There are two different processes we use when printing to fabric:

Sublimation to Polyester Fabric

For Polyesters we use a transfer method called Sublimation. This process creates incredibly vibrant and sharp prints by transferring the image to plain untreated white 80%-100% Polyester. The design is printed to paper and transferred to the fabric producing an incredibly vibrant and sharp print. Using this method we can easily print to small A4 samples or 100 meter continuous rolls.

Direct Print to Cottons and Silks

For Cottons and Silks we use a Direct Printing Method. This process prints the dye directly on to pre-treated fabric. This process is more complex and time consuming as there are the additional steps of pre-treating the fabric and washing it after fixation.

The Polyester Printing Process

	Step 1 : Proofing and File Setup Every Polyester fabric is tested and colour calibrated prior to printing. Each different type of fabric will have different printing characteristics that need to be tested and measured to obtain optimum results.
	Step 2 : Printing to transfer paper The image is printed to a special transfer paper
	Step3 : Heat Pressing (Sublimation) The dye is transferred from the paper to the fabric in a heat press. The dye vaporises (sublimates) and transfers into the polyester fibers resulting in a permanent print. Because only the dye transfers the original look and feel of the fabric is preserved.

The Cotton and Silk Printing Process

	Step 1 : Proofing and File Setup Every Polyester fabric is tested and colour calibrated prior to printing. Each different type of fabric will have different printing characteristics that need to be tested and measured to obtain optimum results.
	Step 2 : Pretreatment of the Fabric All fabric must be pre-treated and dried prior direct digital textile printing. The coating is designed to enhance the quality of the printing and is essential in allowing the dyes to bond to the fabric during the fixing process.
	Step3 :Printing direct to pretreated fabric The image is printed directly to the pretreated fabric. If the dry print were to be washed at this stage 95% of the dye would wash out.
	Step 4 : Steaming to Fix the Dye After printing the fabric is passed through a steam fixing process. This chemically binds the dyes into the fabric.
	Step 5 : Washing and Drying Finally fabrics are washed and dried to remove any excess dye and pretreatment chemicals. Because the pretreatment is wasted out the original look and feel of the fabric is preserved.

Supplying you own fabric for Sublimation Polyester Printing

Please ensure any Polyester fabric you supply is 100% polyester or 80%/20% Polyester-Lycra. Any other synthetic materials such as Nylon may shrink and distort with the heat necessary for this process to work.

To avoid any disappointment and loss of time, we recommend that you provide approximately 1 square meter sample of fabric for testing. We will print to this sample at no charge to see how the fabric performs with this process.

For production runs you will need to supply:

• ONLY CLEAN WHITE Polyester supplied on a roll or cut to specifications.
• An additional 2-5 metres of fabric to be used for colour and print tests.
• For large print runs provide an additional 20%.

Please check with us before you supply any fabric, as we may not be able to use the fabric if it is not cut correctly.

Supplying fabrics for direct printing to Cotton and Silks

It is essential that fabrics that are directly printed are pre-treated. Without this pre-treatment the dyes will not adhere to the fabric and will wash out. To achieve the best results when supplying you own fabric, we require 20 meters of WHITE fabric to be pre-treated, tested and colour profiled. For new and unusual fabrics that we have not printed before we may require up to 5-10 meters of this fabric to be used to calibrate the colours, fine tune the printing process and print colour charts. The remaining fabric can be used for sampling.

The cost of the pre-treatment will depend on the type of fabric and the amount of chemicals the fabric will absorb.

Please make sure you supply add an additional 20% fabric (minimum of an extra 5 meters) above what you require to allow for wastage and tests. Turn around for pre-treating fabric is currently 10-20 working days.