Written By Tenaui Middle East
2021-09-11
Epson Printer
Fabric printing is the most common and popular form in the industry of printing, for sure. You can do printing on any fabric such as cotton, silk, and many more with the help of a Fabric Printer. The term of fabric printing itself provides you with a way to make the clothes more beautiful and presentable even on large scales.
Although it is considered the most straightforward task to do printing on fabric, it needs high precision and perfection so that colors could stay on material for a long time in actuality. Because of this, in the modern era, we have many techniques and technologies for printing different kinds of fabrics efficiently and accurately.
Let me tell you about different fabric printing techniques so you can choose the best one for you!
Basic fabric printing techniques used on large scales:
There are three essential types of fabric printing in textiles: resist printing, discharge printing, and direct printing. I will tell you about these briefly to get the how-to know of these types too.
In direct printing, the printing is directly done on the fabric surface with the help of a fabric printer that uses dyes and pigments. Resist printing is done by applying a special paste in the form of patterns on the fabric. Tie and dye is an example of this printing type.
Discharge printing is the least common method in textiles as this technique is used to remove colors from some regions of already dyed fabric. This technique uses different chemicals to remove the stains.
Other fabric printing techniques:
You will find several methods/ techniques/ technologies for printing on the fabrics. Every process has some advantages and disadvantages, so choosing the best technology among them isn’t easy. However, we are trying to cover almost all the technologies used for fabric printing briefly so that you can choose appropriately.
· Screen printing
It is also known as analog printing. In this technology, you can be done the work by using fabric printer machines or manually. All you have to do is press the paint on the fabric with the help of a printing screen. The printing screen is mainly made up of nylon mesh and a steel frame.
Screen printing is considered suitable for printing ready-made clothing pieces such as accessories, bags, and T-shirts. Screen printing does not work out well for multicolor printing, but it performs one color printing fantastically.
There are some types of screen printing that are most commonly used: rotary, hand-screen, and flat-screen printing. This technique is cost-effective if you are using it on a large scale. Otherwise, it is pretty expensive because of the cost of separated screens and colors, etc.
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Digital printing
This printing method is the most cost-effective and modern technology for fabric printing. You can print even a single sample as you need printing screens in this method. Moreover, you can print the fabric without any restriction of limited colors and single-color graphics. It is similar to the Epson printers of home inkjet type.
Digital printing is the noticeable option for printing detailed patterns, photos, complex designs, and tonal transitions, and you can use any colors from the palette of the fabric printer. There are many perks of using digital printing on fabrics.
This technology is very user-friendly because you don’t need any expensive screens for printing. You can also print a single copy without any color limitation. If you want to publish sample articles, then this is the best option to choose. Unfortunately, the economic scale is less than screen printing.
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Direct to garment printing
You have been known with the word DTG printing, and this is the technique. In this technology, you can make different patterns by using different colors directly to the fabric’s surface. This method is usually used when you want a finished clothing product.
This technology is the perfect option for printing on sweatshirts, polo shirts, bags, T-shirts, etc. It is a good option because you don’t need any expensive screens or printing plates to complete fabric printing. That’s why this technique doesn’t require any initial cost.
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Roll-to-roll printing
In this method, the fabric printing is done in bolts, also known as rolls. You can do such printing at home by using your home fabric printer. All you need to do is to fit your Epson printer with a bolt of unprinted fabric. This method is least common because people mostly don’t want to do printing at home.
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Photo printing
This printing method is the modern technology of fabric printing. In this method, the fabric is applied with a chemical coat, a liquid photo emulsion. This chemical is sensitive to light, and then it prints out any photo on the material. This technique is mainly used when the customer wants to customize their fabrics.
Fabric Printer technologies on the types of dyes:
You can print the fabric by using different shades, and you can also choose something from it. Its types include fabric printing using acid dyes, reactive dyes, pigment inks, and dye sublimation printing. Now let me tell you briefly about them.
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Fabric printing by using pigment inks
You can do this method of printing on fabric such as cotton mostly. This technology in the printing industry is considered the “future of digital printing.” It is a rapid and fast method to use for fabric printing. Moreover, you can quickly get high-quality pigment inks from the markets.
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Fabric printing by using reactive dyes
This is a form of digital printing by using reactive dyes and acids. These dyes are absorbed in fabric and then react with it in digital printing. This method is recommended compared to pigment ink printing as it provides a good grip of colors and is highly durable.
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Dye-sublimation printing
This technology is used for printing on polyester (synthetic fibers) and blends mainly produced of polyester. However, it doesn’t work out well on the cotton fabric. In this process, the sublimation inks are used. The process starts in the heating phase, and then the dye sublimates and merges with the material.
Conclusion
In all of these different technologies and techniques, the best fabric printing technology is digital printing because it is the most used, cost-effective, and modern method for fabric printing. You can do on-demand printing with this technique. On the other hand, it’s up to you depending on your preferences.
