It’s no surprise that Digital Fabric Printing is increasing in popularity

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.

Most major digital print machine manufacturers and principally those involved with UV and dye-sublimation, have invested vast amounts of time and money to develop and produce machines that are now wider and faster than could have been envisaged just 5 years ago. This is because of the ever-widening appeal of polyester fabrics. At the same time inks have kept pace and are now producing better and more consistently reliable colours.

It is due to the popularity of digital fabric printing that suppliers of media such as Brook International maintain a large and varied stockholding whilst being aware of the constant need and demand to introduce new polyester fabrics into their range. Quite often this means that for most application there are a number of polyester fabric options available.

The demand for polyester fabrics is forecast to continue to grow as new and varied uses for these fabrics are being found.  Fabrics are versatile in their use as they can be printed and then cut to shapes in a way that is not possible with rigid medias.  Digital printers have seen this sweeping change and an ever-increasing number each year are bringing textile media into their range or are increasing capacity to meet the demand for digital fabric printing.

Is quickly apparent when visiting retail outlets such as shopping centres, where it is very easy to see and compare the ways in which polyester fabrics are being used to promote brands and styles.  Many leading retailers are specifying polyester fabrics as their preferred media of choice. It gives them many options such as Flame Retardancy, excellent show-through or total blockout but always with strong, bright colours and with the ability for polyester fabrics to be recycled this further enhances its appeal. This emphasises the importance of digital fabric printing.

Article by Chris Drury