Images_Digital_Edition_January_2019

www.images-magazine.com JANUARY 2019 images 25 TIPS & TECHNIQUES The real gamechanger over the last year, however, has been the vast change in per unit print costs on these high output systems. This has resulted in several of the large conventional printers in the UK and worldwide either completely or partially replacing screen print with digital print. The savings in overheads, labour costs and the ‚go to press‘ time have enabled traditional screen printers to see a true cost benefit of digital over conventional print. It‘s been a long time coming, but finally conventional textile printers are making this change from screen to digital to produce their existing output rather than looking at new markets to justify a move into digital print. Another limitation of DTG for conventional printers has been the colour gamut range achievable through DTG and the ability to hit spot colour requirements accurately. The introduction of six-colour digital print combinations, such as that seen in the Kornit Storm Hexa and Avalanche Hexa printers, and the introduction of high-end RIP software with colour matching capabilities, means that this issue is now mostly covered. Hybrid digital The above appraisals are all based on fully digital print output. Hybrid digital printers, where a digital colour image is overprinted on a screen printed white base, have also seen a significant improvement in print speeds and the quality of the finished product over the last two years. Hybrid digital is most suitable for low to medium runs, not for individual print output, and therefore lends itself more to the existing conventional contract print, fashionwear and sportswear markets. There are not a significant number of systems installed in the UK or Europe as of yet, but they are more common in south-east Asia. The advantages of hybrid over fully digital print output is the lower cost of print as the white ink is screen printed, with only colour digital ink used. The fact that DTG print costs are reducing so significantly, however, means that the savings in print costs between hybrid and DTG are ever reducing. Another advantage of hybrid systems is that they make it easy to combine digital print with speciality inks, spot colours, foil and flock etc. Home furnishing and eco-fashionwear Similar to DTG, digital roll-to-roll printing has also seen a major shift towards digital print. To date this has been most prominent in the print-on-demand sector. Major retail sportswear and fashionwear companies, however, are increasingly looking to their suppliers to reduce the huge water consumption associated with the preparation and post-treatment of printed fabrics. The fabric print sector is one of the largest consumers of water, and is often based in locations that have the most difficulty in providing such water quantities to sustain their textile print output. Recent advances in digital roll-to-roll print systems have seen an almost total drop in water consumption through advances in digital print using pigment ink systems with in- line fabric treatment. Similar increases in system output and reduction in print costs will without doubt increase the effect that digital print has in this market sector. My own experience in textile print over the last 30 years originated in conventional screen printing systems and that market is unquestionably here to stay for the foreseeable future. However, I have no doubt that the future of print for the textile market is digital. www.adelco.co.uk We specialise in premium T-Shirts, Sweatshirts and Polo Shirts for start up companies, lifestyle brands and high-end boutiques. We have a low minimum order quantity – it usually starts around 50 units and can be split over sizes, using our stock fabrics and colours. Please view our website for stock options Visit us www.article-10.com email sales@article-10.com or call 0116 2710277 DTG has enabled on-the-spot personalisation in retail stores [Printed on the Kornit Avalanche HD6]