At present, there are mainly three process options available on the market.
1.Sublimation
The early process was to first print the pattern on a special transfer paper with a printer, then cut it with an edge-finding plotter, then manually hollow out, and finally transfer it to the fabric by a heat transfer machine. The process is cumbersome and the error rate is high; In the later stage, in order to reduce the defective rate and reduce labor costs, some manufacturers, such as Mimaki, developed an integrated spray and engraving equipment, which liberated labor to a certain extent and improved work efficiency. The working principle is a process of "sticking" the pattern on the surface of the substrate through thermal transfer paper. Therefore, the printed garment pattern has a clear gel texture, poor ventilation, and it is difficult to ensure comfort and beauty. If you use poor raw materials, washing with water, stretching and cracking are common problems.
2.Digital Direct Jet Printing (DTG):
The direct injection process was born to solve the defects of heat transfer. The pigment ink is directly printed on the fabric, and then heated to fix the color. Digital direct-injection printing is not only rich in colors, but also has a soft feel after printing and is very breathable. Because it does not require an intermediate carrier, it is currently the preferred process for high-end garment printing. The difficulty of direct printing on T-shirts lies in the application of dark fabrics, that is, white ink. The main component of white ink is phthalowhite powder, which is a white inorganic pigment composed of ultrafine particles with a particle size of 79.9nm, which has good whiteness, brightness and hiding power. However, because titanium dioxide has a great volume effect and surface effect, that is, strong adhesion, precipitation is prone to occur under a longterm prohibition; at the same time, the coating ink itself is a suspension liquid, which is not completely dissolved in the aqueous solution, so the white ink Poor fluency is the industry consensus.
3.Offset short board heat transfer
The efficiency of sublimation is low, and the hand feel is not good; digital direct injection has always been unable to bypass the problem of white ink direct injection, which leads to high entry barriers. Is there a better solution? There will be improvement if there is demand. Therefore, the most popular this year is the "offset short board heat transfer", also called the powder shaker. The origin of the offset short board heat transfer is because of the effect of offset printing, the pattern is clear and lifelike, the saturation is high, it can reach the effect of the photo level, it is washable and stretchable, but it does not require plate making, single-piece printing, so it is called It is "offset short board heat transfer". Shaking powder is an integrator of the advantages of the two major processes of sublimation and DTG. The working principle is to print pigment ink (including white ink) directly on the PET film, then sprinkle the hot melt powder on the PET film, and finally fix the color at high temperature. Some people may wonder, isn't white ink immature? Why does white ink work in this application? The reason is that DTG sprays white ink directly on the fabric, and the powder shake is sprayed on the PET film. The film is much more friendly to white ink than the fabric. The essence of offset short board heat transfer is to stamp the image on the fabric at high temperature through hot melt adhesive, and its essence is still very similar to sublimation. Taking into account the issues of ventilation, beauty, comfort, etc., the powder shaking process is not suitable for large-format pattern printing, but it greatly reduces the entry barrier, and is especially suitable for personal entrepreneurship. Even if there are still some shortcomings, it is acceptable.
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