Can you really solve these three digital printing technology problems?

Digital printing has been more and more widely expanded in the printing market due to its numerous technical advantages, and it is also favored by more and more manufacturers. Under the market environment adapting to fast fashion and individualized demand, digital printing has become the first choice for production enterprises led by small batch production. Especially for the silk industry, rich flower patterns and bright colors are what silk products seek, and the cost of processing digital printing compared to traditional printing is completely affordable for the fabric value of silk itself. Moreover, with the rapid development of digital technology, its processing fees have been greatly reduced.

Looking back on 2017, the opportunities and challenges of the digital printing industry coexist. The industry's CAGR (composite annual growth rate) still has a strong momentum of more than 20% and has good prospects in the future.

Under such a background, how do companies involved in digital printing deal with the following problems when applying digital printing technology?

How to choose a digital printing machine ?

1. Fabric form?

Coil, cut pieces, sweaters, ready-to-wear, etc. all refer to the form of fabrics. Enterprises can choose digital textile printing machines according to the fabric form they make. Selection of printing precision: In general, the precision of fabrics such as silk and chiffon is higher, and the precision of fabrics with coarser fibers is lower. It is also necessary to consider whether the selected textile printing machine can meet the customer's precision requirements, and the higher the precision, the slower the efficiency. In pursuit of high precision, do not forget whether the printing speed can reach the standard.

2. Printing process?

Digital printing mainly has two kinds of printing processes: direct-injection printing and heat-transfer printing. The direct-injection process fabric has a wide range of applications, and can be applied to hemp, silk, wool, cotton, polyester , nylon, modal, but needs sizing, steaming, washing, etc. The process, relatively large investment, direct injection textile printing machine in the speed of the fastest Kyocera nozzle (a nozzle of about 40,000 yuan), followed by Starlight 1024 (20,000) nozzles, two high-speed nozzles, medium speed Common nozzles are: Ricoh G5, Seiko, Konica 1024i and so on. The thermal transfer precision is high, the investment is small, and there is no need to do the front and back processing, but the applicable fabric is not many. It is mainly applied to the chemical fiber fabric, generally adopts the Epson nozzle, and the speed is very slow, and it is suitable for printing samples. The choice of printing machine nozzle: the nozzle of textile printing machine plays a decisive role in printing precision, inkjet volume, printing speed and production cost. It is the most important component on textile printing machine. At present, the domestic mainstream textile printing machine nozzle has : Starlight, Kyocera. The nozzles have to be replaced as supplies for several years, so the durability and replacement cost of the nozzles should also be considered.

3. Manufacturer strength?

Regardless of other factors, the choice of large-scale manufacturers is the first choice. The large-scale manufacturers are relatively perfect in R&D technology and after-sales technology. The R&D strength of manufacturers determines whether the products produced by their equipment have market competition. Power, to force after-sales support can solve your worries.

4. Domestic imports ?

China's technology manufacturing level is more and more mature, and the gap with imported machines has become smaller and smaller. Enterprises can choose to import textile printing machines or domestic textile printing machines. The following factors can be considered: First, cost factors. Imported machines are costly in terms of freight and taxes. When choosing a textile printing machine, imported machines are often more expensive than domestic machines. Second, the key technology. The main core technology of textile printing machines is the nozzles. The domestic textile printing machines are also imported nozzles. Most of the accessories used by some manufacturers are imported from abroad. The domestic imports of equipment technology are almost the same. Third, after sales service. Good after-sales service support is one of the keys. Good after-sales service is a problem that can solve problems in time and solve problems effectively.

5. Other factors?

Site selection: equipment footprint and required environmental conditions, environmental conditions are mainly reflected in: temperature and humidity. The cost of printing: factory rent, labor costs, water and electricity costs, equipment purchase costs, ink consumption, nozzle loss. Equipment operating conditions: Know the specific requirements of the equipment's power, air pressure, voltage and so on. There is no best machine, only the best machine for yourself, the most important thing for you. In the choice of textile printing machine, you should choose your own actual situation and needs, not expensive, only the right one.

How to choose ink?

1. According to the printing demand to select the amount of ink color, you can choose four-color, six-color, eight-color ink, etc. The more the ink quantity, the better the saturation of the printed color.

2. Select ink according to the material of the fabric. Different fabrics use different inks. The correct use of ink has a good performance on the color fastness and color of the fabric. Digital printing inks can be divided into dye-based inks and pigment-based inks (paints), the characteristics of which are shown in the table:

3. According to the brand of the textile printing machine nozzle, the ink selected for the nozzle is more favorable for production.

4. Some companies encounter some ink problems in the actual production process, and simply cooperate with ink manufacturers to develop digital printing inks suitable for their own products. The main considerations are the suitability of ink and nozzle, the suitability of ink and fabric, and the color management system of ink.

How to choose additives?

The choice of digital printing auxiliaries is mainly considered in terms of color yield, permeability, hand feeling and color fastness.

The main types of additives are: paste, thickener, alkaline agent, urea, etc. Among them, the choice of paste is especially important. It greatly affects the printing performance, including the fineness of the pattern, the color and the feel.

Enterprises should reasonably choose the type of paste according to the requirements of their products. For example, industrial seaweed has good permeability, good hand feeling and low cost, but the fineness and color yield are relatively poor. Some synthetic pastes, although high in fineness and high in color yield, have poor permeability and feel, and some have poor rheology. Especially for high-value silk fabrics, the requirements for the fineness, color yield and feel of the flower pattern are very high. This requires the company to continuously measure and test the auxiliaries. , choose the right paste.

Source: Zhejiang Textile Dyeing and Auxiliary Industry Association, Dr. Seshangfang Bu