Page 38 - Print 21 Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Digital Textiles
Textile dynamics
Personalised fabric print in clothing and garments, interior décor, and soft signage is set to surge, for compelling reasons. Print21 editor Wayne Robinson looks at the dynamics that are shaping what is a major growth opportunity for print businesses.
The range of applications is huge: sportswear, fashion, corporate wear, and t-shirts are just in the clothing sector. This is the biggest sector, accounting for three quarters of the value of digital textile printing, and the one with the most opportunity.
Then there is interior décor
with cushion covers, pillowcases, doona covers, lampshades, and wall coverings. Then signage, with soft signage having major advantages over traditional media such as vinyl
– soft is easy to transport, easy to install, and environmentally friendly.
All can be printed using inkjet printing, either direct to the garment or via dye sublimation transfer paper. Direct to garment tends to
be for cotton-based materials, dye sublimation for polyester.
Direct to garment (DTG) does what it says. You put the fabric
into the printer – a t-shirt, cap, pillowcase, or whatever – the printer prints directly onto the garment, which then needs just heart pressing, and the job is done. DTG printers are available for less than $10,000.
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Digital inkjet printing has almost completely taken over the sign and display sector. In so doing, it
has moved it from a specialised world into the orbit of
every commercial print business in the country. For less than $20,000, any printer can have a half-decent print system capable of printing posters, banners, and wall and floor graphics.
This is due to the arrival of digital inkjet print systems, which, when combined with a decent rip, have made large format printing a virtually foolproof operation. Wide format printing has become a major revenue stream in print, with its
38 Print21 JULY/AUGUST 2020
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Digital textile printing: Market dynamics delivering opportunities
market value moving consistently upwards since the turn of the decade.
Now the same dynamics that opened the door for posters and banners are impacting the world of fabric printing. The good news is there are far more applications, and a far greater value than even posters and banners and floor graphics.
In both direct-to-garment and dye-sublimation printing for fabrics, digital inkjet technology has arrived. It has been available for a few years, but today the sheer number of systems, the ease of operation, and the low costs, are combining with society’s drive for personalisation and instant gratification to open up the digital textile market.