InkJet Printing on Textiles – Berto’s Cheeky Cartoon

InkJet Printing on Textiles

Print is not dead. In fact, it’s thriving, especially in the textile industry. The technology behind the humble inkjet printer sitting next to you is being used for much more than printing onto paper.

Digital textile printing—where InkJets are printing on textiles—is all about printing directly on fabric and other textile materials. Digital textile printing is described as any ink jet based method of printing colorants onto fabric. Most notably, digital textile printing is referred to when identifying either printing smaller designs onto garments (T-shirts, dresses, promotional wear) and printing larger designs onto large format rolls of textile. The latter is a growing trend in visual communication, where advertisement and corporate branding is printed onto polyester media. Examples are flags, banners, signs, retail graphics. The trend is exploding, and it’s much more than just t-shirts for the company softball team.

This is how Berto has “drawn from life” in this month’s cheeky cartoon:

Growing demand for textile inkjet ink

The fashion industry is one of the markets benefiting from advances in inkjet printing on textiles. Traditionally, clothing brands roll out new styles every 12 weeks. While this is generally marketed as “new season’s styles,” it actually stems from limits in the manufacturing supply chain.

Clothes with prints have to be designed, prototyped, and first run, most often using screenprinting, which requires substantial set-up costs combined with ample production levels to maximize cost. The inkjet industry is changing that. No longer just the tool for prototyping, inkjet printing is changing the fashion lifecycle with quick response manufacturing.

Fashion designers are shortening their 12-week life cycle of fashion seasons to the delight of customers. It’s called “fast fashion.” New brands are disrupting the traditional fashion houses, bringing new clothing to stores in a fraction of the time. Zara, Uniqlo and H&M  deliver fresh designs faster using inkjet printing.

Berto #04: June 5, 2013, InkJet Printing on Textiles

Last month, Berto’s cartoon had a laugh: Online Cartridge Sales Boom

Who is Berto? And where can you can see more of his work?  Click here.