Images_Digital_Edition_January_2019

TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 24 images JANUARY 2019 I t is widely accepted that digital garment printing has come of age in recent years and now not only has a viable and expanding market share, but is also making inroads into new market sectors as well as expanding in its existing sectors. Ecommerce Ecommerce, including personalisation, has been the most viable sector for DTG printing and has seen the largest growth of multi-system print companies and has the highest output of all DTG sectors. This covers both in-house printing at the larger ecommerce sites and those companies providing fulfilment for ecommerce websites that prefer to outsource their production to existing DTG print specialists. Many renowned companies, such as Vistaprint, Moonpig, Photobox and Amazon, have their own in-house DTG print set-up for their ecommerce platforms, while numerous DTG printers market and sell their printed merchandise on platforms such as Amazon and Ebay. There is also a surprising number of websites that are not commonly known, yet supply significant quantities of DTG printed merchandise, either from their own in-house print unit or from outsourced print fulfilment. This marketplace is seeing tremendous growth and seems to have few boundaries to its future growth potential. DTG printing has been the ideal solution for this low quantity and often individual print fulfilment. Continuous improvement in system stability, production output and reduction in print costs all help ramp up the growth potential in this arena. Fashion retail Several large fashion and sportswear retail companies have had considerable success adding DTG to their high street retail outlets, using DTG systems both to draw customers into their retail space, and for on-the-spot garment personalisation. There are also increasing signs that major fashionwear and sportswear retail brands are exploring higher volume print-on-demand through DTG, both in-house and through fulfilment. This is a new and exciting area for expansion. Contract screen printing Recent product launches from various DTG system manufacturers, particularly those already with higher output models, have resulted in major advances in print quality, system output, wash/rub tests and the quality of the finished product. Mark Smith, managing director of Adelco, explores the changing market of the DTG and digital textile print sector Mark Smith The colour gamut of DTG printers has increased, enabling accurate spot colours [Printed on the Kornit Avalanche HD6]