Weaving Profits with Textile Print

“Graphic arts customers remain very important and instrumental to our Prodigy business, both short and long term,” explained Willis Reese, INX Digital’s global director of business development. “However, we expect to be in a position to grow the new Industrial side substantially ... targeting markets such as textile, tile, glass, metal, and wood grain ....”

What Is Dye Sublimation?

Digital dye sublimation is the convergence of conventional dye-sublimation transfer technology and piezo inkjet digital imaging. Unlike silk screening that uses conventional inks and electrostatic printing that uses conventional toners, dyes are converted (sublimed) directly from a solid to a gaseous state by the application of heat, causing them to bond with the fibers of a non-organic textile, such as polyester. Upon cooling, the molecules revert to their solid state but as "soft" molecules more or less becoming one with the fabric.

It is basically a three-step process, as described by wide-format dye sublimated textile manufacturer Dye Into Print:

• Printing special dye colorants onto a transfer media as a mirror image.
• Placing the printed media in contact with the primary substrate, usually a synthetic fabric.
• Applying heat and pressure to transfer the image.

Dye Into Print’s various technologies offer both inkjet dye sublimation onto fabric (at up to 720 dpi) and inkjet direct to vinyl. It offer more than a dozen grand-format textiles, including linens, knits, and polyesters. The firm’s capabilities enable seamless printing up to 10-feet wide for applications such as banners, tableforms, carpeting, and backdrops.

Demo Stretching in Florida This Fall

Technology demonstrations at LexJet’s Sarasota, FL headquarters this autumn feature the latest printer, inkjet hardware, and finishing technologies. The demos feature a sneak peek at the easyFrame, a semi-automatic canvas wrap machine that produces up to 45 finished canvas wraps per hour, plus the latest inkjet hardware, media, and finishing technology. Other demonstration opportunities include the latest printer models from Canon, Epson and HP, as well as GBC laminating and binding equipment.