Hand block printing

Main article: Woodblock printing on textiles

Woman doing Block Printing at Halasur village, Karnataka, India. This process, though considered by some to be the most artistic, is the earliest, simplest and slowest of all methods of printing. In this process, a design is drawn upon, or transferred to, a prepared wooden block. A separate block is required for each distinct colour in the design. A blockcutter carves out the wood around the heavier masses first, leaving the finer and more delicate work until the last so as to avoid any risk of injuring it during the cutting of the coarser parts. When finished, the block presents the appearance of flat relief carving, with the design standing out. Fine details are very difficult to cut in wood, and, even when successfully cut, wear down very rapidly or break off in printing. They are therefore almost invariably built up in strips of brass or copper, bent to shape and driven edgewise into the flat surface of the block. This method is known as coppering. To print the design on the fabric, the printer applies color to the block and presses it firmly and steadily on the cloth, ensuring a good impression by striking it smartly on the back with a wooden mallet. The second impression is made in the same way, the printer taking care to see that it fits exactly to the first, a point which he can make sure of by means of the pins with which the blocks are provided at each corner and which are arranged in such a way that when those at the right side or at the top of the block fall upon those at the left side or the bottom of the previous impression the two printings join up exactly and continue the pattern without a break. Each succeeding impression is made in precisely the same manner until the length of cloth is fully printed. When this is done it is wound over the drying rollers, thus bringing forward a fresh length to be treated similarly.

If the pattern contains several colours the cloth is usually first printed throughout with one, then dried, and printed with the second, the same operations being repeated until all the colours are printed. Block printing by hand is a slow process it is, however, capable of yielding highly artistic results, some of which are unobtainable by any other method.

Screen printing
Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a wovenmesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas. Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph.

Batik Technique

Batik painting in Java during colonial period. Observe many different varieties of patterns used.

Dipping cloth in dye.

Production of batik cloth in Java, Dutch East Indies, 1912.

A Batik Tulis maker applying melted wax following pattern on fabric using canting, Yogyakarta (city), Indonesia. Melted wax (Javanese: malam) is applied to cloth before being dipped in dye. It is common for people to use a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax. The beeswax will hold to the fabric and the paraffin wax will allow cracking, which is a characteristic of batik. Wherever the wax has seeped through the fabric, the dye will not penetrate. Sometimes several colours are used, with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps. Thin wax lines are made with a tjanting, a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps. After the last dyeing, the fabric is hung up to dry. Then it is dipped in a solvent to dissolve the wax, or ironed between paper towels or newspapers to absorb the wax and reveal the deep rich colors and the fine crinkle lines that give batik its character. This traditional method of batik making is called batik tulis. For batik prada, gold leaf was used in the Yogjakarta and Surakarta area. The Central Javanese used gold dust to decorate their prada cloth. It was applied to the fabric using a handmade glue consisting of egg white or linseed oil and yellow earth. The gold would remain on the cloth even after it had been washed. The gold could follow the design of the cloth or could take on its own design. Older batiks could be given a new look by applying gold to them.

[edit] Industrialization of Technique

Batik cap (copper block stamp) as a method to apply wax on fabrics The application of wax with a tjanting tool is done with great care and therefore is very timeconsuming. As the population increased and commercial demand rose, time-saving methods evolved. Other methods of applying the wax to the fabric include pouring the liquid wax, painting the wax with a brush, and putting hot wax onto pre-carved wooden or copper block (called a cap or tjap) and stamping the fabric. The invention of the copper block (cap) developed by the Javanese in the 20th century revolutionized batik production. By block printing the wax onto the fabric, it became possible to mass-produce designs and intricate patterns much faster than one could possibly do by using a tjanting. Batik print is the common name given to fabric that incorporates batik pattern without actually using the wax-resistdyeing technique. It represents a further step in the process of industrialization, reducing the cost of batik by mass-producing the pattern repetitively, as a standard practice employed in the worldwide textile industry.

Tie-dye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tie-dye used as stage decor, Snoqualmie Moondance festival (1992)

Tie-dye is a process of resist dyeingtextiles or clothing which is made from knit or woven fabric, usually cotton; typically using bright colors. It is a modern version of traditional dyeing methods used in many cultures throughout the world.[1] "Tie-dye" can also describe the resulting pattern or an item which features this pattern.
Tie-dyeing is accomplished by folding the material into a pattern, and binding it with string or rubber bands. Dye is then applied to only parts of the material. The ties prevent the entire material from being dyed. Designs are formed by applying different colors of dyes to different sections of the wet fabric. A wet t-shirt is much easier to use rather than just dyeing on a dry t-shirt. Once complete, the material is rinsed, and the dye is set.

Discharge Printing
Discharge Printing is also called Extract Printing. This is a method of applying a design to dyed fabric by printing a color-destroying agent, such as chlorine or hydrosulfite, to bleach out a white or light pattern on the darker coloured ground. In color-discharge printing, a dye impervious to the bleaching agent is combined with it, producing a colored design instead of white on the dyed ground. Discharge printing has been around for decades. But only in the past 7-8

years screen printers in the industry have recognized it seriously. In the early years of discharge printing, the finished discharge print needed to be steamed during the drying process. This discouraged the use of discharge systems in the finished garment arena. The newly developed discharge ink systems are chemically reactive and dont need to be steam-neutralized. This advancement opened the door to discharge printing for the average screen printer. Discharge printing has the ability to make bright, opaque colors on dark fabrics with a soft hand. Years ago the idea of opaque colors on dark fabrics and soft hand couldnt co-exist. Successful light-on-dark printing with plastisol relies on increased pigment loads, fillers and other additives to block out the color of the garment. Discharge inks modify the garment color by removing the garment color and replacing it with the new ink color. In simple terms, the discharge ink "bleaches" out the dye in the garment, thus allowing the pigment in the ink to absorb into the shirt fibers. The real magic of discharge printing can be witnessed when printing four-color process on black 100% cotton shirts. The print before curing appears very transparent. One can barely see the print until the garment exits the oven chamber, where the results can be quite remarkable: bright, vivid colors with a soft hand. The graphics on the casino gaming tables are printed with discharge inks to avoid the interference of the printed line with the roll of the dice. If the ink on these tables were printed with plastisol, the ink film (because it is a surface print) would change the speed and direction of the dice, thus changing the way the dice land. Discharge ink, on the other hand, provides a dyedin-the-fabric result, keeping the playing surface smooth. The decrease in the production time is the biggest bonus of all. The fact that you can skip flash curing completely saves hours of production time and eliminates registration problems between the designs colors and the white printer under base used in normal printing on blacks. However, flash curing can be used in conjunction with discharge printing when printing discharge as an under base. Cleaner and more transparent inks can also be printed onto dark garments with the help of discharge additives. Early discharge additives were designed only for water base inks, but plastisol additives are available. Characteristics that indicate a garment will work with discharge ink
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The garment has to be made of natural fibers (100% cotton) The dye used in the garment must be dischargeable. The best results are achieved with garments that are 100% cotton and dyed with a reactive dye. The garment should not have been over dyed (when fabric is re-dyed to another color). This often happens because of a shortage of a certain fabric color or, in many cases, because quality control rejected the fabric color. These rejected colors are then over dyed with a black dye, which will bring nightmares to life when trying to use discharge inks.

The discharge ink might discharge the black dye - only to reveal a phantom color underneath. Always test your garment to see if it is suitable for discharge printing. If you are a major printer doing large-volume printing, be aware that the shirts you order from the mill are tracked by lot numbers and it is possible that a completely different dye may be used from one lot to the next. Let your sales representative know that you are doing discharge printing and mention in writing that you need a dischargeable garment. Points to be noted
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Do not to overlap your separations if you want to print clean spot colors. Butt-to-butt separations are ideal for most discharge printing. Work with a negative background and allow the dark background of the garment to show through. If you choose to overlap the color separations, overlap the primary colors - red, blue and yellow - to achieve secondary and tertiary colors within the design. To create the screen for under-basing with discharge ink, sandwich all the color separations together (make a contact sheet or a mask) to allow the discharge ink to be printed under all subsequent colors. (Suitable plastisols can be printed over clear discharge bases. Consult your ink manufacturer for compatibility with plastisol.) Discharge printing is frequently used for all-over prints because of its soft hand.

Kalamkari
Kalamkari refers to the Indian craft of painting Natural Dyes on cotton or silk fabric using a bamboo pen. The name Kalamkari translates as pen (kalam) work (kari) in Hindi/Urdu, and was most likely passed on to the printing communities on the Coramandel coast of south east India by Persian traders in the 10th century. The Portuguese called this form of fabric decoration Pintado, the Dutch called it Sitz, while the British referred to it as chintz.

The Kalamkari art of painting makes extensive use of Indigo a natural dye that requires the relatively more laborious process of resist dyeing. In tandem, it uses Block Printing

Techniquesand/or painting. Also, unlike other styles of painting, Kalamkari painting demands a lot of treatment before and after the painting is completed on the cotton fabric. Hence Kalamkari is a laborious and time consuming process. First the cloth bleached naturally in two steps. It is immersed in a solution of goat or cow dung for some time, and then left in the sun for a few days. Then, it is painted with alum and treated with milk to prevent the colour from spreading in the next step. Using iron acetate solution (dipped in a brush-pen in Kalahasti, and wooden blocks in Masulipatnam), the design is outlined and solid spaces filled. All the areas in the design meant to be red are painted (in Kalahasti) or printed (in Masulipatnam) over with the alum solution as a mordant (a substance that fixes the natural dye on the material). The mordant is allowed to soak into the cloth for at least 24 hours before it is washed in running water. Then the cloth is dyed red with madder, a plant-based natural dye. All the portions in the design that are not to be dyed blue are covered with wax. The waxed cloth is immersed in Indigo solution (in Srikalahasti, the blue is painted with the wooden pen). The wax is removed by boiling the cloth in water. The yellow (made from pomegranate seeds or mango bark) is painted on to produce yellow and green. The cloth is finally washed again and dried before the final colours emerge. The treatment of the cloth and the quality of the mordant both determine the lustre of the final colours.

Printing Techniques
Screen Printing
Screen printing is a high quality printing technique which prints a colourful and detailed design. A screen printed design is known for its excellent durability and virtually unlimited range of colours.

A special form of screen printing is called halftone printing. This technique prints small dots varying in size and spacing which combine to form the design. This technique makes colour gradients possible. The screen printing technique prints the colour directly onto the material through a screen. The print ink comes in direct contact with the material which guarantees long-lasting prints.

Price/Performance Print master copy Special Note up to 25 items Vector Grafic (.ai, .eps, .cdr) Colour gradients are possible 25 - 100 items from 100 items Image file (.jpeg, .png, min. 300 dpi) Durability Minimum order Colour spectrum

50 All Pantone/HKS Colours (Pantone solid coated C) Print quality Delivery time Max. Colours

approx. 10 Business Days

10

Screen Transfer Print

The difference between this printing method and regular screen printing is that here the design is not printed directly on the shirt. It is first printed on a transfer foil and then heat-pressed onto the shirt.

Price/Performance Print master copy Special Note up to 25 items Vector Grafic (.ai, .eps, .cdr) Colour gradients are possible 25 - 100 items from 100 items Durability Minimum order Colour spectrum

50 All Pantone/HKS Colours (Pantone solid coated C) Print quality Delivery time Max. Colours

approx. 10 Business Days

10

Flex and Flock Printing

Flex and flock are high quality printing techniques. They are known best for their extreme durability, making it a long lasting print that doesn't fade when washing. Flex has a smooth, somewhat shiny surface. Flock feels like velvet and is slightly raised from the shirt. We offer the following colours for our flex and flock printing: colour options. Flex and flock are produced using the plotting technique. A vector graphic is used as the master copy and cannot contain more than three colours. These colours are individually cut from a foil by a plotting machine and then heat-pressed onto the shirt.

Price/Performance Print master copy Special Note up to 25 items Vector Grafic (.ai, .eps, .cdr) Colour gradients not possible 25 - 100 items from 100 items Durability Minimum order Colour spectrum

up to 49 items T-Shirt-Designer / more than 50 Bulk Order Specified (available colours) Print quality Delivery time

Max. Colours

approx. 10 Business Days 3

Digital Printing
Digital printing is a simple and low-cost printing method for photographs and similar designs with many colours. This method can only be used on white and very light-coloured t-shirts. This print is also not meant to last for a long time. Washing will cause the colours to fade over time. Digital printing would require a bitmap image (i.e. .jpg file) for the print. A colour laser printer prints the image onto a transfer foil which is then heat-pressed onto the shirt.

Price/Performance Print master copy Special Note up to 25 items 25 - 100 items Image file (.jpeg, .png, min. 300 dpi) Only on white Shirts Colour gradients possible from 100 items Vector Grafic (.ai, .eps, .cdr) Durability Minimum order Colour spectrum

50

All CMYK Colours Print quality Delivery time Max. Colours

approx. 10 Business Days Unlimited

Embroidery
Embroidery is one of the best ways to add designs to apparel. The advantages of this method are the high quality results which create an excellent visual appearance, washing durability and longevity. Large areas cannot be embroidered, as the t-shirt will become too hard and the price too high. Colour gradients are not possible. The embroidery process sews the design onto the t-shirt or hat using a sewing machine. The design is converted into a sewing program which operates the machine and uses the "punching" technique. The cost of this method is directly related to the number of stitches. We therefore need the design which is to be embroidered before we can provide a price quote.

Price/Performance Print master copy Special Note up to 25 items Vector Grafic (.ai, .eps, .cdr) Colour gradients not possible 25 - 100 items from 100 items Durability Minimum order

Colour spectrum

25 Pantone/HKS Colours Quality Delivery time Max. Colours

approx. 12 Business Days 10 (on request)

Direct to garment printing

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Direct to garment printing,

also known as DTG printing, digital garment printing and inkjet to garment printing, is a process of printing on textiles and garments using specialized or modified inkjet technology. The two key requirements of a DTG printer are a transport mechanism for the garment and specialty inks (inkjet textile inks) that are applied to the textile directly and are absorbed by the fibers. Most direct to garment printers are manufactured from pre-existing Epson inkjet printers, with exceptions where DTG printers have been built using lower-resolution industrial inkjet print heads like those found in large-format printers used to print signs and banners. Some inkjet technology manufacturers offer products designed for direct textile printing, providing heads,

printers and inks. Direct to garment printers boast the largest print area and lowest ink cost of any tabletop inkjet to garment printer. The resolution and speed of the inkjet printers have been increased greatly over the last 10 years. This development has resulted in fast development of digital textile printing. Sublimation inkjet printing is the major technology used in digital textile printing. As most fabrics are polyester or polyester-mixed, sublimation inkjet printing is widely used in digital textile printing. Since traditional screen printing costs more in terms of labor, digital textile printing, especially sublimation inkjet printing, is now becoming more and more popular in USA and Europe. The majority of DTG printers are driven from a computer by the use of software known as a RIP (Raster Image Processor). The RIP software allows the printer to print with larger volumes of ink, generate white ink underbases for dark shirts and also provides for more precision color management through color profiles. More advanced RIP software allows for driving multiple printers from one computer, advanced job queuing, ink cost calculation as well as a real time preview of the file prior to printing.

How does transfer printing work?

Very simply the transfer print procedure is this: an image is printed or copied onto a specially coated transfer paper. The printed paper is then placed face down on the fabric and heat is applied and the image is transferred (in reverse) to the fabric. One type of paper works with ink jet (aka bubble jet) type printers and the other works with color copiers. The papers are not interchangeable. You can badly damage a color copier if you try to run the ink jet transfer paper through it. I'm not going to write here about color copier transfers, check with your local copy center to see if they even offer the service. They may require you to use their paper due to possible damage to their expensive copy machines.