The next big opportunity for offset?

[gordo]

Pundits and prognosticators are rallying around the notion that textile printing is the next big opportunity for offset printers. Are you offering textile printing to customers, are you planning to do so, or is this just a lame idea to give them something to fill their verbiage quota?

 

[Deleted member 16349]

Pundits and prognosticators are rallying around the notion that textile printing is the next big opportunity for offset printers. Are you offering textile printing to customers, are you planning to do so, or is this just a lame idea to give them something to fill their verbiage quota?

Gordon, do you have a reference to this? When I have heard of textile printing, I had assumed they were talking about ink jet.

 

[gordo]

Gordon, do you have a reference to this? When I have heard of textile printing, I had assumed they were talking about ink jet.

My bad for lack of clarity. Should have said commercial printers - not offset.

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Gentlemen and Fellow Lithographers,


The Art of Textile Printing by Lithography,

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Textile Printing Part # 2

 

[Alois Senefelder]

Part # 3

 

[arossetti]

I just left one of the largest commercial printers in the world and my primary focus was supporting the production of dye-sublimated soft signage. The demand for this was coming mostly from the retail industry or clients with 500, 1000, 2000+ locations which needed quarterly signage shipped to each location. When you can fold and ship a 10'x10' banner in a small box weighing 2lbs versus rolling styrene or sending a rigid board in an oversize box weighing 20lbs it becomes a no brainer.

The problem is there is a lot of knowledge that is required to successfully produce this work that your normal commercial printer doesn't posses to day. Fabric is a inconsistent and none rigid material, each banner dimension throughout a roll might need to be a little different to compensate for the different percent of stretch in each fabric roll, sewing - who knows how to sew fabric, now who can sew 5,000 10'x10' pieces in a day. Sublimation has a lot of issues for color matching to other programs that might be deploying SWOP or GRACoL. It isn't a simple transition but there is demand and profitability. However the margins are already dropping pretty quickly. It is getting close to commodity level on the large nation programs.

Also one off personalized pattern for your next couch is coming if not already here. Someone needs to print that fabric on demand.

 

[gordo]

Part # 3

We have more advanced technology today - which is why we can't do some of the things that the printers of old were able to do.

 

[rcreveli]

I just left one of the largest commercial printers in the world and my primary focus was supporting the production of dye-sublimated soft signage. The demand for this was coming mostly from the retail industry or clients with 500, 1000, 2000+ locations which needed quarterly signage shipped to each location. When you can fold and ship a 10'x10' banner in a small box weighing 2lbs versus rolling styrene or sending a rigid board in an oversize box weighing 20lbs it becomes a no brainer.

The problem is there is a lot of knowledge that is required to successfully produce this work that your normal commercial printer doesn't posses to day. Fabric is a inconsistent and none rigid material, each banner dimension throughout a roll might need to be a little different to compensate for the different percent of stretch in each fabric roll, sewing - who knows how to sew fabric, now who can sew 5,000 10'x10' pieces in a day. Sublimation has a lot of issues for color matching to other programs that might be deploying SWOP or GRACoL. It isn't a simple transition but there is demand and profitability. However the margins are already dropping pretty quickly. It is getting close to commodity level on the large nation programs.

Also one off personalized pattern for your next couch is coming if not already here. Someone needs to print that fabric on demand.

It's happening already. Sites like Spoonflower.com sell short run fabric to sewers. It's significantly more expensive than a run to Joanne's Fabric but, you can order a minimum of a yard and designers upload unique designs.