The answer to the question ‘why is digital fabric printing growing in popularity’ is quite simple. It’s because it offers customers an unbeatable choice of fabrics for virtually any application with truly stunning colour reproduction.
Perhaps one of the most exciting questions today in the print sector is why print on fabric? The simple answer is because it opens new and novel revenue streams that have not been capitalised upon by companies who continue to print onto traditional non-fabric medias i.e. PVC, vinyl’s film and paper-based media etc. Printing on fabric is now moving at such a fast pace as more and more companies recognise the enormous advantages.
Flag Printing is now the normal and accepted method of manufacturing flags. The process has evolved over the last 40 years to such a level that the quality bears no comparison to standard of production in those early days. The fabric that was first printed on was a woven, spun, nylon and wool mixture which allowed longer runs to be produced quicker and more efficiently.
The digital fabric printing revolution continues to gather a pace and will do so for a long time to come. The factors that are fuelling this revolution are a number of factors including advances in technology, fabrics and ink but also the versatility such printing methods offer. Looking at each of these factors we can begin to appreciate why this revolution - which is probably one of the best words to describe it - is happening.
The question why print on fabric is perhaps better expressed as why print on fabric as opposed to other media such as paper, vinyl, glass or other solid substrates?
The days when flags were only produced by traditional cut & sew methods are now a long way behind us. Whilst this method often produced superbly crafted flags the process could be long and involved, especially with more intricate and complicated designs and used the expertise of many different members of staff.
The amount of fabric now being used at exhibitions is increasing on an annual basis. The change from pvc and various other rigid media has been driven from every possible angle with considerable benefits for everyone.
How to print on fabric? This will be the key question looked at in this article. Although this is a huge subject we will focus here on how to select the right fabric for the right market and what print technology is best suited for the purpose.
Digital printing today comes in many forms and has evolved over the years to what it is today. The earliest forms of digital printing can be traced back to the early 1900’s. Today digital printing and its technologies are used widely for digital fabric printing and that is seen as a growing trend. From entry-level systems to large-scale mass production systems the evolution has been extraordinary.
For most indoor and outdoor applications it is now increasingly popular to use polyester fabrics because of advances in the quality of digital fabric printing. From their original use as flags or banners polyesters have become widely used in many varied applications such as exhibition graphics and in-store graphics where they are considered to be aesthetically pleasing and will provide exceptionally strong and vibrant colours.
The last 10-years has a steady but dramatic increase in advertising and promotional graphics being digitally printed onto a range of polyester fabrics. This raises the question are you printing on fabric yet? Or do you have plans to invest in the near future?
No longer are we restrained by printing techniques, inks or textile media for exhibition fabrics. Textiles are now leading the way for exhibition stands across a very wide range of applications from backdrops to stage events. For example the “One Year To Go” event recently staged by the BBC in Trafalgar Square to launch the unveiling ceremony for the medals to be presented to the winners in the 2012 Olympic Games had a dazzling blue backdrop with logos standing out very clearly, all printed on polyester fabrics.
All the current indications and all the trade press are very clear that the growth curve in digital fabric printing is becoming ever steeper. The UK is now rapidly realising what their European colleagues have known for the last six to seven years that the potential for fabric printing, using digital technology, is there to be exploited right now.
The demand to see design and colour on a piece of fabric has existed for thousands of years. It is however only in the last 15-20 years that technical advances in printing on fabrics have moved forward at a pace probably never seen before. Business and domestic needs to improve the options for printing on fabrics have driven this recent change.
In the exhibition sector there is a revolution-taking place that has been fuelled by a combination of factors and in particular the choice of fabrics. Advances in fabric pre-treatments and characteristics have lead to this revolution. As pre-treatments such as Brook-7 have advanced the print results possible are now stunning. Exhibition fabrics and advanced better inks
