Digital fabric printing is now widely used in the production of all kinds of garments.About what it really is? What are the advantages in manufacturing garments in bulk? And how does the printing process work? Today, I’m going to tell you more about digital fabric printing.
What is Digital Fabric Printing
Digital fabric printing began in the early 1990s when Stork introduced the world’s first commercial textile inkjet printer.In the beginning, people were only able to print fabrics by dye sublimation.As technology continues to evolve people are realizing the ability to print on fabrics as well as office paper printing.Now we use large inkjet printers to transfer the fabric into the machine to be able to directly pattern print on the fabric, realizing a big leap in productivity.
Types of Digital Fabric Printing
Digital fabric printing is mainly categorized into digital inkjet printing and sublimation digital printing:
Digital Inkjet Printing：Digital inkjet printing creates vibrant patterns on fabric by controlling the ejection of ink droplets based on a digital file.Whether it’s direct-to-garment (DTG) printing on individual garments or large-scale fabric roll printing, you can use digital print textile printing to ensure durability.
Sublimation Digital Printing：Compared to natural materials such as cotton, silk, and viscose, sublimation digital printing is more suitable for synthetic fabrics.You print the design onto special transfer paper, and then use high heat to transfer the design from the transfer paper onto the fabric.
Types of Fabric Printing Machine
Inkjet Fabric Printers
Inkjet fabric printers offer excellent versatility.It is capable of high-resolution printing, producing clear and detailed printouts.Printed details can be vividly displayed on the fabric.
Furthermore, inkjet fabric printers are suitable for a variety of fabrics, including cotton, silk, and synthetic fibers.
Sublimation Printers
Sublimation printers are more suitable for polyester and various synthetic fabrics.Transferring the dye to the fabric through heat ensures a vibrant and long-lasting pattern. Stretch prints for banners and sportswear prints often utilize sublimation printers.
Direct to Garment (DTG) Printers
DTG printers are more suitable for small customized orders.Unlike traditional screen printing, DTG printing does not require plates and can print directly onto fabric.There are no limitations on the number of colors, making it ideal for urgent, flexible small-batch production.
Rotary Screen Printers
Rotary screen printing is a traditional, non-digital method, but it is still the dominant solution for large-scale fabric production. It is efficient for large runs while ensuring consistent printing results.Rotary screen printing is commonly used for T-shirts, denim fabrics, bed linens, and a wide range of other digital print textile products.
Fabrics Suitable for Digital Printing
If you want digitally printed patterns to be vibrant, durable, and resistant to fading for a long time.When choosing fabrics, you should consider various factors and select the appropriate material. The main factors to consider include:
Fabric composition: Natural fibers, such as cotton and silk, absorb ink more effectively.
Fabric weight and texture: Different fabric weights and textures will affect the final printing effect. Based on tests conducted by Goal Sportswear, smooth and flat fabrics produce the best printing results.
Color Fastness: Only fabrics with excellent color fastness can ensure the vibrancy and durability of the print.
You not only need to consider the factors that affect fabric printing, but also have a basic understanding of some common fabrics:
Polyester fabrics：Polyester fabrics come from petroleum and are among the most popular textiles. They are commonly used for sportswear, fashion clothing, and bags. We use disperse inks or sublimation inks to print on polyester fabrics, achieving high-quality prints.
Cotton fabrics: Cotton fabrics offer excellent moisture control, comfort, and breathability, and when combined with reactive inks, allow for excellent penetration of the print into the fabric.
Linen/ramie fabrics：This is a natural fiber that possesses excellent breathability. Because of this characteristic, this fabric is often chosen for making summer clothing such as shirts, T-shirts, and skirts.
Mixed/blended fabrics: Blended fabrics are made from a combination of different yarns.In digital printing, a single type of ink is usually used, but there may be differences in ink uptake and color rendering by different yarns.However, most yarns are compatible with digital printing, ensuring good printing results.
Man-made fabrics: Artificial fabrics are usually made from materials such as viscose, tencel, modal, rayon, and lyocell.Many fashion clothing brands, such as ZARA and H&M, use rayon.They blend well with reactive inks, allowing for the creation of complex and vibrant prints.
Polyamide fabrics: Polyamide fabrics are textiles composed of chains of polyamide monomers, the most common of which is nylon.Polyamide fabrics are typically digitally printed using acid inks because these inks can firmly bond with the polyamide fibers. Polyamide fabrics are abrasion-resistant and quick-drying, and are often used in sportswear, jackets and swimwear, to name a few.
Inks for Digital Textile Printing
Reactive Ink
This is an environmentally friendly dye, ideal for cotton, silk, bamboo, linen, and other materials.It can provide stable and long-lasting drying effects for these natural materials.However, reactive inks do not adhere firmly to synthetic fabrics, resulting in poor print durability.
Pigment Ink
Pigments are bound together by a binder and adhere to the surface of the fibers, and are suitable for both natural and synthetic fibers (cotton, silk, rayon, cotton/polyester blends).Once the printing is complete, the glue in the ink is heated through a dry heating machine to cure it and create a solid fabric color.
Acid Ink
Acid ink is often used for printing on protein-based fibers such as silk, wool and leather, and is equally suitable for nylon and polyamide.These fabrics have good permeability.Therefore, acid inks can penetrate well into the back of the fabric, creating vibrant prints.In addition, acid ink can withstand harsh conditions such as chlorine and saltwater, so it is often used for textile products intended for outdoor use.After printing, you need to ensure the fabric is steamed at 100 to 102 degrees Celsius for half an hour to help stabilize the ink colors.
Disperse Ink
Specific dye for sublimation digital printing.The heat press helps the ink bond more effectively to the polyester fabric.
Precautions to Take before Printing on Fabric
Color
There are no limitations on the colors used in digital fabric printing.You can freely design any pattern you like.Clashing colors, gradient colors or intricate details are all able to be presented on the fabric.
Fabrics
Different fabrics produce different printing effects.You can get a basic understanding by looking at the fabric sample book.
File Standards
The appropriate digital file format affects the final result of fabric printing.The file standard requires using the RGB color mode and saving the files in JPEG format.In addition, the image resolution should be maintained between 150 and 300 DPI.
File Orientation
The file orientation should be consistent with the direction of the fabric. When creating the pattern, you need to ensure the file’s height aligns with the fabric length, the left and right sides align with the fabric edges, and the top and bottom correspond to the cutting lines.This arrangement ensures the accuracy of the cutting process.
Steps of Digital Fabric Printing
Digital design process
You can design it using software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.You can freely experiment with colors and make quick and direct modifications to the print details.
Prepare the fabric
Traditional screen printing requires a thick ink fixer, but using a thick ink layer in digital printing would affect the proper functioning of the printer’s print heads.Before printing, you need to pre-treat the fabric. This removes surface impurities such as grease, wax, and dust, ensuring that the ink is fully absorbed.This treatment is also applicable to a wide range of fabrics.
Printing Test
It is very important to perform an ink absorption test on the pre-treated fabric.Because the ink level directly affects the accuracy and brightness of the printed output.Therefore, when you load ink into the printer, you need to adjust the ink volume according to the fabric’s absorbency.
Printing Process
In digital printing, the CMYK color mode can accurately reproduce the colors of the design.When using a specialized inkjet printer to spray ink droplets onto fabric, the height of the printer’s print head needs to be adjusted according to the type of fabric.By carefully controlling the ink jet volume, both the direct-to-fabric method and the transfer paper method can produce durable and vibrant fabric prints.
Post-printing Processing
You need to steam or heat-press the printed fabric to allow the ink to bond better with the fibers.Then, it is air-dried naturally to prevent the printed pattern from deforming.In some cases, the fabric needs to be washed to remove surface chemicals.
Advantages of Digital Printing on Fabric
Compared to traditional screen printing on fabrics, digital fabric printing is more flexible and easier to operate.It can both guarantee the quality of the printing and meet various design requirements：
Flexible small-batch production
Whether you are a fabric manufacturer or an independent brand designer, digital printing allows you to easily modify and design complex patterns.Compared to traditional screen printing, you can print in small batches according to your needs, and the process is also much simpler.
High-resolution with vibrant colors
Digital printing offers 16 million colors and shades, enabling the production of vibrant, high-resolution printed patterns.Digital printers can precisely deposit ink, capturing intricate details and smooth transitions between colors in printed designs.
Consistency between batches
Traditional printing methods often encounter problems such as ink bleeding and printing errors, but digital printing, by connecting devices via digital files, can directly and accurately reproduce the original design.This effectively avoids human error and allows for the reproduction of the pattern’s details.
Reduce waste
In screen printing, errors during plate making and installation can easily lead to substandard printed fabrics, resulting in wasted raw materials and increased costs.Digital printing will be able to print as much as you need without creating either high volume waste or fabric inventory buildup.
Environmentally friendly water-based dyes
Digital fabric printing uses environmentally friendly, water-based dyes that eliminate the need for wash screens and dye water, greatly reducing water requirements.Digital textile printers have also been very helpful in addressing the problem of raw material waste in traditional printing methods.
Disadvantages of Digital Printing on Fabric
The digital fabric printers and liquid inks required for digital printing represent a significant cost, so the investment in and selection of equipment and materials require careful consideration. Furthermore, to ensure the print on the fabric is more durable and long-lasting, most digitally printed fabrics require special liquid pretreatment before printing, which also increases time and labor costs.
Applications of Digitally Printed Fabrics
Clothing and Fashion
The flexible, small-batch production capabilities of digital fabric printing make it ideal for limited edition or seasonal clothing.It not only guarantees that the required quantity of clothing can be produced in a short time, but also ensures the durability and colorfastness of the garment prints.You can use it for wedding dresses, sportswear, swimwear, or designer clothing, etc.
Furniture and Decorations
Furniture and upholstery fabrics are able to be digitally printed directly. It is commonly used in curtains, bed sheets, sofa fabrics, wall coverings, and various types of soft furnishing fabrics.Direct digital printing brings convenience to the printing process.At the same time, the use of water-based dyes reduces the release of toxic gases such as formaldehyde, making digital fabric printing more environmentally friendly and safe for you to use.
Culture, Creativity, and Business
Digital printing can quickly respond to market trends and is widely favored in the cultural, creative, and commercial fields, for example, in products like scarves, handbags, and collaborative merchandise.And because of the weather resistance of digital printing, it can be used in different environments such as exhibition backdrops, stage decorations and outdoor banners.
Maintenance and Care of Digitally Printed Fabrics
Digital printing can provide fabrics with vibrant and long-lasting printed designs.However, during use, you also need to be aware of the following factors that can damage the fabric pattern:
Cleaning: Determine the cleaning temperature, washing program, and type of detergent based on the cleaning instructions provided by the manufacturer.At the same time, regardless of the type of fabric, be careful to avoid excessive washing, which can cause the printed design to crack.
Avoid bleaching: You should avoid bleach and harsh chemicals during the wearing and washing of digitally printed fabrics to prevent damage to the print and fabric quality.
Sun protection: Fabrics exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods are prone to fading.You can choose to apply a UV-protective coating to the fabric or avoid direct sunlight.
Future Trends in Digital Textile Printing
Although digital fabric printing is easy to use and becoming increasingly popular, it still faces some challenges.The high price of printing equipment deters many small and medium-sized enterprises.However, if you want high-quality printing results, you’ll need a high-specification printer.Therefore, digital fabric printing can continue to innovate in the future towards sustainability.
Green technology: Future digital fabric printing will be able to use environmentally friendly inks and circular production models, creating green printing.Biodegradable and non-toxic ink can be discharged directly without causing environmental pollution.The circular production model automatically separates residual dyes and clean water for reuse, reducing water waste.
Artificial Intelligence: Digital fabric printing incorporates artificial intelligence, which not only gives new ideas and inspiration for pattern design, but also automatically adjusts patterns and parameters.This greatly improves innovation capabilities and reduces early-stage design time.
Technology Integration: In the future, digital fabric printing will be able to be widely integrated with modern technologies.For example, combining it with 3D printing technology on the surface of fabric can create three-dimensional textures.At the same time, printing technology combines with conductive fibers and smart textiles to add more functionality to apparel and home fabrics.
About Goal sportswear
Goal Sportswear—China’s professional manufacturer of sublimated sportswear.We are experts in digital fabric printing technology. Whether you need complex patterns, high-quality fabrics, or unique personal designs, we can provide solutions for you.We support small, flexible orders, and we can also meet the needs of rapid delivery for mass production.Whether you want custom school uniforms, competition-grade sportswear, or branded sportswear, Goal sportswear has you covered.
FAQ
Is digital printing suitable for all fabrics?
No. While digital printing has a wide range of applications, it is not suitable for all fabrics.Most artificial and synthetic fabrics can be printed with high quality prints using suitable inks and processing techniques.
Is digital fabric printing durable?
Yes. Digital fabric printing is very durable, and different printing types will have different effects on the printing results.Of course, the fabric and processing methods also affect the printing effect.
How does digital printing work on fabric?
First, you need to print on coated paper.The pattern is then transferred to the fabric by heating the heat transfer sublimation paper at high temperature with a heat transfer machine.
What are the differences between screen printing and digital fabric printing?
Screen printing can provide the vibrant colors needed for thick fabrics.Digital fabric printing is more suitable for those who have high demands on color selection and printing flexibility.Regardless of the printing method used, it will produce durable and beautiful printed patterns.For more detailed information on the differences between these two printing methods, please click here.
Which fabric is best suited for digital printing?
Rayon. This fabric combines the advantages of synthetic and natural materials. It is not only very suitable for digital printing but also very soft. The smoothness of rayon allows digital printing presses to produce vibrant and clear printed patterns.
Can I use a regular printer to print fabric?
Yes, you can. The most convenient option is an inkjet printer.You can print patterns directly by simply fixing the fabric onto the substrate, just like printing paper.
Which fabric fabrics are not machine washable?
Typically, fabric products have labels indicating washing instructions.Leather, silk, and suede fabrics are not recommended for washing with water; dry cleaning is necessary to maintain their cleanliness.
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