Over the past few years, the textile industry has made a huge leap in the digital printing sector. One of the most promising events in the textile industry is development of digital printing on different types of textiles.

This technology has met the growing requirements of many customers and improved and quality of services overall. The global market value of digital fabric printing CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate) increased to $ 1.88 billion in 2018.

ADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL PRINT

Digital printing, unlike other types of printing, enables the transfer of very individual designs to textile products. They can be black and white, or any combination of colors. Colorful fabric is made from digital files which allows for a great deal of freedom in the field of printed designs – the technology even allows the printing of several designs at once in one session. Digital materials can be relatively easily prepared for printing, and when designing a pattern, it does not matter much on which material the patterns will be printed.

Digital printing allows design on virtually any material, including cotton, polyester, viscose, wool, silk, bamboo and linen.

The technology allows the production of relatively small orders (starting from as low as 20kg) in very short production cycles. This technique, even in small parts, guarantees high flexibility and productivity in the use of delivered products. This translates into a very attractive unit price and allows the acquisition of large numbers of end customers.

The other benefits of using the digital printing service include:

• Ability to print any texts and subtitles,
• Ability to print any kind of computer graphics and digital drawings,
• Possibility of obtaining practically perfect reproduction of tonal transitions in the printed area,
• Ability to print photorealistic images and photos.

PREDICTIONS OF SPECIALISTS

Experts predict that the global production of digital textile printing will be about 1.6 billion square meters per year from 2019. This is an extremely forward-looking field due to the fact that it is expanding market opportunities. Computer technologies enable effective use of textiles in the gadget industry and marketing. According to forecasts, the market value will increase to USD 3.75 billion in 2023. The consumption is to reach levels of more than 2.70 billion square meters.

SUBLIMMATION PRINT

Sublimation printing is experiencing a particularly large development. The chemical process on which this technique is based is responsible for the unique sublimation printing properties. Sublimation inks are in fact dyes that bind only to polyester fibers.

When the pattern is pressed against the thermocouple fabric, the dye is heated. There are two very important processes. The dye changes its physical state directly from solid to gaseous, and the polyester fibers of the fabric open and take on the dye. The dye penetrates into the fibers instead of settling on the surface, which is the case with other methods of applying images to the fabric. When the high temperature effect stops, the fibers close again, permanently taking in the sublimation dye. The end result of the process is a clear image “imprinted” into the fabric – which does not give the impression that something has been printed on it.

Due to the overwhelming benefits of using digital printing processes, it seems that it is a technology that is sentenced to develop in near future.

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