking place between

11:00 and 16:00 in Hall A2 on the first three days of FESPA

ranging from ‘Secrets of High End Screen Printing on T- 

Digital, it will allow deliver intelligent insights on a variety of

Shirts’ to ‘The State of Direct-to-Garment Today and Beyond’ .

digital-printing topics.

Among other leading garment-industry people will share

The theatre sessions will be delivered by some of the

their expertise is Kornit Digital’s Sarel Ashkenazi, who will

digital-print industry’s key figures, including Ronen Zioni of

cover high-performance direct-to-garment solutions –

HP and Mark Alexander of Xaar. Steve Bennett, VP of sign

segmenting the garment-printing market and the

and display business at EskoArtwork will discuss the latest

technologies used by each of the segments.

large format finishing technologies, share EskoArtwork’s future vision of workflow automation, and guide delegates on

Mario Panter, CEO of Print Equipment, will deliver a session on ‘How to Make Money with Sublimation’.

DT 

TEXTILE HIGHLIGHTS A - Z claimed to be the

Beaver Paper will present its

lowest-cost entry products

TexPrint range of dye-

Unveiling a new label, to unify

to the art-reproduction

sublimation media products,

all its printable textiles under a

market on frames. There will

including TexPrint GREEN,

single brand, Berger will show

also be ancillary products and

launched in 2009 and

textiles up to 505cm wide. The

accessories for

claimed to be 100% eco-

range contains fabrics for

textile finishing.

friendly. TexPrint GREEN is

Cham is launching Transjet

dye-sublimation technologies,

made with fibre from

Industrial, its latest innovation

printed directly with water-, oil-

managed forestry reserves

in dye sublimation. The

or solvent-based sublimation

and contains no bleaching

65gsm lightweight sublimation

See Spandex

inks or by dye-sublimation

Barbieri is to present a new-

agents. It is said to have

paper is designed to increase

transfer, as well as with UV-

model spectrophotometer,

excellent dimensional stability

process efficiency in industrial

curable and eco-

specially designed for a large-

at high print speeds and

textile printing and the

solvent/solvent inks. Among

format printing applications. It

heavy ink saturation, with no

company says it can reduce

them, Berger is showing three

will complement the existing

back gassing.

transfer times by up to 25%.

new polyester art-canvas

Spectro LFP for large-format,

products, as a high-quality

flatbed and industrial printing,

but less-expensive alternative

and the Spectro Swing for

to cotton canvas. The new

aqueous and solvent printers.

Brother will be providing live

Visitors to Coldenhove’s stand

Canvas Banner Kandinsky,

demonstrations of its GT-541

will see the history of paper

Canvas Banner Warhol and

and GT-782 direct-to-

making, from the traditional to

Canvas Banner Gauguin are

garment printers.

the ultra-modern, and the

ISSUE 2 2011

29

FESPA

DIGITAL

stand itself will be decorated

being launched at FESPA

textile printer and is now

print quality on all roll

throughout with materials

Digital, as well as more stretch

working towards the launch of

materials without compro-

printed by dye-sub

fabrics in all three product

a new 500 sqm/hour

mising true flatbed capability.

technology. Coldenhove is

groups.

production textile printer,

It will print high-resolution

launching Jetcol DHS, the

although this will not be

1,200dpi (apparent)

newest member of Jetcol

unveiled until the ITMA show

photographic quality with in-

range and designed for

in Barcelona, in September.

line white or clear and Gandy

transferring images on to hard

D.gen has not announced the

claims it is the first commer-

substrates.

details of its display at FESPA

cially available high-speed,

Digital, but it is likely to

grey-scale printer delivering a

include the Teleios GT

EFI has not revealed its

six-picolitre droplet. The

1800mm direct-to-fabric

detailed plans for FESPA

machine is also claimed to be

ColorGATE is promoting both

polyester printer (see page

digital, but is likely to show the

the world’s first to operate with

its ColorGATE RIP software

14)

recently unveiled TX3250r

full machine controls from an

and its capability in the

direct-to-polyester printer, with

iPad.

development of ICC profiles

Seiko print heads, which

and printer drivers for a wide

takes its product line into

variety of printers and

DuPont is emphasising its

previously untried territory.

application areas.

Imvelo range of substrates,

HP’s line-up will include an

described as a ‘sustainable

expanded range of HP latex

solution’ for large-format

technologies, building on the

printing. Both strong sand

Epson has said it will

qualities of the popular HP

Concordia offers a range of

lightweight, the nonwoven

showcase its latest range of

Scitex LX800 printer. It says

fabrics for all digital-printing

materials are made from

large-format printers and

these enhanced products will

techniques – including

polypropylene and can be

specialist media.

enable PSPs to offer greater

Sublitexco heatset polyester

glued, stitched and stapled.

versatility to an increasing

fabrics for dye-sublimation

number of customers seeking

transfer printing; Distexco

products and solutions that

heatset, FR-treated fabrics for

ErgoSoft will present the

are designed for the environment.

direct printing with water-

Durst will give visitors their first

TexPrint V14 RIP solution for

based dye, pigment and

detailed insights into the work

digital-textile production. It

sublimation inks; and Soltexco

of the recently created Durst

says TexPrint makes it

heatset, FR-treated fabrics for

Textile Team, based in

possible to create and

direct printing with eco-

Kufstein, Austria. Last year,

produce professional

Heytex manufactures coated

solvent inks. Wider Soltexco

the company brought out the

colourways, using preview-

and laminated textiles for L-

fabrics and a new finish are

Rhotex 320 dye-sublimation

based custom spot-colour

XXL digital printing and will be

replacement tools to improve

showcasing its full line of new

colour accuracy and reduce

and improved digital coated

job make-ready times.

and laminated printing media

Textile producer

TexPrint 14 also provides

for the wide- and superwide-

Guandong is

superior colour and image

format digital printing market.

introducing new

quality for direct-to-garment,

The focus will be on the

Cotton Canvas and

direct-to-fabric and soft-

launch of new product lines

Polyester Canvas,

signage applications.

HEYblue digitex and HEYblue

both Gloss and Matt,

digiline.

suitable for pigment inks and for UV printing. It says the highlight of its Banner Collection is the new Intercast, a third-generation banner that

Gandy Digital is showing its

includes a wide variety of products, from the 340gsm

Pred8tor, described as a true

Hilord's product catalogue

laminated to the 800gsm cast.

flatbed and roll-to-roll combo

includes a full portfolio of

printer that achieves the same

water, solvent, dye

30

DIGITAL TEXTILE

ITE is launching its M Series of DTG direct-togarment printers, featuring the company’s !QW Interweave correction formula, said to eradicate banding in lower-resolution printing. The system detects the hard edge commonly seen between each pass and compensates with an intelligent dot placement and ink flow to give sharper prints. sublimation, textile, and

Imprifab.com is a young

UV inks. In addition, it says

company offering a wide

can custom-design any ink

range of ‘ecological’

to outlast and outperform

woven, knitted and

its competitors.

nonwoven fabrics for large-format and digital printing, as well as a range of complementary

Huntsman will showcase

products for finishing. Its

its various ranges of

products are available

digital-textile inks,

worldwide through a

including Terasil Brite inks

network of dealers and

for direct-to-textile and

distributors.

transfer printing – described as a new generation of sublimation inks, engineered for

IVM SignTEX is a specialist

brighter, deeper colours on

in textile pre-treatments,

direct-to-textile prints. Also

including fabric

on show will be Novacron

preparation for dye-

XKS inks for reactive

sublimation transfer.

printing of cellulosics, Lanaset XKS for polyamide and silk, Terasil XKS for polyester – and the latest

Digital-ink producer

Eriofast XKS range for

Jaysynth is launching both

high-speed printing of

low- and high-viscosity

polyamide, silk and

pigment inks in Hamburg,

cellulosics.

aimed at the garment and home-textile sectors. The new ranges will be offered in CMYK + White. Jaysynth

ISSUE 2 2011

FESPA

DIGITAL

will also be promoting its

including dye-sublimation,

and exporter of digital-printing

degassed ink pouches of 1,

reactive-dye and acid-dye

media and chemicals,

2 and 3 litres, along with

Jetbest Corporation will focus

inks – in ‘real time’. It also

including inkjet media is

Universal Needle Connector,

on its capabilities as a custom

supplies printer spares.

available for use with latex,

which it says provides

ink developer. The company

solvent, dye/pigment, Seiko oil

‘complete freedom’ for

says it can develop water-, oil-

and direct-sublimation

customers with closed

and solvent-based inks, and

technologies. Its range

systems.

eco-solvent based inks –

Jin Kwang is a manufacturer

includes adhesive-coating liquids for digital printing, as well as self-adhesive fabric.

J-Teck is launching a new line of water-based disperse-dye inks to complement its established J-Eco Nano ‘green’ inks for polyester fabrics. In

Best known as a

2003, J-Teck became the first dye-sublimation

manufacturer of wide-format

ink producer to remove phenols from its

laminators, Kala will also be

formulation. Its inks are formulated using its

showing a new 67-inch-wide

unique Nanodot Technology, which aids

heat-transfer calender for the

pigment-particle dispersion and so improves ink passage through piezo print heads

textile market. It says the

and promotes fast drying on the substrate.

economically priced calender

Other products manufactured by J-Teck include water-based pigment inks for graphic and

will open opportunities for

textile applications, acid dyes for printing of silk and Lycra, and reactive dyes for printing

printers looking to move into

cotton. All J-Teck inks are designed to work with bulk feeding systems.

textile printing for a modest investment.

International

Published by

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32

DIGITAL TEXTILE

FESPA

DIGITAL

directly printed fabric and for heat-transfer printing on any Kiian’s digital division will

polyester base fabric. Also in

show a wide variety of inks, for

show will be the successful

applications including fashion,

GTC 81 series, for

sport, interior decoration,

continuous production of

contracts and advertising.

direct and transfer dye-sub printing, and the GTC 81/1850 Sport, for continuous transfer printing of precut

Marabu is expanding its digital printing portfolio to include

Kornit will be showing its

pieces for sports clothing.

water-based inkjet inks for dye-sublimation printing and will

market-leading technology for

Klieverik calenders are

give live demonstrations. The new TexaJet DX-SHE is a

direct-to-garment printing. Its

available in working

hybrid ink for both transfer and direct digital printing on

latest introduction is the Kornit

with widths from 1650mm

pre-treated polyester, and is optimised for Epson DX4 and

Avalanche 951, with 12

to 3200mm.

DX5 print heads. Marabu says a high-density black ink,

print heads (8 x CMYK, 4 x

coupled with intensive colours, generates high print quality

White) for high-volume

and superb colour gamut. The inks are suitable for all

industrial printing.

textiles with a minimum polyester content of 60%. Liteks Textile, Turkey’s biggest fabric-coating company, is to

available in different qualities.

manufactures and supplies

present the Pesent’e Canvas

coated fabrics under the

Klieverik is to present the

range for digital printing,

brands Valmex, Polymar

recently developed Fixation

suitable for both solvent and

and Airtex. It also offers a

Unit GFC, for dye fixation of

water-based inks and

ISSUE 2 2011

Mehler Texnologies

range of high-strength

33

FESPA

DIGITAL

Mimaki JV34-260

materials for both screen and

TX650 range of water-based

of textile-transfer systems

dye-sublimation transfer inks.

and pressure-sensitive

The inks are formulated for

adhesive tapes, with a

use on wide-format printers

strong focus on advertising

using Epson DX4 and DX5

and display lettering. The

print heads, including

company’s Textile Graphics

Roland, Mimaki and

range comprises textile-

Mutoh models.

transfer films in almost any colour and quality. The Sign

production systems.

& Digital range offers a

digital printing, including

selection of paper and film-

frontlit, backlit, mesh,

Neschen will present its

based application tapes as

blockout and truck.

comprehensive range of

well as stencil tapes. Poli-

MS will be promoting its new

digital-print media and

Wall is a range of digitally

and ‘revolutionary’ single-

laminating films, including its

printable wall coverings.

pass MS-RIO, the fastest

new ‘made in Germany’

Mimaki is to showcase almost

textile inkjet machine yet –

textiles – DYEtex flag 110 B1,

its complete portfolio of

although the machine will not

DYEtex display 220 B1 and

printers and cutters, including

be present in Hamburg. MS-

VARItex decoframe 250 B1

Polyprint will demonstrate its

the newly launched JV34-260

RIO is able to print in high

CA, which it says are

Texjet direct-to-garment

super-wide-format printer and

resolution at a rate of

positioned in the ‘top quality

inkjet printers, now installed

examples of its dye-

between 25 and 75 linear

range’. The DYEtex products

in 43 countries, according to

sublimation printers. The

metres per minute and is the

are pure sublimation media

the company.

JV34-260 will itself soon be

digital textile printer first to

for flags/banners and

available in a dye-sub

challenge rotary screen-

display systems, and are said

version, but the model on

printing. MS will also be

to be available with attractive

display will be set up for

focusing on its MS-JP6 entry-

prices and volume

Promattex is to introduce the

solvent inks. Mimaki says it

level machine and the

conditions.

TS-3838ME low-cost, small

prints 70% faster than its

Kyocera-based MS-JPK

and light heat-transfer

predecessor, the JV33-260.

series, capable of printing

press, with a pressing area

Visitors will also gain an

over 300 linear metres per

of 38x38cm and facility to

overview of Mimaki´s

hour. Both models are

Optimum Digital services the

allow interchange

solutions for soft signage and

multiple-pass systems and

advertising sector with

accessories for different

apparel, including the high-

suitable for MS-Universal Ink,

solutions that include large-

media. Also on show will be

volume TX400-1800D and

a special range of ink able to

format, digital, solvent, UV,

the large-format (150x60cm)

super-wide-format JV5-

print on any kind of fabric

textile printers and inks.

TS-15060ME press for

320DS.

except polyester and acrylic.

dye-sublimation.

MS also offers steamers/washers and stenters dedicated to the Monti Antonio is to present a

Plastic Tech

Rainbow will show its

new range of compact

(PLASTGrommet) will

Chromoink range of inkjet

reactivation cylinders and

showcase its new line of

inks, which include

systems for use with direct-

‘green’ eyelets for digital

sublimation, pigment, acid and reactive textile inks.

digital-printing production.

to-textile inks. The machines

Nazdar offers a compre-

printing, along with setting

complement its existing

hensive selection of UV,

equipment specially

sublimation portfolio,

water-based and solvent-

designed for them.

comprising a range that

based printing inks for digital

stretches from small,

inkjet applications, but for

Rimslow will show its well-

economical solutions up to

textile printers the main

known range of textile-

sophisticated high-

interest will be the new Lyson

34

Poli-Tape is a manufacturer

processing systems, which DIGITAL TEXTILE

FESPA

DIGITAL

include machines for fabric pre-treatment, ink fixation and washing – a ‘total solution’ that it says makes

New from SETeMa is a stand-

possible a small ‘digital

alone version of the I-Fix direct

factory’. Rimslow also offers

textile fixation unit – functionality

continuous fabric steamers,

that can also be integrated into

fabric pre-treatment/coating

the standard I-Fix configuration for

systems, continuous fabric

a more flexible workflow. The I-Fix

washing systems and

is a completely autonomous heat-

in-line solutions for direct

fixation unit for direct-disperse

fabric printing.

and sublimation-transfer dyes. It

SETeMa's I-Fix

can be coupled in-line to each digital printer without a mechanical or electrical interface. Textile printing and fixation are synchronised to a one-step process. When used standalone, the fixation unit can manage a print output of almost 200sqm. Models are available Robart’s range includes the

in 1.85m, 2.50m and 3.40m widths.

RG-3300 Rollsl itter, designed to slit banner,

for textile printing are the

paper, textile, mesh and

VersaArt RS-640S and RS-

recently introduced product

vinyl (3.2-5m widths).

540S entry-level dye-

lines – M Inks, a series of

sublimation printers,

water-based pigment inks;

Among Roland’s machines

textile and UV printing.

and will be highlighting four

launched last year. The

Sawgrass claims to have a

SubliM Direct, the ‘next-

company promises

‘green-ink’ solution for

generation’ sublimation-ink

innovations in both digital-

almost every application

technology for high-speed

FESPA

DIGITAL

production environments;

found in harmful solvent

as a one-stop supplier of

Mimaki, Roland, MS, La

SubliJet-R, offering fast

inks or UV inks. All

complete offerings to the

Meccanica and Mutoh

printing speeds, energy

Sepiax inks are water-

digital-printing and

digital textile printers, and

efficiency, high capacity

based and in composition

signmaking industries. On

reactive inks for Robustelli

and ‘brilliant’ colour output;

completely harmless for

show will be printable

Monna Lisa printers.

and ChromaBlast-R fast,

humans and the

substrates from manufac-

low cost, inks for short-run

environment. Sepiax says

turers including Avery,

garment printing.

its product is the first

3M, Orafol and Mactac, as

really ‘green’ ink that is

well as the company’s own

TTS is a specialist supplier

able to replace harmful

ImagePerfect portfolio.

of transfer-printing media,

inks whilst also opening up

Spandex will also show

printable textiles and

Seiko I Infotech is a

new business

visitors a variety of

accessories. It will be

leading developer and

opportunities, for new

aluminium textile-display

showing TexoTrans SX

manufacturer of inkjet print

applications, in the world

solutions.

sublimation-transfer

heads and a subsidiary

of printing.

papers, which cover all

of Japan’s Seiko

water-based printing

Instruments Inc.

applications from A4 Stahls, a specialist in heat

desktop up to 320cm

Signtrade will present its

printing for apparel

grand format, and which

Hydrotex textile inks for

decoration, will

can be used for soft

Sublimation-ink specialist

direct and sublimation

demonstrate its Hotronix

signage and sportswear

Sensient will showcase its

printing on the

heat presses, CAD-CUT

applications. Also on show

recently launched Elvajet

Signracer printer.

film materials, CAD-

will be TexPrint SX40GFS,

range for both direct and

COLOR digital media and

for solvent-based dye-

transfer printing to textile,

a range of custom

sublimation inks, PPX

which it says has set a

transfers and inkjet a

Protection Paper for

papers.

calenders and

new benchmark in the

Founded last year, Solunaris

industry. Optimised for the

supplies products and

TexoFabrics for transfer

new generation of faster

services for both digital-textile

and direct dye-sublimation

print heads, including

printing and conventional

printing with water, oil, and

Epson, Ricoh, Kyocera

textile dyeing and printing. It

Stork Prints will showcase

solvent-based dye

and Spectra, the new inks

has launched a range of

its brand-new Sphene

sublimation inks.

are quick drying, which

water-based Antelos inks for

digital-textile printer, as

Sentient says allows

digital printing on natural and

well as the new Nebula

printing on lighter-weight

synthetic fibres with common

reactive-dye inks for the

transfer papers, while

print-head technologies, such

Kyocera print head.

Wasatch has launched

keeping cockling/waving

as Epson, Seiko and Kyocera.

Sphene is the company’s

SoftRIP 6.8, with

issues to a minimum.

The basic product ranges are

latest fast-production

enhanced support for

Antelos R reactive inks for

fabric printer, with print

dye-sublimation and

cotton, viscose and silk, and

speeds up to 550

textile printing. Press

Antelos A acid inks for silk,

sqm/hour. The Nebula inks,

Curves and Calibration

The Sepiax range includes

polyamide and wool.

claimed to be the only 8-

Curves are now available

water-based resin inks for

Solunaris also offers Antelos

colour inkset licensed by

in all editions and make it

indoor, outdoor and

Cleaner and Antelos

Kyocera, can also be used

easier for users to

industrial applications.

Conditioner for printer

in the Reggiani Renoir, MS-

construct colour profiles

Sepiax says it has

cleaning and maintenance.

JP and MS-JPK series

for processes that suffer

developed and distributes

printers. Stork’s full line of

from extreme dot gain. The

the world’s first, harmless

digital inks will be

custom-inkset creator now

water-based pigmented

displayed, with reactive,

allows users to configure

ink incorporating

Spandex (Brunner in

acid, disperse and

SoftRIP with custom

properties otherwise only

Germany) describes itself

sublimation inks for

Hi-Fi inksets.

36

DIGITAL TEXTILE

Calendar of Events

Digital 

t e x t i l e 

Submit your event listing to: The Editor, Digital Textile, World Textile Information Network, Perkin House, 1 Longlands Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 2TP

UK. Tel: +44 1274 378800 Fax: +44 1274 378811 e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.digital-textile.net

24-26

FESPA Digital, Hamburg, Germany. FESPA.

2 0- 23

Se ri gra fi a, Expo Center Norte, São Paolo,

1 1-1 2

In kj et I nd ia – digital printing conference,

Tel. +44 1737 240788;

Brazil, Website: www.gruposertec.com.br/ 

Mumbai, India.

Fax +44 1737 240770;

eventos-serigrafia-sign.asp

Website: www.inkjetforumindia.com

Website: www.fespa.com 25

FES PA Di gi tal Te xt il e Eu rop e – one-day

1-3

Print Source New York , Fall-Winter 2012

conference, Hamburg, Germany.

Preview, 7W New York, USA.

Contact: FESPA. Tel. +44 1737 240788;

Contact: Printsource New York Inc,

Fax +44 1737 240770;

Tel. +1 212 352 1005.

Website: www.fespadigital.com

E-mail: [email protected]

2-4

TV TecStyle Visions, Stuttgart, Germany.

Contact: Christin Fügner, Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH. Tel. +49 711 18560 – 2920;

24 -26

Tec ht ext il , International Trade Fair for

9-12

Fax. +49 711 18560 – 2657;

Maquintex, Centro de Convenções do Ceará,

Technical Textiles and Nonwovens,

Fortaleza, Brazil.

Messe Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Website: www.maquintex.com.br

E-mail: [email protected]; Website: www. www.tecstyle-visions.com

Contact: Messe Frankfurt, Tel: +49 69 75 75-58 55;

24-26

9-12

XXIV- CNTT 2011 (National Congress of Textile

Fax: +49 69 75 75-67 04.

Technicians), Centro de Eventos Ceará,

E-mail: [email protected];

Fortaleza, Brazil.

www.textilefairs.messefrankfurt.com

Website: www.abtt.org.br

21-24

Barcelona, Spain. FESPA. Tel. +44 1737 240788; Fax +44 1737 240770; Website: www.fespa.com

Techtextil Symposium , Messe Frankfurt,

Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Contact: Messe Frankfurt,

22-29

ITMA , Barcelona, Fira Gran Via de Barcelona,

12-16

Centre, China.

Spain. Contact: Pearl Yang,

Tel: +49 69 75 75-58 55;

Website www.itmaasia.com

E-mail: [email protected].

Fax: +49 69 75 75-67 04.

ITMA Asia , Shanghai New International Expo

Website: www.itma.com

E-mail: [email protected];

14-17

www.textilefairs.messefrankfurt.com

Febratex , Brazilian Textile Industry Fair,

Parque Vila Germanica, Blumenau SC, Brazil. 24-26

Avantex Symposium , Messe Frankfurt,

19-22

SGIA Expo, Ernest N. Morial Convention

Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Contact: SGIA, Tel. +1 703 385 1335.

Contact: Messe Frankfurt,

E-mail: [email protected].

Tel: +49 69 75 75-58 55;

Website: www.sgia.org

Fax: +49 69 75 75-67 04.

23-25

E-mail: [email protected]; www.textilefairs.messefrankfurt.com 24-27

Website: www.febratex.com.br

26-28

Texprocess 2011 : International Trade Fair for

Processing Textile and Flexible Materials,

SGIA Expo , Orange County Convention Center,

FESPA Asia , Suntec, Singapore.

Orlando, Forida, USA. Contact: SGIA,

Contact: FESPA. Tel. +44 1737 240788;

Tel. +1 703 385 1335.

Fax +44 1737 240770;

E-mail: [email protected].

Website: www.fespaasia.com

Website: www.sgia.org

Messe Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Contact: Messe Frankfurt, Tel: +49 69 75 75-58 55; Fax: +49 69 75 75-67 04. E-mail: [email protected]; www.textilefairs.messefrankfurt.com

MARCH 2009

27

FESPA Digital Textile Asia – one-day

23-25

IFAI Expo Americas , Orange County

conference, Singapore.

Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Contact: FESPA. Tel. +44 1737 240788;

Contact: IFAI, Tel. +1 651 222 2508.

Fax +44 1737 240770;

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.fespaasia.com

Web: www.ifai.com