DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRINTING METHOD

Block Printing:

The blocks are usually made of wood and the design is hand carved so that it stands out in relief against the background surface. The print paste is applied to the design surface on the block and the block then pressed against the fabric. The process is repeated with different designs and colors until the pattern is complete.

Block printing is a slow, laborious process and is not suitable for high volume commercial use. It is a method still practiced in the oriental countries where markets exist for the types of printed fabrics produced.

Roller Printing:

Roller printing has traditionally been preferred for long production runs because of the very high speeds possible. It is also a versatile technique since up to a dozen different colors can be printed simultaneously. The basic roller printing equipment, shown in the below figure, consists of a number of copper faced rollers in which the design is etched. There is a separate printing roller for each color being printed. Each of the rollers rotates over the fabric under pressure against an iron pressure roller. A blanket and backing cloth rotate over the pressure roller under the fabric and provide flexible support for the fabric being printed. A color doctor blade removes paste or fibers adhering to the roller after contact with the fabric. After the impression stage, the fabric passes to the drying and steaming stages.

Screen Printing :

This type of printing has increased enormously in its use in recent years because of its versatility and the development of rotary screen printing machines which are capable of very high rates of production. An additional significant advantage is that heavy depths of shade can be produced by screen printing, a feature which has always been a limitation of roller printing because of the restriction to the amount of print paste which can be held in the shallow depth of the engraving on the print roller. Worldwide, some 61% of all printed textile fabric is produced by the rotary screen method and 23% by flat screen printing.

There are two basic types of screen printing process, the flat screen printing, and the rotary screen printing methods.

Heat Transfer Printing :

Transfer printing techniques involve the transfer of a design from one medium to another. The most common form used is heat transfer printing in which the design is printed initially on to a special paper, using conventional printing machinery. The paper is then placed in close contact with the fabric and heated, when the dyes sublime and transfer to the fabric through the vapor phase.

Ink-Jet Printing :

There has been considerable interest in the technology surrounding non-impact printing, mainly for the graphics market, but the potential benefits of reductions in the time scale from original design to final production have led to much activity in developing this technology for textile and carpet printing processes. The types of machines developed fall into two classes, drop-on-demand (DOD) and continuous stream (CS).

Carpet Printing :

The printing of carpets only really achieved importance after the introduction of tufted carpets in the late 1950s. Until then the market was dominated by the woven Wilton carpets and Axminster designs were well established, but by the 1980s tufted carpet production accounted for some 80% (by area) of UK production. Much of this carpet production was printed because the range of patterns possible to produce using tufting machines was limited and there was a desire to produce greater flexibility of design for these types of carpet.

Warp Printing:

The printing of a design on the sheet of warp yarns before weaving. The filling is either white or a neutral color, and a grayed effect is produced in the areas of the design.

Resist Printing:
A printing method in which the design can be produced: (1) by applying a resist agent in the desired design, then dyeing the fabric, in which case, the design remains white although the rest of the fabric is dyed; or (2) by including a resist agent and a dye in the paste which is applied for the design, in which case, the color of the design is not affected by subsequent dyeing of the fabric background.

Photographic Printing:

A method of printing from photoengraved rollers. The resultant design looks like a photograph. The designs may also be photographed on a silk screen which is used in screen printing.

Pigment Printing:

Printing by the use of pigments instead of dyes. The pigments do not penetrate the fiber but are affixed to the surface of the fabric by means of synthetic resins which are cured after application to make them insoluble. The pigments are insoluble, and application is in the form of water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsions of pigment pastes and resins. The colors produced are bright and generally fat except to crocking.

Blotch Printing:

A process wherein the background color of design is printed rather than dyed.

Burn-Out Printing:

A method of printing to obtain a raised design on a sheer ground. The design is applied with a special chemical onto a fabric woven of pairs of threads of different fibers. One of the fibers is then destroyed locally by chemical action. Burn-out printing is often used on velvet. The product of this operation is known as a burnt-out print.

Direct Printing:

A process wherein the colors for the desired designs are applied directly to the white or dyed cloth, as distinguished from discharge printing and resist printing.

Discharge Printing:

In “white” discharge printing, the fabric is piece dyed, then printed with a paste containing a chemical that reduces the dye and hence removes the color where the white designs are desired. In “colored” discharge printing, color is added to the discharge paste in order to replace the discharged color with another shade.

Duplex Printing:

A method of printing a pattern on the face and the back of the fabric with equal clarity.

CUTTING

Highly dedicated trained cutters which are assigned to each individual project will be in contact with your representative throughout the process. Our experienced pattern makers can create your first pattern from a sample garment, picture or rough sketch.
We can also make alterations to existing patterns or digitized data. We are able to provide clients with pattern grading, working from the original pattern, and grading all sizes to your specifications. We will proportionally increase or decrease the size of your pattern to produce a range of sizes while maintaining the shape, fit, balance, and scale of style details. In addition, our marker makers will layout the cut of the style to optimal fabric usage and reduce waste.
We take consideration of proper shrinkage while keeping grain lines and matching stripes aligned properly.
Approved markers are then digitally plotted to provide you with additional control over your cutting. Our cutting room places the plotted markers on top of the layers of fabric and cuts the pieces with careful consideration of pattern specifications.

Sewing department specializes in apparel manufacturing. Every stage of garment construction is meticulously assembled, closely supervised and must comply with strict quality guidelines. Our quality control system is designed to yield a defect-free garment that matches your exact specifications. We have a variety of machines and techniques to accommodate many different types of sewing operations.

Some of the most common are: Single needle

Double-needle
Safety stitch
Automatic meter
Automatic multi-stitch
Loop tacker
Pocket Welt
Keyhole buttonhole
Automatic button sewer
Round eyelet

Garment Dyeing

Garment dyeing is the process of dyeing fully fashioned garments (such as pants, pullovers, t-shirts, jeans, sweaters, dresses, bathrobes, casual jackets, shirts, skirts, hosieries) subsequent to manufacturing, as opposed to the conventional method of manufacturing garments from pre-dyed fabrics. Most garments are made of cotton knit goods and/or cotton woven fabrics.

Although several other fabrics can be found in the whole or in part such as wool, nylon, silk, acrylic, polyester and others. Due to cost savings and fashion trends, garment dyeing has been gaining importance and popularity in the past years and will continue to do so in the future.

Why Garment Dyeing?

Traditionally, garments are constructed from fabrics that are pre-dyed (piece dyed) before the actual cutting and sewing. The advantage of this process is the cost effectiveness of mass producing identical garments of particular colors. A major drawback with this approach is the risk associated with carrying a large inventory of a particular style or color in today's dynamic market.

Garment Dyeing Machines

Paddle machines and rotary drums are the two types of equipment regularly used for garment dyeing. Rotary drum machines are sometimes preferred for garments, which require gentler handling, such as sweaters. A high liquor ratio is required for paddle machines, which is less economical and may limit shade reproducibility. Many machinery companies have developed sophisticated rotary dyeing machines, which incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Following machines are generally used for garment dyeing.

1. Paddle Dyeing Machines

A process of dyeing textiles in a machine that gently move the goods using paddles similar to a paddle wheel on a boat. This is a slow process, but there is extremely little abrasion on the goods. Horizontal Paddle Machines (over head paddle machine) consist of a curved beck like lower suction to contain the materials and the dye liquor. The goods are moved by a rotating paddle, which extends across the width of the machine. Half immersed paddles cause the material to move upwards and downwards through out the liquor. The temperature can be raised to 98o C in such system.

In lateral / oval paddle machines consist of oval tank to enhance the fluid flow and the processing the goods. In the middle of this tank is a closed oval island. The paddle moves in a lateral direction and is not half submerged in the liquor and the temperature can be increased up to 98o C.

HT Paddle Machines work according to the principle of horizontal paddle machine, however, the temperature can be raised up to 140o C. PES articles are preferably dyed on HT paddles. In paddle machines, the dyeing can be carried out with 30:1 to 40:1, lower ratios reduces optimum movement of the goods, lead to unlevel dyeing, crease formation. For gentleness, the blades of the paddle are either curved or have rounded edges and the rotating speed of the paddle can be regulated from 1.5 to 40 rpm. Circulation of the liquor should be strong enough to prevent goods from sinking to the bottom. Paddle machines are suitable for dyeing articles of all substrates in all forms of make ups. The goods are normally dyed using PP/PET bags.

2. Rotary Drum Dyeing Machines

These machines work on the principle of “movement of textile material and a stationary liquor”.The rotary drum dyeing machine consists of rotating perforated cylindrical drum , which rotates slowly inside a vessel of slightly bigger in size. The internal drum is divided into compartments to ensure rotation of goods with the drum rotation, and the outer vessel holds the required quantity of dye liquor. High-temperature drum machines are capable of processing the garments up to 140o C.

Features of modern rotary-dyeing equipment include the following:

Lower liquor ratio
Gentle movement of goods and liquor (minimizes surface abrasion)
Rapid heating and cooling
Centrifugal extraction
Variable drum speed with reversal capability (adaptable to a wide variety of goods)
Continuous circulation of goods (improves migration control)
Easy of sampling
Variable water levels with overflow rinsing capabilities
Large diameter feed and discharge lines (minimizes filling and draining time)
Microprocessor controls
Lint filters
Pressure dyeing
Auto-balancing drums

One feature that can be used to reduce abrasion on delicate garments or to minimize tangling is a compartmental chamber, sometimes referred to as a "Y" pocke .The rotary drum machines are very simple to operate and are quite compact in size. The cost of unit is also not high .

Drum dyeing-centrifuging machines are also called “multipurpose drum machines” or “multi-rapid dyeing centrifuging machines” since these machines can perform scouring, dyeing, centrifuging and conditioning successively with automated controls. The goods are treated in a perforated inner drum housed within an outer drum (dyeing tank). Inner drums without dividing walls are provided with ribs that carry the goods along for a certain time, partially lifting them up out of the liquor. These machines can operate at very low liquor ratios and can dye the goods up to 98 -140o C. This is suitable for knits as well as other garments. Liquor circulation can be intensified using additional jets. Drums can be rotated in both the directions.

3. Tumbler Dyeing Machines

These machines are being used for small garments either in loose form or in open mesh bags. Design wise the tumbler dyeing machines are similar to the commercial laundering machines.

The principle of operation is to load the material into perforated inner SS tanks, which rotates round a horizontal shaft fixed at the back of the drum. The drum is divided into compartments for moving the goods with rotation of drum. A variety of tumbling machines have higher rotation speeds and can spin dry at the end of the cycle. These are similar to dry-cleaning machines.

Rotating drum machines are more efficient and cleaner to operate than paddle machines. The more vigorous mechanical action often promotes more shrinkage and bulking, which may be desirable for some articles. In order to handle higher quantities and large production of similar pieces the latest machines are provided with several automatic features and sophistication.

4.Toroid Dyeing Machines

In these machines the garments circulate in the liquor in a toroidal path with the aid of an impeller situated below the perforated false bottom of the vessel. Movement of the goods depends completely on the pumped action of the liquor. High-temperature versions of this machine operating at 120 to 130°C were developed in the 1970s for dyeing fully-fashioned polyester or triacetate garments. The liquor ratio of such machines is about 30:1.

5. The Gyrobox

The machine has support in the form of a large wheel, which is divided into 12 independent non radial compartments. The goods are placed in these compartments .The wheel runs at a moderate speed of 2-6 rpm.The main advantage of this machine are,

Reduced M:L
Different types of garments can be dyed simulteneously .
Flexible loading
Fully automatic operation.
The MCS Readymade garment dyeing machine

The rotodye machines are suitable for dyeing pure cotton,wool,polyester,cotton blends in the form of T shirts, sweaters, bath rugs and accessories , socks and stockings.

6. Modified Pegg Toroid Whiteley Garment Dyeing Machine

This is an improved version of Toroid machines , the additional features are

The machine is suitable for both atmospheric and pressure dyeing.
Full automation upto hydroextraction.
The design features, speed and performance is simplified to make the machine more versatile and free from operating problems.

Advantages of Garment Dyeing

Handling of smaller lots economically
Enables various special effects to achieved
Distressed look can be effectively imparted
Unsold light shades can be converted into medium and deep shades

By the time the garment has been in a boiling dyebath and then tumble-dried, it will have adopted its lowest energy state and will not suffer further shrinkage under consumer washing conditions

Latest fashion trends can be effectively incorporated through garment wet processing by immediate feedback from the customer

Disadvantages of Garment Dyeing

High cost of processing
A little complicated dyeing

Garment accessories like zips, buttons, etc impose restrictions. The garments produced from woven fabrics create many problems and it has been found that the existing textile treatment styles as developed for piece dyed fabric cannot be just assembled for garment wet processing operation such as garment dyeing, unless they have been engineered from the original design stage for garment dyeing.

The factors governing processing of ready-made garments are

Sewing Thread
Metal Components. Shrink behavior
Accessories
Foreign substances
Interlining
Care labeling.

Pop quiz: What’s the difference between screen printing and embroidery? How about debossing and embossing? And what’s the best fabric for laser appliqué?

Cut-Vinyl Decorating

For a printing-free option, try cut-vinyl decorating. The process takes a vector image and runs it through a vinyl cutter, which cuts the outline onto various options of vinyl material. Excess vinyl is removed, and the image is pressed onto the garment.
Artwork is an important consideration with cut-vinyl decorating. If the image is too detailed or the lines in the art are too thin, it won’t be a good candidate for this type of decoration. Luckily, the material itself can make up for any flair lost – this process works well with glitter, glow-in-the-dark or other spunky vinyl options.

Debossing

This type of decoration is popular in leather apparel. It works by pressing a cut dye into the surface of a material to create an imprint of the design. The process is similar to embossing, except with embossing, the image is raised on the fabric – with debossing, it’s depressed into the fabric.
Debossing can also be done in conjunction with other types of decoration. A garment can be screen printed, and then that image debossed. Or, the design could be foil-stamped onto the fabric, and then debossed. Overall, it’s not as complicated as embossing and can create a completely unique and colorful effect.

Direct-to-Garment (DTG)

DTG printing uses inkjet technology to print design right onto the garment, with high resolution (about 1,440 dpi) and no halftone dot or image quality lost. Decoration expert Scott Fresener, director of T-Biz Network International, brought the first commercial DTG printer to the market in 2004, and he also developed the first white ink for the process.
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Dye Sublimation

This decoration style is limited in use, as it can generally only be done on 100% polyester garments. It’s a type of printing that uses heat-sensitive inks – under high temperatures, the ink turns to gas and bonds with the fabric, becoming part of the physical structure of the garment.

Embroidery

Though now modernized with high-speed, multi-head computerized embroidery machines, this decoration style has its roots as far back as ancient Egypt, when it was all done by hand. Essentially, embroidery is decorative stitching (though typically without letters) used to create a raised, ornamental design on a garment with different types and colors of thread.
As early as the Middle Ages, professional embroiderers associations and guilds were taking members in Europe. Even before that, people were drilling holes through shells and animal hides to stitch with elaborate embroidery that told of wealth and status in local communities.

Heat Transfer

Like dye sublimation, heat-transfer decorating is achieved with high temperatures pressing onto a garment – though with this process, the printing is done on a transfer material that has heat-activated adhesive on one side. Once the design is printed, it goes into a heat press with the garment, and the high temperature activates the adhesive.

Laser Appliqué

With speed, flexibility, and precision, laser cutting is able to create design-specific appliqués in a short period of time. All you’ll need is a digital design file, which will communicate to the laser cutter like it’s a printer. Then, a laser will do a controlled burn of the fabric, searing the edges where the material should be cut. As a bonus, if you’re cutting multiple appliqués at once, they can be organized to waste as little fabric as possible.
Fabric choice can be important here – twill is among the best because it won’t burn or discolor, but anything with cotton batting in it might catch fire from the heat. Otherwise, both natural and synthetic materials can be used, including leather.

Photo Stitch Designs

Photo stitch is an embroidery technique where the decorator scans a photo, inputs it into digitizing software and then “prints” it to an embroidery machine. The stitches with this technique are usually quite dense, so it’s important to choose a fabric that can handle the tension. Photo stitch can be used to create almost any design, allowing for multiple colors as well. The finished piece looks less like traditional embroidery and more like a painting or drawing.

Reverse Appliqué

Think of this as the opposite of traditional appliqué. Instead of putting a patch or design on top of the fabric, it’s placed beneath the material. Then the fabric above the appliqué is cut away, leaving a multi-dimensional appearance with the appliqué showing through.

Screen Printing

V With screen printing, an image is separated into a series of single-color designs. A mesh screen is placed over the fabric, and one color of ink is pulled down across the screen, allowing the ink to seep through onto the material in locations dictated by the design. Each color gets a new screen and the process is repeated. Screen printing can be a challenge for multicolor designs – it’s imperative that all the screens are lined up at the right spot, otherwise, one layer will be in the wrong place and the whole image will be ruined.
Screen printing is another decorating style with a long history. The earliest recognizable form of it appeared during the Song Dynasty in China, from 960 to 1279 AD. From there, the technique made its way to Japan, and eventually to Europe in the 1700s, though it didn’t become widely popular until 1907. That’s when Englishman Samuel Simon patented the technique for use on wallpaper, silk and linen sold to the upper crust of society.

Tackle Twill

A popular style for sports jerseys, tackle twill is a type of decoration where designs are cut from twill fabric and stuck to the surface of another fabric with adhesive as an appliqué. A zigzag stitch around the design edge keeps it in place. This is a good alternative for traditional embroidery because of the low stitch count.

Trapunto

According to Embroidery Design Studio, trapunto – a type of embroidery characterized by a 3-D look – dates back to 13th century Italy, when it was used on coverlets that didn’t need to be too heavy. The process involves creating a pocket between the fabric and backing of the embroidery design and stuffing it with some kind of filling to create a raised fabric effect.
The original trapunto designs were greenery – vines, leaves and different types of fruit – and the process was widely used on blankets, quilts, wall hangings, and clothing. More modern applications can be found on all manner of apparel; the process even made it to Hollywood and was used on the Star Fleet uniform collars in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Jennifer Billock is a contributing writer for Advantages.