TEXTILE PRINTING

(DIGITAL PRINTING)

Lecture# 43-48

Mujahid Mehdi Abro Indus University Karachi.

 PRINTING:

Localized coloration is known as printing.

 Printing Methods

Block Printing
Transfer printing
Roller printing
Screen Printing
Flat Screen Printing
Rotary Screen Printing
Digital Printing
 WHAT IS DIGITAL PRINTING?

The process of reproducing digital images

on physical surfaces is called Digital
Printing. The physical surfaces can be in
any form like a common paper, cloth,
plastic, a photographic paper, film, etc.
Introduction
First digitized manufacturing process involved textiles-
Invention of Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801.

That device was able to weave complex designs.

Opportunities arose to apply these technologies to textile

printing.

First digital printing on carpet by Millikan (patented).

Textile digital printing evolved in 1990s as a prototype tool for

printing small batches of fabrics for production.
The idea of digital printing on textiles has been around for
some time. Carpet inkjet printing machines have been used
since the early 1970s. Digital ink jet printing of continuous
rolls of textile fabrics was shown at ITMA in 1995. Again at
ITMA in 2003, several industrial inkjet printers were
introduced to the marketplace which made digital printing on
textiles the new industry standard. These new generation
machines had much higher outputs, higher resolution printing
heads, and more sophisticated textile material handling
systems allowing a wide various fabrics to be printed.
Digital print directly transfer print onto the fabric by ink. In
advanced technology develop no need a paper or film which is
used previously to print digitally. New machine directly print fabric.
Digital printing is the ideal printing technique for photos and
colorful designs which have gradients. This printing technique
does not last as long as flex and flock. The colors fade over time.
In this form of printing micro-sized droplets of dye are placed onto
the fabric through an inkjet print head. The print system software
interprets the data supplied by academic Textile digital image file.
The digital image file has the data to control the droplet output so
that the image quality and color control may be achieved. This is
the latest development in textile printing and is expanding very
fast.
Why digital printing?
Growth rate of digital printing
Traditional methods and limitations

ROTARY SCREEN PRINTING:-

High production of 80 m/min.

Restrictions on repeat size.

FLAT BED:-

30-50 m/min and screen size upto 3 m.

DRY HEAT TRANSFER:-

Transfer from paper to substrate under high temperature and pressure.

Applicable to Disperse dyes on polyester mainly.
 LIMITATIONS

Rely on printing using rollers and screens.

Preparation of these is a time consuming process.
Choking of the equipment.
Expensive Sampling.
Higher wastage of fabric as well as paste.
Higher engraving cost.
High labor cost.
Screen washing and disposal of waste print paste.
 COMPARISON OF ROTARY SCREEN AND
DIGITAL PRINTING METHODS

conventional method Digital method

Di
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Ink-jet Printing of textiles- fundamentals

Inkjet technology for textile requires pre- and post-

processing. Since textile is unable to absorb ink
sufficiently, it is necessary to provide an ink absorption
layer, which is referred to as pre-processing. After printing,
the process of making ink fast to fabrics by heating,
humidification or pressurization and washing to remove
the pre-processing agents.

The other is the difference of coloring agents used

according to the types of textile. For instance, disperse
dye inks are used for polyester fabrics, while reactive dye
inks are used for cotton.
Me
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DOT-ON-DEMAND

This provides mechanism for delivering drop where

required.

Demand is created by software which decides whether to

fire or not.

Drop then falls on substrate under gravity and appears as

dot.

Drop sizes are measured in Pico liters.

Increases the resolution.

DOD
ELECTROSTATIC PRINT HEAD

A high pulse electric voltage signal is applied to the ring shaped upper.

Electrode plate located against the wire (Pt line) inside the nozzle as ground electrode

The electrostatic force between the electrode and ground causes to form a micro droplet.

When the force is stronger than the surface tension of the liquid, the Liquid breaks up into
micro droplets and are ejected from the nozzle.
 SUBSTRATE PRE-TREATMENTS

Pre-treatment includes those chemicals which inhibit the

migration on the surface and it may also contain chemicals
controlling pH.
Low viscosities are preferred to ease flow but that will
move away from the target due to wicking.
So it is required to pad with Thickener which enhances
absorbency and improves migration.
If handle gets affected then a scouring process is needed
at the end to remove excess thickener..
 POST-TREATMENT
It is required for fixation.

Steaming make the substrate to open up and causing the dyes to

fix.

Steaming for 8-12min. At 102c is done.

Heating is required for pigments to polymerize the binder.

Washing is required to remove the unfixed colorants. That is done

by cold rinse, hot rinse, soaping, cold rinse and then drying.
 Dyes used for Digital Printing Inks and related fibers

Name of Digital Printing Inks Types of fibers used

Acid inks Silks & Nylons

Disperse inks Polyesters

Dye based inks Not used for any fabrics, used

for photography only.

Reactive inks All cellulose based fibers:

Cotton, Linen & Rayon
 Comparison between Digital Textile Printing & Traditional Printing
Methods
Digital Textile Printing Method Traditional Printing Methods

Has greater flexibility. Less flexibility.

Easy applications. Less convenient in applying.

Can be used for versatile Can be used for limited

purposes. purposes.

Takes less time. Take more time.

Having more colors Comparatively less colors

Present a variety of exclusive Having less no. of varieties

textile designs regarding designs.
 Digital print V/s Sublimation print
Sublimation Printing Digital Printing

Paper image is transfer on the surface of the

polyester fabric.
There is no need of fabric to be coated.
Base fabric should be synthetic or 100%
polyester,
The inks are printed directly to the coated
fabric.
There is need of fabric to be coated .
Almost all fabric can used as base

Sublimation will not fade, even after multiple Digital print can get fade after multiple
washings washing.

Sublimation dyes does not penetrate the In this dyes penetrate the surface of base
surface of fabric. So back side of fabric fabric. Digital relying on molecular
always white. bonding,.

Production feasible and less costly for bigger Ideal for sampling only.
run.
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