Digital Textile Printing

Nate Metz CNST333-81

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I first learned about digital textile printing in my CNST333 course. A chapter in our textbook gave a basic introduction to it in the greater context of textile production. We began the course with basic textile design using Lectra U4ia and I thought that it would be interesting and exciting to create an individual honors section so that I could develop some of my own digital textile prints. After approval from the professor and the Honors program, I began to do some more in-depth research on digital textile printing. In addition to the textbooks for the course, my main research tool was the Internet. Because digital textile printing is such a new development in the apparel industry, there is very little literature in print on the subject. A great resource was <http://www.techexchange.com/textile-printing.html>. The site offers an extensive library of articles from variety of sources (editors, customers, industry experts, guest columnists, etc) on digital textile printing. It also includes a search function to assist in finding articles and information. I have summarized two articles that I found particularly useful in my research below. A Primer in Digital Textile Printing, May 2001 Much of the holdup of the expansion of digital textile printing is coming from the textile industry itself. They are reluctant to the change, noting that it is too slow and too expensive. Most companies have only adopted digital textile printing to cut the cost of sampling, while maintaining conventional methods for mass production. It is important to recognize that with the current technology of digital textile printing, the textile industry can sell their excellent command of printing, ability to produce short-run

Metz 2 production, and quick turn around (currently lacking from industry as result of historical analog technology). One of the major obstacles in digital textile printing is that textiles (more so than paper) vary in fiber content (alone changes many of the factors involved with printing), weight, thickness, ink absorbency, and yarn sizeplus, textiles must be washable, lightfast, crock resistant, and wearable. Additional considerations include stretchability, flexibility, porous/textured surface, end use requirements (outdoor, athletic, protective, etc), registration points, and touch/feel of finished product. Also because current digital textile printing uses direct inkjet printing, the textile fabric needs to be pre-treated for ink absorbency and color vibrancy. The entire process has to be designed to control bleeding, but achieve the hand, color, and fastness of the finished textile. Naturally, the end use of the printed textile plays an integral role in the type of ink and printing process that is used. It is necessary to rethink the overall system of textile printing. The current analog system has a good 30-year history that for the most part has remained unchanged, resulting in a mindset that focuses on what the digital technology cant do, as opposed to what it can. Think outside the box: we need a new approach when dealing with these new products, and new marketing techniques to sell the digital textile printing technology, CAD systems, cutting systems, etc.

The Effect of Digital Textile Printing Technology on Textile Design Styles, August 2001 Textile printing has existed since people first started to wear clothing, most often through block printing. During the industrial revolution, screens and rollers became the

Metz 3 most common method of printing on textiles. Also traditionally, each screen or roller is engraved and assigned to a color, which creates flat shapes. To achieve a 3-D motif, several flat layers must be printed on top of each other. And, those consumers who prefer printed textiles choose printed textiles that reflect the same historical image that they are accustomed to purchasing. Because of this trend, the emergence of digital textile printing has not influenced the style of printed textiles, but instead, has been utilized to expedite the design process (design alteration, colorways, and strike off). Another difference is that conventional printers can be used for direct, discharge, devore, plisse, warp print, etc. methods while the digital textile printing has only been developed for direct printing. One of the major appeals for digital textile printing is the process color application. Also, there is no restriction in terms of repeat size, or in the number of repeats (layers or number of colors used in the print), which means that any graphic that can be printed onto paper can be printed onto textiles. Photographic software like Adobe Photoshop has been instrumental in this development. Also, additional colors (orange, blue, green, etc.) have been added to the standard CYMK coloration gradients to create a more accurate, and complex, color system. Digitally printed textiles are immerging in high-end fashion, and experimental looks of textile design are cropping up in different markets by small print shops, independent designers, and students. They combine design concepts like shadow, shimmer, translucent, vibration, reflection, blurring, layering, and superimposing to textile print designs. Applying these concepts creates new trends and design movements, which can be avant-garde or very commercial.

Metz 4 The best way to understand the developments in digital textile printing and the way that it is influencing the textile markets is to look at screen printing. During its debut, screen printing unleashed a new kind of freedom for creativity allowing designers to experiment with multiple images. Many think that digital textile printing is on a similar trajectory to becoming mainstream. However, more improvement in terms of printing speed is necessary for digital textile printing to become mainstream. Designers can now create textile prints that could function as a graphic advertisement instead of a conventional pattern that is set into repeat. Independent designers are able to create custom textiles with less effort, and without having to depend so heavily on textile designers and large textile mills. Future developments mean that the creative freedom of digitally printed textiles will continue to expand. With this technology allowing, in theory, anyone to print anything, critical consideration need-be applied to design quality and aesthetics. Some think that there will be a power shift from a few textile mills to many smaller, independent digital textile print shops. Overall, digital textile printing is allowing textiles to become more creative, innovative, and commercially viable.

Now that I had a greater understanding of digital textile printing and its place in the apparel industry, I could focus on my own digital textile prints. I began looking through my person portfolio of digital photographs, selecting some of my favorite images. Then I met with my professor to narrow down my selections to 3-4 images that

Metz 5 might produce some of the most interesting prints. We decided to focus on images that dealt with rocks in all forms (sand, slate, cement) and water.

The next step was to read through some of the Adobe Photoshop CS tutorial and help files, as well as a Photoshop CS book to learn about filters, curves, and other photo editing tools. These tools served as the basis for creating the motifs for my prints. After many hours of experimenting and manipulating, I developed some of my first prints. After developing the main motifs of my favorite prints, I used LectraU4ia to set them into repeatable tiles. Obviously this process took many hours to finalize the digital textile prints. I began first with my photograph of churning water. I really enjoy the graphic qualities of my original photograph and felt that the image as is would make an imaginative fabric print. Horizontally and vertically offset image Applied healing brush to blend edges to create repeatable tile Saved as TIF files in 8 bit RGB color with a 300 DPI Repeatable tile size: 6.821 x 5.12

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Inverted color using exact photo negative Replaced black and dark shades with various light greens Adjusted shadows 2% and highlights 92% Replaced white with purple Saved file under same settings as first water motif

Applied trace contour filter with level 84 on upper edge Adjusted color curves in 179 and out 75, twice Created repeatable tile in Lectra U4ia using the clipboard (copy & paste)

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Used eye dropper tool to select several cool, pastel hues from motif Added stripes in varying levels of transparency with new colors

Removed stripes Created photographic negative Used color curves to increase contrast

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Combined several of these ideas into one motif

Although I chose the previous motif as my final, I reworked the water some more. Using magic wand, selected all of the white areas and applied green neon glow Applied crystallized filter using size 10 Cut four squares at 296 x 296 pixels

Metz 9 Pasted into a 592 x 592 pixels square Replaced yellow hues with blue hues Applied chrome filter Adjust color curves to increase contrast

I worked with an image of rocks from a cliff in Pennsylvania. I used Photoshop to save the original image in an 8 bit RGB TIF file. I then used U4ia to develop a repeat. Set drop 1 / 2 Used clipboard (copy & paste) to select pieces of rocks and snow to blend image Saved repeatable tile at 300 DPI

Metz 10 Another set of images came from some aerial shots of architecture in Barcelona, Spain. Again, I used Photoshop to resave the file and then opened it in U4ia to develop the repeatable tile. Developed color palette using eye-dropper tool

sky blue

tan

mountain haze

marina

roof tile

building

shadow

tree

steel structure

Set drop 1 / 3 Filled background with sky blue Used clipboard (copy & paste) to collect buildings and pavement into pattern Saved repeatable tile

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After I had my finalized digital textile prints saved, I researched some software companies and other independent companies that I would be able to outsource the actual printing to. The most common printing technology used is Lectra Sapphire and Lectra Amber. DuPont has developed Artistri and Hewlett Packard has developed HP Designjet, which is only used for non-apparel products. Most of the printers that I was able to contact required RGB color files as opposed to the traditional CYMK settings. I was unable to discover why the printing of textiles used a different color setup, but is most likely just resultant of the physical printers that have been developed. Here are three of the companies that I found who do digital textile printing: B3 Designs: Fabric Art http://www.b3designsolutions.com/index.html Based out of North Carolina, B3 claims to provide variety of digital textile printing services. Among others, textile sampling is a bonus. They can print sample fabric for pre-production design and sales needs. They will print 1 to 1000 yards in multiple colorways, continuous yardage, or motifs up to 6 wide. They work best with RGB .tiff files, and have a one week (approx.) turn around. The company refused to disclose the type of software and printing technology used to print their products, leaving the actual quality of the product in question. Digital Textile Printing http://www.digitaltextile.com/

Metz 12 A world-wide resource for all things digital textile printing: printing equipment, printing services, textile products, and textile design software. Boasts top-end quality, completing short sampling orders in 4 weeks or less. Prefers designs in RGB .tiff files with a minimum of 300 DPI. Can print on cotton, lycra, and silk fabrics: plain satin, georgette, chiffon, twills, etc (all with a varying mome values). You can supply fabric, or they will sell at discount pricing with annual contracts with regular supply regardless of volume. Contact company for exclusive developments. Company based out of Denmark. Website includes an FAQ covering color fastness, handle, file requirements, and machinery. Stork Digital Printing http://stork.com/prints/ Using Lectra Sapphire <http://www.lectra.com/en/textiles/products/ sapphire_textiles.html>, Stork is based in Europe. They have a sister office in New York, New York that would be able to do the printing. You can purchase the fabric in a variety of substrates directly from them. They offer free shipping within the city, but shipping and handling fees apply to all other orders. And as with the other printers, they prefer to work with RGB .tiff files with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI.

At the end of October 2004, there was a digital textile printing conference held in North Carolina. With a cost of $800.00+ I was unable to attend. The three day conference sponsored by [TC]2 and AATCC was intended to allow members of all facets of the apparel industry to congregate, share, and learn about the latest developments of

Metz 13 digital textile printing. Some of the highlighted presenters included Kerry King from [TC]2, Mike Compton from DuPont Artistri, and J.R. Campbell from Iowa State University.

Overall, this project has been very exciting. Designers have always been able to customize fabric, either through customized prints or surface embellishments. Technology has further increased this customizability. To be able to print photographic qualities motifs onto fabric is huge for the apparel industry because of the range of options available to designers. However, it comes at a great cost: upwards of $75-$100 per yard depending on volume. As with other industries, as the implementation of digital textile printing increases, the overall cost will eventually begin to decrease. I look forward to developing more of my own digital textile prints to expand my portfolio, and one day hope to actually have some textiles printed.