Digital Textile Printing

APPLICATIONS, INK CHEMISTRY & INTEGRATION

Online Course

COURSE FOCUS

Over the last decade, digital textile printing using inkjet technology has been introduced and is growing rapidly, especially for apparel printing. Many of the technical and material challenges have been overcome, and the increasing emphasis on cost saving, manufacturing flexibility and following market trends is generating a surge of interest.

The course will give an overview of the industry - the markets, applications and technology. The overall market dynamics and technology requirements for each digital textile application will be described. The required ink chemistries will be reviewed, and their use in inkjet printheads, and pre- and post-processing requirements detailed. Integration of inkjet technology within a production environment will also be considered, as well as the challenges of inkjet system design to make the process production-compatible.


COURSE OUTLINE (CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME)

Monday 24 January 2022

13:20 – 13:30 Log-on & join the meeting

13:30 Course begins

Digital textile printing market and applications
Prof Dr em Marc van Parys, University of Ghent

  • Segmentation of the market - home textiles, apparel, industrial applications & soft signage

  • Growth of digital textile printing in the different segments

  • Applications and key players

  • Market developments under the influence of digital inkjet printing technology

  • Business drivers

  • Sustainability

  • Future directions

17:00 Session ends

Tuesday 25 January 2022

09:00 Session begins

Digital textile inks

Dr Simon Daplyn, Sun Chemical

  • Materials selection

  • Dyes vs pigments

  • Designing ink for industrial printheads

  • QC and performance

  • Application requirements

  • Inkjet printing process

  • Designing for digital

  • Ink and fabric selection

  • Processing requirements

    • Fabric preparation

    • Fixing

    • Washing

  • Colour characteristics (ink and print)

  • Ink maintenance and support requirements

12:30 - 13:30 Break

13:30 Session begins

Integration for digital textile printing
Dr Tim Phillips, Catenary Solutions

  • Hardware integration

  • Printhead technologies

  • Printhead choices

    • Suppliers

    • Performance

    • Life issues

  • System design

    • Ink supply systems

    • Nozzle maintenance

    • Designing for reliability

  • Architecture options

  • Printhead motion systems

  • Web handling and textile transport

  • Testing

  • Print quality

17:00 Course ends


Course Leader

Prof Dr em Marc van Parys
Professor of Textiles, University of Ghent

Prof Van Parys is a Doctor in Chemistry and Professor of Textiles at University College Ghent and University of Ghent. He is Head of the Textile Department and the textile research Lab TO2C. Marc is also president of UNITEX (an SME association of Textile in Belgium and Netherlands), organiser of international congresses and chief editor of the UNITEX journal.

Marc is also a senior consultant and member of the board at Centexbel, as well as being owner and founder of TexZeppelin - a consultancy company dealing with emerging technologies including digital printing, UV-LED coating/printing, plasma and laser treatment and nanotechnology.

Dr Simon Daplyn, Product Marketing Manager
Sun Chemical, UK

Dr Simon Daplyn Joined Sun Chemical in July 2020 as part of the acquisition of Sensient Imaging Technologies and is responsible for management of product and marketing output.  

Having worked in digital print for over 15 years, Simon has been responsible for development, commercialization, sales and marketing of a wide range of digital textile inks.  Simon has been involved in digital textiles in some capacity for 20 years.

Dr Tim Phillips, Founder & Director
Catenary Solutions, UK

Tim Phillips has extensive experience in challenging inkjet integration projects, spending eight years working at Xennia Technology Ltd, the leading inkjet solutions company that was acquired by Sensient in 2015. This involved working with a wide range of companies developing technology for new applications including textiles, ceramics, packaging, décor and functional material deposition for printed electronics and biomedical uses. Tim founded Catenary Solutions in 2015 to bring this knowledge of digital solution development and marketing to a wider audience. Tim has also presented IMI Europe courses in the past including the Inkjet Academy and Inkjet Ink Manufacturing & Digital Textile Printing courses.

Tim graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MA Honours degree in Natural Sciences, and completed his PhD in liquid crystal physics and chemistry at the University of Bristol. More recently he studied for an Executive MBA at the University of Warwick.