Digital printing on fabric. Technology overview. Printing on textiles Printing a pattern on fabric

Recently, clothing with various prints has become very popular. It perfectly reflects the character and personality of its owner. The most widespread is the application of drawings on T-shirts, but it is not necessary to dwell only on this part of the wardrobe.

You can decorate any textile product:

hats;
hoodies;
raglans;
bags;
windbreakers, etc.

Such products will not only complement your favorite look, but also become a creative present.

DIY drawing options

Today you can find many specialized firms and printing houses that are engaged in applying prints to various clothes. But it is much more pleasant, and even more profitable, to carry out this process on your own.

If you are seriously wondering how to make a print on fabric with your own hands, then we hasten to please you.

There are several proven ways of similar handmade:

using a color printer;
using acrylic paints;
silk screen printing.

Each type is quite simple and concise. You will need a minimum of effort to create your own design masterpiece.

Drawing on fabric using a printer

Time goes by and technology changes. A couple of decades ago, such needlework was only possible with the help of Chinese stickers, which were not of high quality, they quickly lost their original appearance, wiped themselves off. Today, a home printer, a textile product itself, thermal transfer paper and a household iron will help you decide how to make a drawing on fabric with your own hands.

To get a high-quality drawing and not ruin your clothes, give up synthetic models. The iron will simply melt the fabric when exposed to the heat. Preferred are things that consist of at least 80%.

The drawing process is quite simple:

You need to find a suitable image layout or create it yourself in a graphics editor, but do not forget that there will be a mirror image.
Transfer the design to the carefully smoothed item, with the sheet of paper face down. To do this, iron the sketch with a hot iron for 1-2 minutes.
To avoid damaging the print, carefully remove the sheet of paper from the surface of the textile.

In such a simple way, you will get a stylish update in your wardrobe. There is only one nuance to consider when choosing thermal transfer paper. It can be of several types, depending on the purpose. There are products for light and dark fabrics, as well as for different models of printers.

Acrylic wonders

How to make a print on a T-shirt yourself if there is no printer to print the layout? In this case, the second method of creating exclusive images on clothes is suitable. Artistic skills or a special stencil will help you. If you do not have a special skill in drawing, it is unlikely that you will be able to create a complex sketch, but everyone can contribute a share of creativity to their wardrobe.

Do-it-yourself print on fabric will be obtained only with special acrylic paints. It is not very easy to work with them, since you need to observe a certain speed and technology:

the paint dries within 15 minutes, later it will be impossible to fix something;
you need to apply a thin layer, otherwise the drawing will not dry out and may be smeared.

If you strictly follow the instructions, then there should be no difficulties in this process.

How to make a print:

it is necessary to prepare a stencil with an image or text;
carefully iron a T-shirt or other thing that you plan to decorate;
put a solid foundation;
fill the stencil with acrylic paint with a sponge;
if necessary, correct the drawing with a brush;
after 24 hours iron the item through a thin cloth.

If you have talent and are fond of creativity, then you can complete the original drawing using a regular paint brush.

Silkscreen

This method is essentially similar to the previous one. A special photographic emulsion is used only as a dye. The paint penetrates the fabric through the stencil, dries up, and then light up. The next step in creating a personal masterpiece is rinsing the stencil with water. This clears unlit areas of the mesh, which become the printing element.

The advantage of this method of image transfer is that there are no restrictions on working with materials. You can apply it not only to clothing, but also to dishes or plastic products.

Do-it-yourself print on a T-shirt will help create a unique image and stand out from others. This is a trendy and stylish way to update a boring thing. You just have to choose a convenient and affordable method of transferring the drawing to the desired surface.

The creation of printed images on fabric is necessary as for industrial production this material, and in the manufacture of advertising printed materials, souvenirs, clothing and others.

The difficulty lies in the embossed surface of the fabric, increased absorbency and its soft structure.

Direct digital printing

Direct printing is the transfer of images onto a printed surface without an intermediate medium. In this case, particles of toner (laser technology) or ink droplets (inkjet) receive an electric charge and are attracted to the printing areas on the pre-exposed drum of the device, and then fall on the printing material.

Direct printing can rightly be called a universal method, because it makes it possible to produce printing products on all media: paper, cardboard, plastic, polyethylene, metal, glass, ceramics, fabrics and others.

Special digital equipment and ink are used to seal fabric materials. Color gamut of images - CMYK model.

Large format textile printers take into account the peculiarities of its tension. Fabrics must be specially treated so that the paint is not completely absorbed.

The quality of the images obtained by the direct method is quite high, the products can withstand up to 80 washes. This method is used for applying prints on clothes, when creating exclusive textiles for the interior, banners outdoor advertising, for the production of banded souvenirs and other printing products. Due to the high cost of ink and the need for frequent Maintenance this method is only beneficial for small runs.

Silkscreen

Silk-screen printing (screen printing) involves applying a picture using a special printed form- nylon mesh fixed on a metal frame. With the help of a squeegee (rubber knife), the ink is pressed through the unfilled areas of the mesh and appears on the printed material.

This technology allows you to create high-quality, reliable and very durable prints based on four (CMYK) and more colors, including specific ones (gold, silver). Silk-screen printing can achieve various effects. Printing can be done manually (production of small editions of souvenir and advertising printing products) and on flat-bed and rotary machines (industrial production of fabrics).

Thermal transfer: technology

In this case, the image is transferred from a special thermal transfer film or paper when heated. The drawing is applied to the paper using a laser or inkjet printer, then it is applied to the product and placed in a heat press. The paint passes under the influence of temperatures up to 1900C.

The peculiarity of this method is that, for all its simplicity, it allows you to create very clear, bright images both on semi-finished products and on finished products: caps, T-shirts, book bindings.

Thermal transfer is used for small print runs and has a not very high durability of the printed design.

Printing with engraved rolls

This technology is used in the industrial production of textiles and resembles gravure printing.

Copper cylinders are engraved with a pattern. During the printing process, ink enters the cylinder, and the excess is scraped off with a steel squeegee. The fabric from the roll is fed between the engraving and printing rollers, and the ink is transferred to it under pressure.

This is the most complex and technologically advanced method that provides highest quality and durability.

Sublimation

This method allows you to apply a pattern to light synthetic fabrics by transferring it from sublimation paper under the influence of a high temperature of a heat press (up to 190 degrees). Special ink is used, which, when exposed to heat, pass from a solid to a gaseous state and penetrate into the printed surface.

The quality of the prints obtained is quite good, the bright drawing retains its original appearance for a long time: it does not crack or fade.

Printing on fabric at home

Using a conventional inkjet printer, which most readers have at home, you can write inscriptions and drawings on clothes, as well as make flags, pennants and other unique small products.

Transfer media

Almost any jet printer or an MFP - both modern and long-term discontinued - allows you to print images on special media for transfer to cotton and mixed fabrics that can withstand prolonged heating. The structure of such media includes a dense paper base and a thin elastic layer that is attached to the fabric when heated - it is on its surface that ink is applied during the printing process.

The assortment of each of the world's leading manufacturers of inkjet printers includes branded print media for transferring images to fabric. For example, Canon's product line includes T-Shirt Transfer (TR-301), Epson has Iron-On Cool Peel Transfer Paper (C13S041154), and HP has Iron-On T-Shirt Transfers (C6050A). Retail packages of the listed carriers (Fig. 1) contain ten A4 sheets.

In addition, third-party manufacturers also produce media for transferring images to fabric. For example, Lomond, a well-known company in our country, offers several options at once: Ink Jet Transfer Paper for Bright Cloth (for light fabrics), Ink Jet Transfer Paper for Dark Cloth (for dark fabrics) and Ink Jet Luminous Transfer Paper (suitable for dark and light fabrics, and thanks to fluorescent additives, the image glows in the dark). Lomond media listed (fig. 2) are available in packs of 10 and 50 sheets A4 and A3.

Image preparation

Image preparation and output can be performed in any raster or vector graphics editor. However, it should be borne in mind that due to the peculiarities of both the inkjet technology and the thermal transfer process itself, the image transferred to fabric using a special medium will noticeably differ from the same image printed by the same printer on ordinary, and even more so on photographic paper. In particular, an image transferred to tissue has lower contrast, less color gamut and poorer reproduction of light shades compared to a control print made even on ordinary office paper. In order to minimize losses during the preparation of raster images (photographs, reproductions, etc.), it is necessary to increase their contrast and saturation. When creating and editing vector images for painting objects and outlines, it makes sense to use pure, saturated colors, and also, if possible, avoid using light shades and very thin lines.

Photos, as well as vectors and bitmaps with a lot of halftones and gradient transitions will look best on white fabric with a fine texture. The fact is that a fabric color other than white can noticeably distort the colors of the original picture. For this reason, for transferring an image to a mottled or colored fabric, it is advisable to create monochrome patterns or images with a limited number of colors.

For the most effective use of special media, several separate small-sized images can be arranged on one sheet like pattern parts, leaving 10-15 mm wide gaps between their borders.

Seal

So, the image is ready. In the printer settings, select the thermal transfer media, the size and orientation of the sheets to be used (Figure 3). In order for the inscriptions translated onto the fabric to be read normally, and the images "look-rel" in the same direction as the original, they must be printed in a mirror image. To do this, activate the option to mirror the printed image in the printer driver settings (in Russian versions it can be called “mirror” or “flip horizontally”, in English versions - flip or mirror). If the driver of your printer does not provide this option, look for it in the print settings of the program from which you plan to print the picture (Fig. 4 and 5). Use the preview mode to check if the settings are correct.

Transferring the image to the fabric

An ironing press is best suited for transferring the printed image to the fabric - it will provide the strongest fixation of the design. However, if there is no such device among your household utensils, you can also use an ordinary iron.

Prepare a work table with a flat and hard surface that is resistant to prolonged heat (an ironing board is unfortunately not suitable for this purpose). You will also need a piece of clean cloth.

Cut out the image printed on a sheet of special media, stepping back 5-6 mm from its borders.

Set the iron control to the maximum power position. If your model is equipped with a steamer, turn it off. Leave the iron on for a while to warm up to the maximum temperature.

Since the power and temperature conditions of different models of irons differ, it will be necessary to select the optimal transfer time experimentally. To do this, it makes sense to print a few small test images and try to transfer them to an unnecessary piece of fabric.

After making sure that the iron is warm, place the previously prepared piece of clean cloth on the work table and smooth it carefully so that no wrinkles or folds remain. Then place the item on which you plan to transfer the design on top of this fabric. Prepare the translation surface by ironing it with an iron.

Place the cutout print facedown where you want it to be. For the best image fixation, it is advisable to use the widest part of the working surface of the iron. When translating a large image, it is best to smooth the sheet in several passes, slowly moving the iron tightly pressed against the table along the long side of the drawing (Fig. 6). The duration of one pass should be about 30 s.

Turn the iron 180 ° and repeat the above procedure, starting from the opposite end. Then carefully iron the edges of the image to be translated by moving the tightly pressed iron around the perimeter of the image.

with an iron

After completing the above steps, allow the garment to cool for one to two minutes, and then gently peel off the backing paper by grasping it at either corner. Please note that it will be much more difficult to remove the base from a completely cooled product.

If several images or inscriptions are planned to be applied to the same product, it is necessary to place them in such a way that they do not overlap each other.

Care of finished products

Products with images applied using the described method are best washed in cold water, using powder for colored items. Before loading T-shirts and shirts with translated images into the washing machine, turn them inside out. Be aware that after the first wash, the colors in the image will become less vivid and saturated - this is completely normal.

Well-fixed images can withstand several dozen washes with minimal loss of brightness and saturation. However, optimum storage is guaranteed with hand wash.

You will need:

Rubber plate for making seals and stamps, stamp pad of the desired color for textiles, knitted fabric (fabric, ready-made dress), stationery knife.

Step 1

From the rubber, cut a diamond of the desired size.

Step 2

Take a stamp pad and randomly apply diamond prints to the previously washed knit fabric. At the end, iron the knitted fabric from the wrong side to secure the paint. This will create a simple and cute DIY print.

Read about the special technique in the master class on the site

How to make a flower-shaped print

You will need:

Rubber plate approx. 3 mm, pink and orange-brown textile paint, textile stamp pad, washed fabric (ready-made dress), scissors, glue stick, rubber bands, bowl.

Step 1

Stretch the fabric with elastic bands - these areas will remain unpainted. This will create a batik effect.

Step 2

Mix and dilute textile paints with plenty of water. Dip the bottom of the fabric 2/3 of the total length into the resulting solution. Fix the paint.

Step 3

For a flower stamp, cut a circle out of the rubber plate, then cut out the triangles and glue them onto the circle.

Step 4

Apply the flower prints in random order to the fabric that is well dried after dyeing.

In contact with

classmates

In this article, you will learn

How and when did textile printing appear?
What modern textile printing looks like
How to print on textiles manually
What can mechanical printing on textiles offer?
What is silk-screen printing on textiles
What are the methods of transfer printing on textiles
Where Direct Printing On Textiles Is Applied
What are the technical requirements for printing on textiles

Since ancient times, people have tried to reflect their individuality in clothing and decorate the items of their wardrobe. For this, the craftsmen came up with various patterns and designs, applied them to fabric, and developed new methods for dyeing textile materials. Today there are many modern technologies, allowing you to make the matter brighter and more elegant. The most popular way to decorate fabrics, garments and haberdashery is textile printing. In this article we will consider different kinds printing, the specifics of their application, advantages and disadvantages.

The history of the development of printing on textiles

Craftsmen of the Babylonian kingdom, which existed from 626 to 539. BC NS. drew patterns on textiles using paints. Pliny the Elder mentions color decoration of fabrics in his encyclopedic work "Natural History", written around 77 AD. NS.

At first, expensive embroidery was replaced with patterns drawn on fabrics. But gradually the painting of fabrics took shape as an independent direction of arts and crafts. Ancient craftsmen painted textiles with thin reed brushes or writing pens. But later, in the early Middle Ages, a new technology for applying images to fabric was developed.

The ornaments were printed using stamps. An artisan carved a certain pattern on a wooden hand-made mold and covered it with paint. Further, the printing was carried out on textiles. In order for the drawing to be well printed, the master filled the drawing - he knocked on the stamp with a special hammer. Along with the development of this technology, new terms have appeared: "printed fabrics", "fill a picture", "silk printing".

On the territory of the former Persia, the secrets of folk craft are passed down from generation to generation. Modern craftsmen perform multicolor printing on textiles using traditional technologies. Printed fabrics are in great demand and are valued no less than Persian carpets.

But no matter how unique the art of hand-printing on textiles, technological progress does not stand still. The first roller printing machine was invented at the end of the 18th century in Europe. At first, the engraved shafts were made of wood, and later of metal.

Russia also did not stand aside from the mechanization of production. At the beginning of the 19th century, in the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, a thriving industrial center, a printing press also appeared. Within 20 years, at all factories in Moscow and St. Petersburg, printing on textiles was carried out using roll-type printing machines.

What is modern textile printing

Nowadays, the technology of printing a pattern onto fabric by hand has been preserved only as a traditional form of decorative and applied art. For mass production, modern high-tech methods of printing on textiles are used.

Effective and highly productive ways to apply an image to fabric:

Mechanical seal. The pattern or pattern is applied to cotton, cotton-like and rayon fabrics using engraved metal rollers.

Silk-screen or photo film printing (FFP). Silk, silk-like, woolen and linen fabrics are decorated using flat mesh patterns. FFP is well suited for the design of ready-made textiles.

Rotary printing... Using a mesh pattern, a pattern or pattern is applied to knitted and non-woven fabrics. In this way, printing on textiles is carried out in factories.

Airbrush Printing... The image is applied to the textile fabric using a stencil. To obtain colors of different intensities, paint is sprayed from different distances. This method is often used to decorate finished products. The drawing is bright and expressive.

Direct printing. The drawing is transferred to the fabric or finished product directly, without the use of intermediate image carriers.

Transfer or dry printing. It is widely used for drawing images on some canvases and piece products.

In addition to all the above methods of printing on textiles, there are technologies that are used less often in the mass production of printed fabrics.

Each printing technology has a direct impact on the specifics and design features of a textile product and has some limitations. The image quality directly depends on the selected printing method. In order for the drawing to be bright, colorful, not fading, not deformed, the designer must be well versed in the features and capabilities of all technologies for printing on textiles.

Any equipment is suitable for drawing by printing methods: direct, etched, reserve, pigment, semi-etched.

White earth fabrics... Color images are applied by direct printing on a white field of textile material: blouse, shirt, decorative, chintz for linen, calico, gauze, satin. In this case, the area of \ u200b \ u200bcoating a white canvas with paint should not exceed 50%.

Soil fabrics. More than 50% of the white canvas is printed with ink. Drawings are applied to textiles by direct printing. Such fabrics make up the majority of all textile products manufactured in factories.

Drawings at etching method prints are applied to a pre-painted canvas. Special chemicals are added to the paint that discolor the fabric exactly where the pattern is applied.

At backup way printing on textiles, patterns are applied to the fabric before dyeing it. Ink contains chemicals that prevent the background dye from adhering to the areas where the image is applied.

Pigment method application of ornaments and drawings is carried out using rotary printing technology or silk-screen printing. The colored pigment is attached to the surface of the fabric using a special bonding agent.

Matte linen and metal powders are used as active pigment dyes.

What techniques are used when printing on textiles

When printing on textiles, unusual color effects can be obtained. For this, special technological methods are used. Raster and three-color printing is widely used in textile enterprises.

Raster seal allows you to get halftone transitions, which are formed by changing the raster point. The whole picture is divided into point or mesh cells - rasters. The darker the color of the picture, the larger the point size. The dark area of the image is completely filled with paint, and gaps appear in the centers of the mesh cells.

Tricolor printing on textiles is carried out with three colors. Three colors are sufficient to reproduce the design pattern, except for black and white. Only spectrally pure paints are used. After color separation, three engraved rolls are made for printing.

For sealing silk fabrics, two types of printing are used: tint and highlighting.

At tint In some areas of the printed material, part of the applied ink is removed, and lighter spots are formed on the fabric.

Printing with highlighting allows you to apply the most complex multi-color patterns to the fabric. First, a lightening compound is printed on a white canvas, and then drawings are applied with printing ink, which lightens when it hits the areas treated with the compound.

Technology coloring fabrics are often chosen for economic reasons.

Direct printing is an inexpensive, efficient and affordable way to print an image. The technology makes it possible to put into practice the most interesting and original artistic ideas, expand the possibilities of color decoration of textile materials.

The latest technology for printing on textiles allows you to apply patterns on various materials:

Saten is a dense synthetic fabric that does not stretch, is easily washed, does not wrinkle. Bags, curtains, outerwear are sewn from satin

Taffeta is a material made of chemical fibers (nylon or polyester) used to make cases and flags.

Satin is a smooth dense silk or semi-silk fabric. Light clothes, bed linen, flags are sewn from satin.

Charmus is a polyester fabric similar in appearance to satin, but thinner and lighter, sometimes called "artificial silk". Charmus is often used for interior decoration, sewing tablecloths and napkins.

Microfiber or microfiber - made from ultra-fine fibers of polyester, polyamide or other polymers. The fabric is suitable for interior printing.

Gabardine is a dense, very durable, wear-resistant, opaque textile material for the production of advertising banners and flags.

Taslan is a polyamide fabric with an unusual structure of weaving of fibers and a porous waterproof coating on the inside. It is stronger than gabardine, so it is very suitable for outdoor advertising banners.

Blackout - fabric with satin weave threads. Dense, not transmitting light rays, the canvas is used for the manufacture of mobile stands, decorations, street flags.

Hand printing on textiles

In the author's textile workshops, highly artistic products are created. Craftsmen apply the image to the fabric using hand forms or stamps. Such products are unique, they have a rich background and a wide color palette. A clear black outline highlights the drawing, makes it colorful and embossed.

For manual printing, a wooden form is used - a stamp. Coloring compositions are applied to textiles in parts. The product or fabric to be printed is moistened and pulled on a special wooden frame with metal needles. This frame is then placed on a ramming table and secured. Only when the fabric is completely dry, the printing process itself begins.

The craftsman immerses a wooden form in a box of printing ink and draws a dye on the protruding reliefs of the pattern. Then the printer places a stamp on the fabric and hits it with a hammer. As a result, the pattern is imprinted on the surface of the textile.

To ensure that all parts of the image coincide, 2-3 pins are attached at the edges of the wooden stamp form, with which they pierce the sealed areas of the fabric. When the printer prints the subsequent portions of the design, he sets the shape over the fabric so that the pin punctures line up.

Each color needs a separate shape. It happens that more than twenty are used to apply an image different colors and the same number of forms.

At the initial stage of manual printing on textiles, the master fills in the outline of the drawing, then proceeds to printing with paints. All colors are applied in a specific sequence - from lightest to darkest. After applying each shade of paint, the frame with the stretched textile is removed from the printed table and the fabric is air-dried. Priming paint is applied last. If it is necessary to increase the color intensity of the background, then the same area of fabric is primed with paint twice.

Features of mechanical printing on textiles

Mechanical printing on textiles is carried out using roller printing machines. Efficient technology allows you to apply technically high complexity patterns to fabric, consisting of various elements: lines of various thicknesses, strokes, dots, grids, etc.

The most time consuming step in mechanical textile printing is the process of engraving metal print rolls.

Exists different ways engraving of shafts: manual, molding, pantograph and photomechanical. The choice of one or another method of engraving depends on the size and characteristics of the rapport - the part of the pattern that is repeated.

With the help of engraved rollers, high-quality and clear patterns are applied to textiles, with well-printed contours and planes. The rapport is set with high precision, all parts of the image are perfectly matched. Engraving printing rollers in the form of pico or raster dots allows you to transfer even the smallest elements of the picture, to obtain various color effects: halftones, shadows, overprinting. Continuous vertical lines and small smooth planes can be engraved on printed metal rolls, but continuous horizontal lines are not allowed.

The engraving depth of the metal shaft depends on the type of textile material. For thin fabrics, small strokes of engraving are made and, conversely, for coarse and thick textile materials, deep strokes are necessary. For example, if the printing will be performed on cotton textiles, the relief depth will be 0.6–0.9 mm. More ink is used when printing on woolen fabrics, so the relief will be engraved with greater depth. A high-quality and clear print of the pattern is obtained when the required amount of ink is applied to the roller and the appropriate pressure is applied.

When printing white-earth patterns on textiles, the web speed reaches 35–40 m / min, and when printing ground patterns - 16–18 m / min. At the last technological stage production, the fabric leaving the printing machine goes to drying.

V textile production modern cylindrical printing machines with a roller drying chamber are used. After printing, the fabric is quickly dried with hot air.

Silk-screen printing on textiles

V modern world Silk-screen technology is a popular method of printing on textiles; it is also called photo film printing (FFP). The technology for applying an image to fabric with mesh patterns was developed in Japan. In Europe, it began to be used in 1926. In Russia, this method became widespread in 1936.

Like all other methods, silk-screen printing on textiles was first done by hand. But over time, individual operations of the printing process were mechanized.

The manual method of applying images to textiles by silk-screen printing was fundamentally different from modern technology.

At first, the master made a mesh pattern. He made a wooden frame and stretched a thin sieve cloth over it. The dimensions of the template depended on the nature of the pattern and the parameters of the textile fabric. The sieve surface, except for the areas corresponding to the pattern, was covered with a paint-impermeable film. The textile fabric was stretched on a special table and fixed. The mesh pattern was applied to the fabric and ink was poured into it. The master rubbed the paint by hand with a squeegee (rubber ruler), and it fell on the fabric through the space of the sieve unprotected by the film. The resulting print matched the template.

When the design was completely applied to the textile, the craftsman removed the fabric from the table and air-dried it.

The process of silk-screen printing on textiles was finally mechanized in the 1950s. This made it possible to increase the production of high-quality silk and linen printed fabrics. In the modern world, the manual method is used only to create highly artistic piece products that can be classified as works of art. In all other cases, printing on textiles is carried out using printing machines.

When creating a sketch of a drawing, a designer must take into account some technical limitations of FFP:

the technology does not allow to reproduce solid vertical lines with continuous color filling on the fabric;

it is impossible to apply a border composition with a geometrically correct pattern to textiles; breaks must be made at the junction of the rapports;

the print quality and the thickness of the contour lines directly depend on the size of the template cells - the larger their size, the thicker the contour lines of the drawing will be.

Flatbed presses are complemented modern equipment, which allows silk-screen printing on textiles on both sides of the canvas. The two-sided method of applying a pattern to fabric is called sequential printing and is widely used for decorating fabric and piece goods.

Transfer printing on textiles (thermal, thermal transfer, thermal transfer printing)

Thermal transfer or transfer printing is a modern way of transferring an image to various surfaces under short-term exposure to high temperatures from +120 ° C to +190 ° C. Such an image does not wear out, is not afraid of moisture, does not fade.

Modern technology of thermal transfer printing on textiles originated in England.

On modern enterprises light industry and printing shops are widely used two main methods of thermal transfer transfer of images to textiles: application (thermal sticker, thermal application, decal) and thermal print (thermal printing). The second method has a more complex technology.

When transferring an image to textiles by thermal transfer, intermediate carriers are necessarily used - special film or paper for thermal transfer.

First, the pattern is applied to thermal transfer paper or film, and then, using a heat press, it is transferred to the surface of the textile. The fabric to be decorated must withstand high temperatures.

Thermal transfer printing can be done with a hot iron at home. For example, decorate a child's dress or New Year's costume with thermo-applique. But it should be borne in mind that an applique or thermal sticker transferred to textiles in a domestic environment is short-lived. The fact is that certain conditions are necessary for high-quality image fixing: a sufficiently high temperature and pressure, which is provided by a heat press.

For high-quality thermal transfer printing on textiles, three important technological conditions are of decisive importance:

clamping force or clamping pressure provided by the heat press;

accuracy of the set temperature and uniform heating of the entire working surface of the thermopress;

the time of exposure of the heating element to the media - budget heat presses are equipped with a mechanical timer, in more expensive devices there is a digital setting of temperature and image transfer time.

Most often, thermal transfer printing is used in the textile and clothing industry. Innovative technologies, modern prints and plastisol 3D thermal transfers allow imitating various textures, using additional types of finishing: embroidery, sublimation.

Thermal printing on textiles can be done with various paints: glitter, plastisol, reflective, holographic, sublimation inks or even paints with rhinestones.

Thermal transfer printing on textiles has several advantages:

very clearly and accurately conveys fine lines and small details of the image;
patterns can be applied to untreated textiles: linen, burlap, rough canvas, various mesh fabrics, to which other decoration methods cannot be applied;
thermal transfer technology allows you to decorate finished products;
the full color image is applied to textiles with photographic quality;
drawings and patterns differ in color saturation, brightness of colors, such an effect cannot be achieved when printing in other ways;
subject to the recommendations for caring for the product, thermal transfer images are very resistant to external influences: they do not get wet, do not fade, do not fade, they tolerate washing well with detergents;
thermal transfer technology allows you to change colors and models of textile products, apply thermal prints to certain areas of products: on a pocket, on a collar, on a hem of a dress, etc.;
the release of large circulations is possible;
the speed of thermal transfer printing on textiles allows you to quickly execute any order.

Thermal transfer printing on textiles does not require the use of complex and expensive equipment. One heat press is enough to apply the image to the fabric. You do not need multicolor devices for thermal printing. There is no need for intermediate operations, drying of the finished product.

Manufacturing technology Supplies for thermal transfer printing on textiles is quite complicated, therefore thermal transfer paper and films are bought from foreign manufacturers. This affects the cost of the process.

Uncomplicated thermal transfer technology allows you to quickly and efficiently print on textiles, T-shirts and T-shirts, on work clothes and sportswear. First, the image is applied to the inkjet and laser transfer paper. Sometimes a drawing is cut out of finished multi-colored transfer films using the plotter cutting method. After that, the paper or film with the printed image is applied to the textile and pressed tightly by the heating element of the heat press.

Transfer paper varies:

by type of printing on textiles - for each technology is designed certain type transfer paper or film;
by media color - paper for dark or light textiles;
by the presence or absence of a backing - for printing on dark textiles, to make the image look bright and clear, paper with a white backing is used.

Direct printing on textiles

Direct printing is another modern way of transferring an image onto the surface of a textile material. With this method, printing is carried out without the use of intermediate paper carriers. The printing device applies ink directly to the textile material.

For direct drawing on fabrics, special printers are used. Their printing principle is no different from a conventional large-format piezojet device. Design differences are due to technological features. A printer for printing on textiles must ensure uniform tension of the fabric, stability and accuracy of the system for feeding and winding textile material, prevent ink from getting on the back side of the substrate to be printed, and prevent ink smearing.

All textiles for direct printing require preliminary preparation. To prevent ink from spreading and smearing during printing, fabric (natural and synthetic) is impregnated with special compounds. Special preparation of textiles is carried out on industrial equipment... If the enterprise is not equipped with such technical means, then already prepared fabrics can be purchased for direct printing.

To obtain high-quality results of direct printing on textiles, the use of an ICC color profile (International Color Consortium) is required.

When exercising direct digital large format printing the following technological operations are performed on the prepared textile:

The image is printed using a textile large format inkjet printer. The ink must be suitable for the type of printed material.
To secure the image, the printed textile is post-processed with steam or high temperature. The type of ink and the equipment needed to cure them must match the quality characteristics of the fabric to be printed.
To improve the quality of color reproduction, you can use extended ink sets, which, in addition to CMYK, include Orange and Blue. In this case, for printing on textiles, you will need a professional software- RIP software that supports work with extended color sets.

To carry out high-quality direct printing on textiles, you must use the following hardware and software:

large format inkjet printer for direct printing on textiles: Mimaki TX2-1600 or JV33;
screen for printing on natural fabrics;
IR-drying for printing with dispersed ink on synthetic materials;
professional RIP software for textile printers- PhotoPrint versions 4, 5, 6, RasterLink;
textile material with special impregnation or impregnation - equipment for impregnating fabric.

Unlike rotary or silk-screen technology, digital printing allows you to fulfill any order. Loading a new image into the printer's memory is easier and faster than making another cliché. Digitally applied images are crisp, with fine details printed well.

The only drawback of digital printing on textiles is the reproduction of blue. This component of textile magenta dyes is much weaker than that of printing dyes, so it turns out to be violet or cyan on the print, but not blue. For direct textiles, blue dye is added to traditional CMYK colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).

A digital printer for printing on textiles is filled with special dyes. When using active inks, multi-stage pre-printing and post-printing processing is required using special equipment and chemical reagents. To print on textiles, you should choose a printing house that is equipped with the necessary equipment.

How else are there ways to print on textiles

At light industry enterprises, they experimented a lot, using various printing technologies on textiles:

3D printing... The pattern is applied to a smooth fabric using a special decorative paint that creates a crepe and moire effect. The essence of the method is that a textile surface coated with a special composition acquires the ability to dry out. Tightened sections of the fabric are formed, corresponding to the shape of the applied ornament. The resulting effect is stabilized.

Pigment printing. With the help of an adhesive film-forming composition, the dye is adhered to the surface of the fabric. There are different types of pigment printing on textiles: foam, bronze powder, matte linen, carbon black. As a result, on fabrics made of chemical and natural fibers bright drawings with a clear outline are obtained.

Iris print... Multi-color printing performed with a single print roller. When applying the image to textiles, special printing inks are used in the form of very hard pastes. Cut out of them various forms and multi-colored figures, which are then assembled, like a mosaic, on the shaft. When moistened, the paste passes onto the fabric.

The disadvantage of this type of printing is that as the operation progresses, the print roller changes in diameter and the rapport gradually decreases. The scale of the picture is larger at the beginning of the roll than at the end.

Flock printing. This decorative printing technique enhances the appearance of expensive silk fabrics. Flock (thinly cut pile) is glued to the fabric using an electrostatic field.

A print imitating the batik technique. The tissue sample soaked in the paraffin solution is compressed arbitrarily. Then it is stained with black dye. The paraffin is removed and the mesh is photographed with the required repeat docking. From the negative received, a positive is obtained using the batik technique.

Watercolor print. Printing inks do not form a clear, but a blurry shape on the fabric. Color blending creates many complex tones and halftones like watercolor on paper. This effect can be obtained when using a water-in-oil emulsion thickener when printing with dispersed dyes on fabrics made of acetate and polyamide fibers. The batik method can be combined with watercolor printing on textiles.

Technical requirements for drawings for printing on textiles

If a fabric design is created for performing work on factory equipment, then the fundamental technological points should be taken into account:

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