Page 46 - Print21 magazine Sep-Oct 2022

Garment Printing
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Epson
Epson has a new DTG printer, the SureColor F3000, which will produce a printed t-shirt every 21 seconds, and will print onto white or black
or coloured t-shirts, as well as polo shirts, tote bags, tea towels and
the like. It will retail at $60,000. When Epson launched the SureColor Fabric series it represented a major evolution in textile printing. For the first time, equipment was designed as a complete and integrated solution. Consistent image quality could be achieved with simpler operation and less maintenance.
The SC-F3000 has scaled this concept up to suit needs of high- volume producers. It combines all of the features which have made Epson a leader in DTG, with faster loading, quicker printing, higher durability, and what Epson says is an ultra-low running cost. Aimed primarily at manufacturers who want to value- add T-shirts, polo tops, jeans and sweats, it can also be used for décor and fashion applications. Prints can be made on pre-cut fabric or directly onto finished garments with a heat press used to fix the image. The printer features a bulk supply system that uses compact and cost-effective bag-based ink. Hardware is covered by a comprehensive service package that is extendable up to five years.
Ricoh
Ricoh is ramping up its DTG business, partnering up with Austrian industrial textile printer developer Aeoon technologies, to offer a range of industrial scale garment printing systems. The move takes Ricoh into volume DTG markets, and puts the company in a stronger position to capitalise on what it says will be a “steep recovery” for DTG post-
Covid. Until now, Ricoh has focused on low cost
Above
DTG
production is straightforward, with file manager, printer and
heat press
Wide format printers: DTG applications
DTG systems, with the Ri100, Ri1000 and Ri2000. The future portfolio will include systems that drive sustainable on-demand textile production, and respond to the growth opportunities presented by decentralised fulfilment operations and centralised online businesses.
The existing DTG range starts
with the Ri 100, which can sit on
a countertop and travel just about anywhere, complete with a stackable garment finisher. Ricoh says the Ri 1000, which uses a magnetic system on the platen for ultra-quick loading, is the world’s most awarded DTG printer, including winning the SGIA product of the year, in a contest which tests overall colour appeal, tonality, image detail, objective colour matching, and grayscale colour cast. The Ricoh Ri 1000 is a speed machine, printing full-colour 10-inch x 8-inch graphics on light garments in less than 10 seconds. The same size graphic on a dark garment takes less than one minute.
Roland DG
The Roland DG TexArt XT-640S was awarded Best Direct to Garment Printer in the prestigious European Digital Press Awards, 2020. It prints durable, full-colour designs, photos, logos, and text directly onto a wide range of cotton and cotton-blend products.
Its rail-based system features a multi-station set-up with sliding base plate and docking plate operation that enables you to load and unload the next item or row of products to keep your production moving, while one set of product platens are in production, you can pre-treat and set up your platens for the next print job. This print set-up and operation is ideal for printing
on t-shirts and hoodies, but it also allows you to add items like baby bibs, blankets, sweatpants, and other one-
off apparel orders to any print run. It will be coming to Australia this year.
Kornit
Digital DTG systems manufacturer Kornit has a wide range of industrial scale DTG solutions. Kornit has released its Presto Max system, which it claims is the only single- step solution – and the most sustainable solution available – for direct-to-fabric printing to bring white printing on coloured fabrics. According to Kornit, the Presto Max’s ability to offer white printing on coloured fabrics “delivers the highest quality and softest feel
with brilliant whites and brighter neon colours, enhancing decoration capabilities for dark coloured fabrics more broadly”.
The new Kornit Presto Max,
the company says, will provide the cornerstone of a smart, efficient, sustainable EcoFactory, and integrates more parts of the process, from design to finished product,
to decrease carbon footprint, use minimum manpower, and generate less waste. The Kornit Presto Max system is ready to incorporate future iterations and evolutions of XDi. Kornit products are supplied in this market by Kissel + Wolf.
DTF
An alternative to DTG is DTF or direct-to-film, which sees the image printed onto a film, that is then adhered to the garment or item
with a heat press. The big advantage is that it can be used for virtually any type of material or fabric, not just cotton; so polyesters, other synthetics, silks, can all accept the film. What’s more, it is good for both dark and white fabrics, and it does not require any pre-treatment of the garment. 21
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46 Print21 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022