Like many others, we fell in love with the digital printing technology 15 years ago. Digital printing is perfect for print on polyester, which is our niche. In addition, digital print meets an increasing demand for sustainable production. The entire process saves resources and has a significant lower impact on the environment than any of the conventional printing techniques.
scan htp is living in a clover with the gigantic innovation potential of the digital printing technology.
More shades and photographic details with digital print
The digital printing technique gives us full control of the colours. We will match the colours in any original object, and this goes for delicate details in graphic patterns as well as photographs. The print translates accurately.
We still have to give the transfer technique some of the credit for the accuracy of our digital prints. Using transfer, we reduce the consumption of colorants and therefore, we avoid the risk of colours setting off. However, the gift of colours and shades we get from the digital printing technique is unsurpassed. In fact, only the digital printer’s performance may set the limits of our choice of the colours.
We do use multiple colour patterns in conventional textile printing, but with a separate screen/stencil for each colour. The preparation in both gravure print and screen print takes time and is quite cost-intensive.
Do you need 10 metres, 500 or 5000? Digital print has removed the minimum limit
They say that the fashion industry dominates the market, but actually, it is less abstract than that. We decide ourselves what we want, and we have become much more conscious of our demands and perhaps even a bit picky. We want to stand out from the crowd at all times; the way we dress, exercise or decorate our homes. We think it is safe to say that the fashion industry is just playing along.
However we twist the consumption pattern, it is a fact that collections change faster than ever. With our digital printing technology, we welcome changing collections. Start-up costs are low once we have tailored the print file.
You may order or reorder the exact metres of printed fabric that you need unlike conventional techniques, which require orders of significant size to ensure a cost-effective production. We even order extra metres to avoid the risk of running short. Conventional printing techniques induce waste, cost money and put unnecessary strain on the environment.
No more worries about overlaps
Everyone that has worked with conventional printing techniques know that overlaps may be quite a challenge. To overcome it and create a satisfactory result where colours meet elegantly, accuracy and high quality machinery is essential.
Digital printing has eliminated this challenge because we control the print nozzles 100% via the software.
No limits of repeat size
In gravure printing the repeat size (length of pattern) is limited by the diameter of the cylinder (normally 60 cm). Screen printing is a little more flexible, but in most productions the circumference of the screen defines the repeat size.
With the digital printing technique, we have no limits of lengths whatsoever. This is probably the most ground-breaking features of digital printing on textile. Our customers welcome the new opportunities to design unique collections.
In our home textile segment, we have assisted several customers in changing from conventional prints to digital. We recreate the collection in question with the digital tools and provide the customer with an immediate improved result, but more so, the digital technique gives the customer an important flexibility for future collections.
Flexible repeat sizes also present a great advantage for fashion fabric, as prints for graduated sizes are no longer a problem.
The digital printer encourage innovation projects
Software, printer and paper are our essential work tools when we create new products or new functionalities. We have everything at hand to adjust shades, colorant supply, speed and many other issues. Testing, testing, and testing. And voila we reach a satisfactory result.
The digital printing technology is a true gift for those textile designers and textile technicians who want to transcend boundaries.
Digital print is slower
Yes, we cannot sidestep that fact. Conventional machinery may print up to 200 metres per minute (gravure: 150-200 metres/min – screen: 50 metres/min), whereas the digital printer performance is only 50-100 metres per hour. On the other hand, we do not spend work hours engraving or preparing screens. Digital printing gives you the exact number of required metres with an easy option for more if you should need it later.
The digital technology evolves all the time, also when it comes to print speed, but for now we have to justify the conventional printing techniques for very large orders due to the high speed and the relatively low price per meter.
Read more: Which printing technique will perfect your project? Read our technical guide
Less impact on the environment with digital textile print
We do not discharge wastewater at all from our digital print production. In fact, our water consumption is very low. Colorants contain no solvents and are sprayed onto the transfer paper in a thin layer only. During the sublimation process, the polyester fibres absorb the colorants completely, and the transfer paper may even be recycled afterwards.
Our digital machinery has a modest energy consumption and therefore limits the CO2 liability.
Conventional printing techniques require adding solvents to the colour paste. Moreover, conventional printing requires quite a large amount of colorants to obtain a nice print. Cleaning of screens and machinery produces a lot of wastewater containing surplus colorants.