Since ink jet printing on textile is currently limited in sampling and small lot production with far slower speed (2m2/min) than conventional textile printing (50 m2/min) in average, screen printing will be applied for “large lot” production in the industry before the complete domination by the digital process. The colors presented with dots by digital ink-jet machines should be made equivalent to those with blocks by conventional textile printers. The color matching between the sampling and the industrial production can be achieved by mixing colors for ink elements to make the color difference (ΔE) < 1. The technology of mixing colors in this article involved the ink formulation which imparted the stability and compatibility of colorants, and the color management on customer demand. With the arising appeal for the cleaner production process, advanced pretreatment with no wash-off step on fabrics were investigated with the application of hydrophilic copolymers to present better ink-textile interactive performance (sharpness, color yield, etc.) and good durability. With the benefit of modified color system and effective fabric treatment will promise the quick response manufacturing linked to near-future innovation, e.g., bodyscanning, CAD tailoring, and internet ordering workshop.
Shiau Yin Peggy Chang, "High Color Performance in Industrial Application of Textile Ink Jet Printing" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies (NIP16), 2000, pp 536 - 539, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2000.16.1.art00032_2