Garments Printing
Garments Printing
Printing can also be defined as localized dyeing. Defined as the application of dye or pigment in
a different pattern on the fabric and by subsequent after treatment of fixing the dye or pigment to
get a particular design. Textile printing is the most versatile and important of the methods used
for introducing color and design to textile fabrics. We may print as a fabric form or apparel form.
Advanced garment printing is modern printing technique. Now apparel printing is become very
popular. Today‟s print is a very important thing for this textile sector. Print makes clothes attractive.
We can‟t imagine a dress or clothes without print. Printing sector is also expanding and changing
every day with the fashion trend. Print technology is growing up with the Clothes industry. 99%
fashion clothes are now must have any print on it. Printing is the production of all active designs
with well defined bound arises made by the artistic arrangement of a motif is one or more colors.
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing
press. Advancement in technology has paved the way for a much better garment printing. The art of
direct printing on garment is simplified by the technology every day. You can already choose and
create your own design for t-shirts and other garments regardless of how complex the design is. By
we may get advanced garment printing distinct and unlimited effect.
Digital Printing
Flock Printing
Flex Printing
High Density Printing
Foil Printing
Puff Printing
Cavier Bead Print
Glitter Printing
Metallic Print:
Burn Out Printing
Reflective print
Plastisol Print
Rubber Printing
Crack Printing
Spray Printing
Transfer Printing
Heat transfer printing
Heat Transfer Vinyl Printing
Dye sublimation printing
Floral Print
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Advanced Garment Printing
Digital print directly transfer print onto the fabric by ink. In advanced technology develop no
need a paper or film which is used previously to print digitally. New machine directly print
fabric. Digital printing is the ideal printing technique for photos and colorful designs which
have gradients. This printing technique does not last as long as flex and flock. The colors fade
over time. In this form of printing micro-sized droplets of dye are placed onto the fabric through
an inkjet print head. The print system software interprets the data supplied by academic Textile
digital image file. The digital image file has the data to control the droplet output so that the
image quality and color control may be achieved. This is the latest development in textile
printing and is expanding very fast.
Print with computer-operated digital print, ideally suited for large-scale prints.
Colors are sprayed on and made durable with a hardener. The fabrics can still be
felt when touching the design.
Results in a relaxed “vintage look”. The design looks a bit faded, don‟t expect
brash colors.
Digital direct is not available for all of our products.
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Advanced Garment Printing
The concept of direct to garment printing process basically includes the use of a DTG printer to
lay down a water based ink with chemical binders on the garment such as a T-shirt. The ink was
then cured to the T-shirt using a textile conveyor dryer or a heat press. Generally, the machine
utilizes a 4- color ink process that mixes magenta, black, cyan, and yellow to create the desired
colors in the design. While screen printing technique is considered to be traditional and known
by everybody, direct to garment printing is fairly new. Because it is new, the printer is also very
expensive, but the quality of the printed t-shirts is excellent. With the direct to garment printers,
the design is printed directly on t-shirt or on the desired product (mouse pad, caps etc.).The art
process allows unlimited colors and shades to be printed, thing that could not be possible with
the screen printing. It is the perfect option for photo t-shirts and very detailed images. Direct to
garment printing is considered to be the only professional option for low run orders. That means
you can print one t-shirt or 100 without problems. The printing process in the case of DTG
takes longer than in the case of screen printing and the big disadvantage is that the artwork
can‟t be printed on dark t-shirts (with few exceptions). Also, that‟s the reason why the printer
does not print the white color. The result is professional and designs are not felt on the garment.
Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles (called flock) onto a surface. It
can also refer to the texture produced by the process, or to any material used primarily for its
flocked surface. Flocking of an article can be performed for the purpose of increasing its value
in terms of the tactile sensation, aesthetics, color and appearance. It can also be performed for
functional reasons including insulation, slip-or-grip friction, and low reflectivity. Besides the
application of velvety coatings to surfaces and objects there exist various flocking techniques as
a means of color and product design. They range from screen printing to modern digital printing
in order to refine for instance fabric, clothes or books by multicolor patterns. Presently, the
exploration of the flock phenomenon can be seen in the fine arts.These types of printing
technique consist of the application of flock (very short fiber) to the surface of a fabric by means
of an adhesive. The flock may be contained in the adhesive paste, may be dusted onto it, or
applied electrostatically to hold it erect. This is used to print various small designs onto the
fabric, such as dots and figures, especially on light-weight or sheer fabric.
Flocking is defined as the application of fine particles to adhesive coated surfaces. Nowadays, this
is usually done by the application of a high-voltage electric field. In a flocking machine the "flock"
is given a negative charge whilst the substrate is earthed. Flock material flies vertically onto the
substrate attaching to previously applied glue. A number of different substrates can be flocked
including; textiles, fabric, woven fabric, paper, PVC, sponge, toys, automotive plastic.
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Advanced Garment Printing
The process of flocking is fairly simple and easy. First a suitable adhesive is applied to the
surface to be flocked. The flock is then applied, penetrating the surface of the adhesive to
create the desired velvet finish.
Electrostatic flock applicators charge the flock particles which are then attracted to the grounded
surface that is to be flocked. Unlike puffer or blown application methods which merely sprinkle a
flock layer onto the surface, electrostatic application ensures that the fibres all end up standing at
right angles to the surface resulting in a velvet finish.
Electrostatic flocking is used extensibly in the automotive industry for coating window
rubbers, glove boxes, coin boxes, door cards, consoles, and dashboards. Rally cars usually have
their dashes flocked to reduce reflections and to provide an as new finished to a modified dash.
Using suitable adhesives flock can be applied to an endless range of materials including plastic,
metal, wood, rubber and fiber glass.
Flock can be made from natural or synthetic materials such as cotton, rayon, nylon and
polyester. There are two types of flock - milled and cut. Milled flock is produced from cotton or
synthetic textile waste material. Because of the manufacturing process, milled flock is not
uniform in length, and can vary from fine (0~ - 0.5 mm) to coarse (0.4 - 1.1 mm). Cut flock is
produced only from monofilament synthetic materials. The cutting process produces a very
uniform length of flock. Lengths can be obtained from 0.3 - 5.0 mm and 1.7-22 dtex in diameter.
(One dtex is the measurement of a fibre that weigh; one gram per 10,000 meters of length.) The
fineness of the flock, length of fibres and adhesive coating density determine the softness of the
flocking. It should be noted however, that fine or short flock is difficult to work with, since it has
a tendency to ball-up during processing. Milled cotton flock has the advantage of being the
lowest in cost and the softest, but has the least abrasion and wear resistance. Rayon is a little bit
better on wear resistance and nylon is the best. For cut flock, rayon is the least expensive with
the least wear resistance. Cut nylon is the best grade of flock and produces a good feel, but is
also the most expensive. Cut polyester is basically used for industrial applications such as
automobile window seals, glove compartments, and roofing. Besides cutting or milling, flock
manufacturing includes several other steps. After cutting, the flock is cleaned of oils that
accumulated during processing. It is vat dyed to any number of colours, and then chemically
treated to enable the fibres to accept an electrical charge. Since the fibres are all dielectric, a
certain amount of conductivity must be present for electrostatic flocking process to occur.
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Advanced Garment Printing
This is one of the recent developments in printing which gives thick prints on the surface of
garments.Achieved by either giving more number of coats or by using thickener indirect films
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Advanced Garment Printing
used for making the screens. This type of printing applies by screen. Rubber or plastic sold is
used as a paste. Screen applies many times on a same design. If it may be thick around 5-6mm
then apply high density sticker. High Density is a popular special effect that rises straight up
off the shirt and has a hard rubbery feel with sharp edges. A High density print has slight
glossy finish
High- Density Printing the process of printing a specially formulated ink through a very thick stencil to
achieve a raised, glossy smooth print with very sharp edges.
A high density ink allows you to achieve a three-dimensional effect with sharp, well defined
outlines.
The process is very slow but the end product is unique.
This is one of the recent developments in printing which gives thick prints on the surface of garments.
Achievedby either giving more number of coats or by using thickener indirect films used for making the
screens.
High Density is a popular special effect that rises straight up off the shirt and has a hard rubbery feel
with sharp edges. A High density print has slight glossy finish.
Delivery
Foil printing is to print some pattern with the foil on the fabric for shiny effect. There are two
kind of foil printing method. This printing method is based on the use of metallic foil paper of
aluminium or copper one. Foil is applied by adhesive. The print fixation method is similar to
transfer printing. This print method is popular amongst youngsters.
In the first method, the pattern is printed by a foil/transfer adhesive on the fabric, and then
pressed with foil paper by hot steel roller.
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Advanced Garment Printing
The pressure is generally 5-6 bars on printed portion and at 190 degree Celcius on fusing
machine for 8-12 seconds.
In the second method, printing is done on the foil paper first, and then foil is pressed on the
fabric with hot steel roller or iron.
Q15. Show the flow-process of Foil printing with standard recipe in respect
of garment printing?
Recipe: It is a simple recipe; this recipe can be charged on the depth of the color and types of
dyes use.
Foil paste-90%
Fixer-10%
Sequence of foil printing
Fabric preparation
Delivery
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Advanced Garment Printing
Puff print is another common print in the fashion industry. Sometimes it called emboss print
also. It is almost similar to the rubber print we can make this print in any color. In puff print
rubber and puff chemical used combined. Mainly buyer asked this print on this print on knitted
T-shirt. The printing process is same as other serene print. One of the original specialties affects
in the world of screen printing. Puff ink is a plastisol that has been modified with the addition
of a heat reactive foaming agent. The ink expands when exposed to high temperature heat as the
garment is cured. An additive to Plastisol inks which raises the print off the garment, creating a
3D feel. In this method when the paste is printed and dries it look like normal printing garments
but once it is cured the prints gets raised from the surface of fabric.
Printing process:
Like as other print we make the print screen at first.
We make rubber color as manual.
Mix an Emboss or Foaming paste with the following color.
Then print on the garments with following color mixer like as a normal rubber print.
Then we dry the print area by using heat. This the turning point of the print. Because after getting
the heat the print becomes puffed. Normally we dry the print area with dryer for small print. If
the print area is larger than we heat press the print with curing machine. I advice all to use heat
press machine instead of hand dryer. It will make the puffed evenly, before heat press please
adjusts the temperature and pressure of curing machine to get the correct output. Less heat will
give you a less puffed print.
Puff Additive
Jacquard Puff Additive is used to increase the relief of prints on paper, fabric and other surfaces.
Simply mix a little of the additive into your Jacquard Screen Ink (up to 20%), print as usual and
then apply heat to your print. The microspheres in the Puff Additive expand with heat, giving you a
raised print only after heating. Once puffed, the print is washfast and dry cleanable.
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Advanced Garment Printing
Q19. Shortly describe glitter print technique with standard recipe in respect of
garment printing?
Recipe: This is a simple printing recipe. It will be changed according to the shade of the delivery
printed goods.
Rubber paste-70%
Fixer-2% Glitter-
28%
Sequence of Glitter printing process on Textile materials: By the following way glitter
printing is done on the knitted or woven fabric
Fabric pre-treatment
Table preparation
Delivery
Q21. State the principle of burn out printing for a particular batch by which
we get a vintage look?
• Scour the fabric by machine washing in HOT 140oF (60oC) water, or by hand in a pot on
the stove with (2 gm) PRO Dye Activator and (2.5 ml) Synthrapol per pound of fabric
(454 gm, or 3 to 4 yards cotton muslin, or 8 yards 8mm China Silk, or 3 Medium T-shirts,
or 1 sweatshirt). Rinse thoroughly. This step does not add the dye fixative to the fabric; it
prepares the fabric for dyeing by removing any dirt, oil or sizing.
• Mix the thickener paste a few hours, or even the day before use it. In a large plastic or
stainless steel bowl, measure 2 cups (500 ml) of room temperature 75o to 95oF (24o to
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Advanced Garment Printing
35oC) water. In a separate dry container measure a 1/3 cup (50 gm) of guar gum. Using a
blender or hand mixer, starts blending just the water, then gradually add the guar gum.
Continue blending until well mixed. Allow to stand several hours or overnight for a
smooth paste.
• Make the burn-out paste just before you are ready to use it. Measure cup plus 2 Tbl (220
ml) of 100oF (38oC) water and dissolve cup (200 gm) of sodium bisulfate in the water.
Remember to always add the acid to the water, as a safety precaution. Once the sodium
bisulfate is dissolved, add a cup (80 ml) of glycerin and the thickener paste made in step
2. Mix thoroughly using your blender or hand mixer. Discard the burn out paste after
three days.
• Prepare a padded surface to print on. If we do not have a padded print table, we can
create a padded surface by laying down a terry cloth towel on your work table and taping
it in place with masking tape. Cover the terry cloth towel with plastic or a canvas drop
cloth. Then secure your fabric with masking tape on the plastic, or with T-pins on the
canvas drop cloth.
• Apply the burn-out paste to the fabric. Screen print, stencil, or apply the burn-out paste
freehand, with foam or bristle brush. Make sure the burn-out paste penetrates through to
the back of the fabric. The best paste penetration is achieved by screen printing,
followed by stenciling, and then freehand applications. When working on silk/rayon
velvet, it is best to print on the back side of the fabric rather than the pile. It is important
to sample your method of application before working on large projects, to make sure the
fabric will burn-out successfully.
• Allow the fabric to air dry thoroughly. We can also speed up the drying by using a
hair dryer.
• Carefully remove the burned out (carbonized) areas of your fabric by one of the
methods listed below. This part can be messy, so work outside if possible and always
wear a cartridge respirator to avoid inhaling the small fibers.
Gently hands wash the fabric.
Gently brush off the burned out fiber by hand.
Use a small hand held vacuum.
• Wash thoroughly with warm 110oF (44oC) water by hand or machine wash on gentle
cycle with tsp (2.5ml) Synthrapol per pound (454 gm) of fabric. Rinse thoroughly and
hang to dry.
* Curing time and temperature are needed to be pre tested (Lab Trial), some time while
using light blends, Polyester portion also get damaged. So, consequently no good print. One
can choose one of these temperatures and times
1. 160C @ 5Min
2. 180C @ 2Min
3. 200C @ 1Min
automates the marking process, streamlining the production process and eliminating marking
mistakes.
Q23. Show the flow-process of Rubber printing with standard recipe in respect
of garment printing?
Rubber printing is done of the important printing process. After apparel manufacturing printing
is done on the surface of the fabric.
Recipe:
Rubber-60%
Clear-38%
Fixer-2%
Process flow chart of rubber printing: Rubber printing is done as the flowing way in a printing
unit.
Table preparation
Delivery
Q25. Show the flow-process of Crack printing with standard recipe in respect
of garment printing?
Printing recipe:
Rubber-98%
Fixer-2%
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Advanced Garment Printing
Add crack paste/clear (Ecocrack White & Clear. Suitable for crack effect silkscreen prints on
polyester-cotton blend and cotton fabric, these are Eco-friendly water based that are soft auto-
crack inks. Further, this white/clear provides an auto crack finish with elasticity, wash fastness,
smoothness, excellent softness and hand feel.)
Table preparation
Delivery
Crack printing can be produced on the surface on T-shirt and other finished knit fabric and
woven fabric. Water based ready paste giving effect with mud crack appearance on knitted/
stretchy fabric giving very soft hand feel & colour fastners towards world class standards
& world class eco system.
2. The production of short-run repeat orders is much easier by transfer processes than it is
by direct printing.
3. The design may be applied to the textile with relatively low skill input and low
reject rates.
4. Stock volume and storage costs are lower when designs are held on paper rather than
on printed textiles.
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Advanced Garment Printing
5. Certain designs and effects can be produced only by the use of transfers (particularly
on garments or garment panels).
6. Many complex designs can be produced more easily and accurately on paper than
on textiles.
7. Most transfer-printing processes enable textile printing to be carried out using simple,
relatively inexpensive equipment with modest space requirements, without effluent
production or any need for washing-off.
Against these advantages may be set the relative lack of flexibility inherent in transfer
printing: no single transfer-printing method is universally applicable to a wide range of
textile fibres. While a printer with a conventional rotary-screen printing set-up can
proceed to print cotton, polyester, blends and so forth without doing a great deal
beyond changing the printing ink used, the transfer printer hoping to have the same
flexibility would need to have available a range of equipment suited to the variety of
systems that have to be used for different dyes and substrates using transfer technology.
Advantages
1. Operation is simple and no expensive m/c is required.
2. No after treatment of fabric required
3. Print on fabric is of excellent quality
Disadvantages
1. Process applicable to synthetic fabric like polyester.
2. Color range is limited.
3. Cost of printed paper high.
4. Not economical for small orders.
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Advanced Garment Printing
layer which is transferred completely to the textile from a release paper using heat and
pressure. Adhesion forces are developed between the film and the textile which are
stronger than those between the film and the paper. The method has been developed
for the printing of both continuous web and garment panel units, but is used almost
exclusively for the latter purpose. In commercial importance it is comparable with
sublimation transfer printing. [12]
Heat printing, also known as heat transfer printing, is the process of applying heat-applied
materials to various items (i.e., substrates) with a heat press. Heat-applied materials contain a
heat-sensitive adhesive on one side; when heat is applied by a heat press to the material, the
material adheres to the substrate to which it is being applied. Transfer papers require the artwork
to be printed in reverse. Most heat transfer papers will be made for laser or ink jet printers and
will fall under two categories regardless if they are professional grade or not.
Three key components to consider when decorating with a heat press are: time, temperature,
and pressure. Every heat transfer material has its own heat printing instructions.
Time: The amount of time, in seconds, that heat must be applied to the design/garment.
Temperature: The optimal degree at which the design will adhere to the garment.
Q30. Shortly discuss heat transfer printing Process for garments printing?
The process of heat transfer printing begins with the printing of a design which can be as simple
as a single color print or as complex as a full color image. The image is printed using a
modified Oki color laser printer and the print medium used is a special range of transfer papers
that are specifically designed for use with the Oki laser printer.
Once the design has been printed, it is applied to the garment using one of our swing away
heat transfer presses.
The first step of the
process is to get the picture that you would like. We will put it in our computers and
touch-up the image.
We then print this from our high quality printers on commercial heat transfer paper.
The
Although this is similar to iron-on paper that you can get at a retail store, it is NOT.
commercial paper we use will last much longer, and will not peel, fade, or bleed.
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Advanced Garment Printing
Each image is hand cut. We commonly add a small border around an image to aid in durability.
The image is accurately positioned on the product using lasers to ensure straightness.
put
Then it goes to the Heat Press. A Heat Press is like a really big iron that can evenly
down hundreds of pounds of pressure, while accurately controlling temperatures.
on melts into the fibers of the clothing, making it a part
The commercial paper that the image is printed
of the item without disturbing the image.
Using the Heat Transfer method we are able to print in as many colors as you would like and on any color
fabric. The colors come out bright and bold.
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Advanced Garment Printing
With a dye sublimation printer, this process allows for ink to be dyed into
fabric via heat, which
makes the dye permanent and allows for photo-realistic images of fabrics.
•That imageis then placed on top of a fabric and subjected to high heat and pressure to form a
heat press.
•The dye sublimation toners or inks sublimate–the inks go from a solid state to a gaseous state
without becoming liquid in between and flow into the fabric, dyeing the threads.
•This creates a gentle gradation of color and does not distort or fade overtime.
By using the dye sublimation process, you save money as well as the environment
last just as long as the T-shirts, hats, and other materials the images
because the images
are printed on.
• If we stretch the fabric 20% or more then you lose a whole stack of color depth when
the white shows through the fabric/knit ribs (dark blue suddenly becomes light blue,
black becomes grey).
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Advanced Garment Printing
Adding reflective ink to your design is a relatively inexpensive way to make sure that your
shirts will stand out from the crowd.
Composition
TiO2-BaO-SiO2
Refractive Index
1.93+-0.01nd
Size range
20-105um(can be provided by
request) Color
siliver
This is one kind of printing which give white effect on a specific area of garments. All type of
textile & garments are suitable for spray printing. White pigment paste is used for this type of
printing. This spray can be water based colours, metallic glitters like gold & silver. These are
designed and developed using superior quality material giving very soft hand feel & colour
fastness towards world class standards & world class ECO system.
Q35. Write the difference between Rubber print and crack print?
In both print Rubbers is used as the printing paste. Crack printing is near similar as rubber
printing process but additional crack paste is used before applying rubber printing paste by the
screen printer on the fabric. In crack print when pull the print, it seem like crack, but rubber print
only rubber and fixer are commonly used no use crack inks to produce crack effect. So when
pull the rubber print, it seem like solid, smooth, plain and no crack effect.
Q36. Write the difference between High density print and puff print?
High density screen printing at first glance seems to be some sort of high-quality puff print.
Actually, the high density inks are not puff inks at all. In high density print Rubber or plastic
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Advanced Garment Printing
sold is used as a paste. Screen applies many times on a same design. If it may be thick around 5-
6mm then apply high density sticker. High Density is a popular special effect that rises straight
up off the shirt and has a hard rubbery feel with sharp edges. A High density print has slight
glossy finish. On the other side puff print rubber and puff chemical used combined. The puff
ink expands when exposed to high temperature heat as the garment is cured. When the puff inks
which raises the print off the garment, creating a 3D feel. In this method when the paste is
printed and dries it look like normal printing garments but once it is cured the prints gets raised
from the surface of fabric. Sometimes it called emboss print or foam print also.
Q37. Write the difference between Glitter print and Metallic Print?
• Gives metallic look.
• Similar to glitter, but smaller particles suspended in the ink.
• Smooth in texture when compared to glitter
• Glitter reflects light at different angles, causing the surface to sparkle or shimmer but in
metallic print overall print gives sparkle, shiny or shimmer look.
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