Images_December_2019_Digital Edition

www.images-magazine.com DECEMBER 2019 images 25 INDUSTRY EVENT was their presentation: a gigantic wall projection screen with a live feed from a real factory with a camera crew streaming the press in action doing real jobs. Kudos to Hirsch International for such a novel and dynamic approach to selling the machines. There are also many new developments in digital printing on shirts. Aeoon has high-speed, high-quality printers, Kornit has a machine printing polyester shirts, and MHM, Roq, and M&R all have machines combining screen printing and digital on the same presses. With the industry rapidly moving towards (but still only a fraction of it using) DTS (direct-to-screen), also known as CTS (computer-to-screen), others are already moving beyond the current technology. Saati was showing a laser exposure unit that is affordable and practical – it will no doubt be at the leading edge of the next wave. MHM, Roq, and M&R were all presenting their solutions to getting jobs up and down quickly thanks to integration with both pre-press and packaging after printing. Transfers continue to be on the rise in the States, and FM Expressions had their vintage transfers, which are nearly indistinguishable from a full-front screen print on a shirt. I was also interested to see that Stahls’ has an innovative new heat press for caps which makes it easier to apply transfers to any cap, but particularly unstructured ones. The overall spirit of the show was very positive. Fears of an entire digital takeover are now known to be alarmist and instead it seems that many folks realise they are ‘decorators’. As decorators we have customers that want decoration on their garments – and that might be digital, a transfer, a vast array of screen print inks and techniques, a patch, embroidery, laser etching or some combination of any or all of these. That’s all the more reason to go to shows like this, see all there is to see and to figure out how it all can work together. www.printingunited.org www.theinkkitchen.com Hirsch had a live feed of an OvalJet working in a real factory [www.theinkkitchen.com ] Presentations at three amphitheatres supplemented the Printing United educational sessions Attendees could learn about DTG printers, screen printing equipment and dye sublimation F ea rs o f a n e n t i r e di g ital t a k e ov e r at the sh ow we r e a l a rm i st [ ww w .t hei n k k it ch en. c om ] The n ew he a t p re ss f o r c ap s f ro m S tahls’ [ww w. t hei n kk i t ch en. c om] F rom w id e f o r m a t t o DT G, al l p rint se ctors w ere co v er ed [ www .t he in kk it c h en .co m ]