For any wide-format printer trying to get their head around textiles and how they might be applicable to their business, this omission can confuse things. Which may go some way to explain why the UK lags behind mainland European countries, and in particular Germany, in the use of textiles in sign and display graphics.
The problem is we assume textile printing equals dye-sublimation, which means investing in another process and one that is different to what we’re used to, and a bit tricky. Certainly in the past dye-sub has been the predominant textile printing technology for graphics applications, with aqueous, latex, solvent and UV printers assumed to be suitable for only a small number of applications.
But things have changed. A recent and growing rash of textiles for graphic applications launches mean the case for textile printing on these general signage printers is now a great deal stronger.
What hasn’t changed since the last time PrintWeek debated the ‘dye-sub versus jack-of-all-trades machine’ issue, is the strong case for some wide-format graphics migrating to textiles. There are a number of compelling reasons for using textiles in place of other roll media and even rigid boards. Depending on the application, textiles may be chosen because they are cheaper to produce, offer environmental benefits, have a different look and feel, and weigh less, so are cheaper to both transport and install.
“A big reason is the ease of transportation – it’s cheaper and more robust than either rolls of PVC or big boards,” says wide-format substrate supplier Soyang Europe’s sales manager Tim Egerton. “In event graphics we’re seeing a big switch in the use of textiles. A few years ago only a tiny percentage of exhibition stands would use textiles – 1% or 2% – now I’d estimate it’s as high as 40% that use some textiles.”
“In retail you could only see a few examples a couple of years ago,” he adds, explaining that one of the biggest drivers towards using textiles is their sustainability credentials, especially as an alternative to PVC.
“Now it’s commonplace in any big shopping centre. Even some of the value retailers are adopting textiles for their graphics, despite the fact the cardboard would be cheaper. So textiles are appealing to both ends of the retail market.”
Endless applications
Now, then, textiles are being used for pretty much every type of wide-format printing, including exhibition graphics, point-of-sale, advertising, event graphics and interiors. Within those applications textiles can be used for freestanding, wall-mounted and suspended displays; for frontlit and backlit; and for opaque and translucent graphics.
Which means conventional substrate suppliers have started to get involved, and are keen to help printers make textile printing on non-dye-sub machines work.
One notable example is Euromedia, Fujifilm’s wide-format substrate division. Euromedia only sells materials for aqueous, latex, solvent and UV printers and yet within its range is a growing list of textiles suitable for those machines. It’s the same story at another general sign and display materials merchant, Antalis.
“We offer textiles within our own-brand Koala range,” says Antalis Sign & Display product manager Michael Crook. “They are all coated to be suitable for customer’s existing kit, be it solvent latex or UV, rather than dedicated dye-sub. We focus on what customers are asking for – and that is soft signage, banners and drapes.”
And it’s not just conventional wide-format substrate manufacturers now offering textiles for non-specialist graphic arts kit. While the traditional merchants are adding textiles to their ranges, the textile specialists such as A Berger and Georg + Otto Friedrich are expanding their reach into general display too.
An example is Soyang’s Horizon material, which it developed as a lightweight dye-sub material but has successfully tested for printing with latex and UV too. “Increasingly we will engineer products to the application and the printing process,” reports Egerton.
To do this, vendors are working on coatings that optimise their materials for particular ink technologies. And as the market blurs and competition increases, the
textile vendors are all developing guides to help users pick the right products – both in their brochures and online tools – that make it easier to find a material that meets your application and is compatible with your production technology, whatever it may be.
A key factor in the general graphic art kit’s favour, is that, while polyester is a pre-requisite for dye-sub work, non-dye-sub inks can typically work on a wider range of substrates. This suits a growing appetite among print buyers – as a whole increasingly keen to use textiles – to choose between a wide array of materials.
“Print specifiers are more aware of the ability to print onto a wider range of materials,” reports Soyang’s Egerton, adding: “Even print management firms are showing an interest in textiles as they are under pressure to go beyond price and show customers something new.”
Dye-sub printing is also, however, benefitting from a recent rush of new textile materials R&D. Growth in textile printing is leading to developments in the range of materials available for all print processes, with recent examples including more opaque fabrics for frontlit applications and lighter-weight materials that cut both material and finished product shipping costs.
And in fact, due to its good all-round properties and recyclability, polyester is currently, for all but a very few special materials, the textile used most often, regardless of the ink and machine. Which brings us back to the debate of whether non-dye-sub processes really have enough going for them to compete with such a well-established and highly specialised technology as dye-sub.
Durable dye-sub
Certainly some applications remain beyond the reach of latex, UV, solvent and aqueous printers, says Austin McKinlay, managing director of Universal Image Systems (UIS), a wide-format company which moved into dye-sub textile printing five years ago (see boxout overleaf).
“Dye-sub ensures the handle of the fabric is not changed – it remains foldable, it’s scuff resistant, waterproof and washable,” he says. “The durability of dye-sub is tremendous. Most of our work is interiors and for that dye-sub gives the best results.”
Stephen Hood, managing director of Kent-based wide-format printer ESP Technology, which branched into dye-sub in 2012, agrees. “Because the fabric is dyed, the colour is all the way through the fibres rather than just on the surface,” he says. “It is the only process that won’t scratch off, which makes it attractive for applications where there is a moderate likelihood of scuffing.”
While interior and apparel applications are most likely to get scuffed, this can be an issue with exhibition graphics transported from location to location. And the colour richness and purity of the colour that dye-sub offers – perhaps as its biggest advantage – will be valued in the world of exhibition graphics too.
“The colour is so clean, pure and rich,” says Hood. “That is important for the premium POS, museum and exhibition work we produce. You get a vibrancy of pinks, oranges and greens that look like they have been printed using a spot colour rather than produced out of four-colour. Dye-sub gives us something different and clients are always blown away by the colour.”
Egerton agrees: “If you want the most vibrant results you still want dye-sub over UV or latex. In that respect UV and latex are jacks of all trades and masters of none.”
Dye-sub is often also the right option for high volumes. “There’s no doubt if you are producing large volumes of textiles then dye-sub is the production technology of choice,” says Nigel Briggs, product specialist at Fujifilm’s Euromedia.
“Until relatively recently – the last year or so – the big wide-format printers put off investing in dedicated textiles kit,” adds Egerton. “It’s all about critical mass – once you get to a certain volume it makes sense to bring it in-house. We are definitely seeing customers start by outsourcing and then, when the volume justifies it, bringing production in-house.”
Real strengths
But the case for non-dye-sub textile printing doesn’t rely solely on new materials. There are in fact other factors making some non-dye-sub technologies an increasingly viable, and even superior, alternative.
Even Hood, a great advocate of dye-sub, admits the process does have limitations, and that there are some textile applications he uses his solvent and UV machines for out of preference. “We choose the UV over the dye-sub for textiles if there is a lot of close-viewed text, as the results are that bit crisper,” he says.
Also strengthening the case for textiles printing on general signage kit are recent developments in UV and latex inks. Recent advances mean they are now more flexible, which means there are instances where they may now be suitable for applications that were previously the preserve of dye-sub.
“The latest UV-cured inks are much more flexible and conformable,” says Egerton. “It used to be a risk that if a UV printed textile flexed it would crack, but new inks have reduced or eliminated that problem. I’m surprised at just how good some UV prints on textile are and how little impact they have on the fabric’s handle.”
There are now, then, a multitude of factors making solvent, UV, latex and aqueous printing of textiles increasingly viable and attractive. Most decisive of late though has been a recent rash of textile products, from both traditional textile and from graphic arts manufacturers alike, specifically designed for these technologies.
This will of course be music to many wide-format printers’ ears, keen as they are to diversify without investing in expensive new kit. What they’ll need to consider first though, are those already well-established arguments regarding dye-sub’s superior colour, scratch resistance and suitability for high volume.
Once they’ve done this, and discovered the right substrate for them, though, they may well find themselves benefiting from an increasingly material world.
Dye-sub: getting it right
Despite fabrics and inks for non-specialised textile printing now coming of age, many wide-format printers have decided the dye-sub route is still best for them.
Two such printers are Essex’s Universal Image Systems (UIS) and Kent-based ESP Technology. UIS is a stalwart in wide-format, having started out with an Encad NovaJet in 1994. It moved into textiles production with a dye-sub printer five years ago and now runs three dye-sub machines, two of which are Mimaki JV5s, alongside flatbed UV and 5m-wide solvent roll-to-roll printers. Comple-menting the Mimaki printers is a Monti Antonio heat press used for setting direct printed textiles and for transferring images produced on paper onto the fabric.
The company prints predominantly onto textiles for retail display and exhibition and event graphics. To serve those sectors it produces wall-mounted graphics, free-standing graphics and suspended graphics in a mix of frontlit and backlit formats.
ESP Technology got into dye-sub by installing a Hollanders ColorBooster XL in 2012. The company prints a broad range of applications with textiles, focusing on premium markets where quality is paramount, including museum and exhibition graphics. Hood says in those settings, dye-sub has a unique quality that eliminates harsh reflections caused by strong lighting that cannot be controlled. It also produces extremely strong backlit displays with the richness of the black being, to his eyes, the only inkjet process to get close to the density of a Duratrans.
Both printers would advise not underestimating what’s involved in stepping into this whole new world of technology.
“Getting set up was a steep learning curve,” says UIS managing director Austin McKinlay. “It’s not a straightforward process – you need to work out how a fabric will shrink in the heat press and provide a compensation to the artwork to ensure the final size and aspect ratio is correct. Colour control is also critical. You have to pay very close attention to the heat and time settings on the heat press to ensure consistent colour reproduction and transfer.”
For ESP managing director Stephen Hood, getting the right fabric’s been key. Printers need to realise the “dramatic effect that this can have on the results,” he advises, adding that it’s crucial to find the right media partner.
“The deal with Hollanders brought a close relationship with Georg + Otto Friedrich, which supply the fabrics. We can get perfectly reasonable colour from other materials, but there isn’t so much support,” he says. “Choosing the preferred media partner means you avoid the problem of the vendors blaming each other when there is a problem, rather than finding a solution.”
While it’s tempting to dabble with a now ever-expanding range of dye-sub materials, ESP has discovered that, for them at least, less is more. “For us to buy such a specialised machine is unusual and slightly surprising. Having come from a screen background where you are used to printing onto anything we are used to demanding flexibility of our machines,” he says.
“But what we’ve learned with dye-sub is to keep the range of materials small and simple. We have a front lit, a backlit and a black out and that’s about it.”
“I know there are all sorts of exotic fabrics, but we’ve not really experimented. Our focus has been on no-compromise colour – that usually makes people say ‘wow’”.
