Digital Textile printing has been one of the technologies which showed a lot of growth in ITMA 2003 and in ITMA Asia the technology showed its value and benefits for the Asian market and overseas exports. Digital Textile printing being a unique technology which does not use screen gives a lot of benefits to customers in terms of short run, color ways, etc. It is surprising that even though so many features and benefits have been discussed in many articles but still the industry has not been able to adapt or utilize the same. In this article we will discuss various application aspects of Digital Textile printing and where are we lacking in application input for DTP.
Digital textile printing system has wide applications. DTP has grown in the field of women’s wear, men’s wear, kids wear, home furnishing, and many such markets. In every edition we will pick particular markets and discuss some end products and intangible benefits. This article discusses about the home furnishing business.
Home furnishing is a growing market in India and digital printing can revolutionize the whole business. Products from quilts, bed sheets, pillow covers, cushion covers, curtains, patchwork quilts, etc. can be made. Today, the advent of digital textile printing in the studios of contemporary quilt markers and surface designers signals a sea change in how these artists and designers can interact with the constructed textile surface in a shorter period and respond to consumer’s needs.
The first thing to understand about digital printing is it won’t replace more laborintensive artisanal processes of image development, such as stencil/screen printing, and discharge, dyeing, and the conventional hand and machine techniques of pieced and appliqué fabric construction, it will significantly affect the way that imagery is created for and within the quilt surface. Which means DTP is a great product development tool. It will create a new line of creativity which can have elements of traditional process.
LETS DISCUSS THE CONCEPT OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
The ability to use sophisticated design software CAD [computer-aided design] programs and to transfer the output of those digital manipulations to fabric on equipment that can be easily accommodated in the independent maker’s studio suggests that the distance that once existed in the production process between the printed textile designer and the user (designer/design department > art director > stylist > printer/converter > finisher > distribuor > retailer > quilt maker) can be effectively, if not inexpensively, eliminated.
It means for export and domestic market where the competitiveness lies in the product design and product finish, DTP gives a unique opportunity for companies to be able to visualize designs, concepts quickly with JITM (Just in time management) For many design oriented companies the product development cost is very high and if one visualizes in a true sense the DTP project can of great benefit!
If customers were to invest in DTP for product development only then there are many questions which come to your mind.
Is DTP only good for sampling and if production was to be done then what are the possibilities?
How expensive is Digital and how cost effective product can one make?
As we understand now the capacity to place imagery on fabric is virtually unlimited. Almost anything that the imagination can conceive, combined with the facility offered by CAD software for layering, transparency, tiling, color reduction, filtering, and other digital options, as well as photography and all that this medium brings to visual expression, is doable. What does this mean?
DTP brings unlimited and open creativity and that’s what makes it special today for using in the production of various products still keeping cost factors intact. The major cost factor which still concerns people in the Digital Business is ink cost? However let’s discuss a few examples of Quilt making, Bed sheets, table covers, etc.
Quilt Making: What if a designer was to make a patch work quilt where some patches are digital and some are conventional or solid and the story on the whole is same but the product is stunning because Digital patchworks have unlimited colors and creative skills of your designer.
If anybody thought that your designing skills are exhausting, then DTP is a great solution.
Bed Sheets: Many Italian companies in 2004-2005 started with a concept of doing mix and match. The companies printed simple story line textured on the bed sheets whereas the pillows were printed digital and the end products was stunning. This ensured the cost of the product is not expensive whereas the resultant had elements of digital value addition which can give a lot to the product.
Cushions covers and table covers. For product like cushion covers where the coverage of the design in terms of area is less and product can be quite cost effective and unlimited color ways, small quantities, etc can be done.
In the area of home furnishing, as technologies develop and become more discipline-specific, as manufacturers and software developers become more aware of the broadening constituencies for their products, and as both hardware and software become more affordable and production specific, the digital revolution will contribute to the ongoing transformation and bring a drastic change in the years to come.
