The wonder of textiles
Keep in touch with the leaders if you want to keep pace with change. Neschen illustrates how it's helping create new markets for digitally printed textiles.
Our industry is no place for the faint-hearted, so how on earth do you keep abreast of new developments if you're not to be overtaken by competitors old and new? One thing's for sure - you have to put shows such as Fespa in your diary and make time to go there. There is simply no other way of seeing so many new products and meeting as many potential new suppliers than by visiting a leading international trade fair.
But there are a few short cuts you can take throughout year rather than depending just on an annual 'fix' of new product information. And one of those short cuts is to keep in touch with the market leaders. No matter whether your current interest is in printers, finishing, inks or substrates, you can bet that the same big names will either be leading the pack or, at the very least, be not far behind.
A legacy of innovation
When it comes to substrates, there are few manufacturers that rival Neschen in the practical application of new technologies. Over the years, the company has led the way in the development of films and then other media for the large and extra-large format display industries. Its specialist knowledge of the science of coatings has become second to none - revealed most recently in the creation of substrates for the fastest-growing sector of all, the inkjet market.
A new generation of coatings
Shortly before Fespa last year, a number of leading printer, Rip, media and ink producers formed a union called the Color Alliance (CA). Its stated objective is to bring efficiencies and economies to the production of inkjet-printable output based around a standardised CA coating and to reduce dramatically the number of ICC profiles a printer has to use.
Standardised colour management makes print reproducible worldwide, irrespective of the time and place of printing and the printing materials used. Any corporate printing will always be consistent in the same colours, no matter whether printed in the USA, Germany, China or the central African Democratic Republic of Congo.
"As one of the world's leading manufacturers of inkjet media, Neschen supported the CA initiative from the very beginning," reports Frank Seemann, director of marketing and communications. The advantages of a standardised coating are self-evident, and that applies to all wide-format applications no matter whether they are intended for use as large banners, fa?ade advertising, trade fair systems, art prints or anything else, as we shall see.
With a standardised coating, not only is it possible to ensure reliable quality, but also the amount of profiling and colour adjustment can be cut by up to 90 percent. Since inkjet media are optimally matched to one another, ultimately only one setting will be required for all the printing presses. This 'guaranteed' production and colour reliability creates quantifiable standards and reduces the potential for complaints.
As a result of developing the coatings, a lot less ink is applied by inkjet printers to produce the same colour density. Alternatively, when using the same amount of ink as previously, the colours look even more brilliant: the colours appear to have more depth and intensity and therefore cover a much greater colour space.
Profiling made easy
To make it as easy as possible for printers to identify the right printer/Rip/media/ink combination for every job, Neschen has gone a step further and developed an online tool. Called ColorBase, this database aims to maintain the appropriate colour profile for every combination using Neschen media and to update such profiles as new printers come to market.
This service provides the right printing profile for all standard combinations and is available free of charge at www.neschen.color.base.com. Whenever an existing profile is replaced by a new one, registered users will be sent an e-mail advising them of the update.
"ColorBase is a system for managing and providing up-to-date colour profiles guaranteeing the colour accuracy of digital prints," explains Seemann. "As a special service, we also show inkjet profiles for not quite so widely-available printer types and inks. Profiles not yet available can be requested online and created as part of our Neschen Color Concept."
New technologies: first, traditional media
Of course, one of the biggest stories in the industry lately has been the advent of latex printers. In terms of quality and versatility, water-based latex inks produce similar results to solvent-based inks when used with Neschen media but are significantly less polluting of the environment - releasing little in the way of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) - with virtually no odour. Neschen is a HP 'Registered Latex Developer' and has developed new substrates - both vinyls and wallpapers - specifically to match this new ink technology to produce displays for POP, exhibitions and vehicle graphics even street and building advertising; not to mention commercial and domestic interiors.
Then wallpapers
The exciting aspect to this latter area is that it opens up a whole new world of opportunities for the large-format printer in combination with architects, developers, interior designers, advertising agencies, blue-chip marketing and premises managers even home owners themselves. Any retail or other commercial premises, including offices large or small, can now be fitted-out quickly, easily and cheaply when compared with traditional methods. Homeowners can have their favourite images faithfully reproduced on digital wallpaper and applied wherever there is a suitable surface.
Combining the attractions of digital wallpapers to corporates and individuals with the benefits of the CA coating for printers, Neschen has also developed a wallcovering in conjunction with the leading wallpaper manufacturer, ERFURT, and has applied the coating onto a non-PVC, non-woven base which is available in a choice of four finishes.
Now textiles
Another area that has grown rapidly across Europe, especially among retail organisations, is the use of printed textiles for displays. Today, Neschen estimates the market may be worth something like ?150 million worldwide and says around 35 percent of its media business is in wide-format digital textiles.
The company believes that textile print will grow exponentially. UV-curable inks will take off now that the inks are suitable for textile printing. To date, the hurdles have been reliability and reproduction. The problem with UV inks has been their inherent brittleness, meaning that printers needed a skilled workforce if much of the output was not to be rejected, but now dye-sub inks and all-in-one printer/fixation units are emerging.
Until now dye-sub has also suffered from problems with consistent results leaving operators needing to constantly tweak their machines to deliver acceptable output. However, the advantages of dye-sub, in terms of outdoor durability and brilliance of colour, will create demand for this technology.
Whereas other print technologies have historically had their standards, this was not true of inkjet and the idea of reducing the number of profiles by up to 90 percent to deliver consistent results will give textile printing a massive fillip.
Neschen finds that, generally, printers are more than aware of the potential digital textiles offer to create new opportunities, new applications and new income streams. "What is lacking at present is a general awareness of what can be done among the multitude of potential end-users of this output - for example, advertising agencies and architectural consultants," says Seemann.
"However, as order quantities are reducing, so more and more users want digital print. When design flexibility and reliability are also on offer, the move to digitally printed textiles becomes ever more desirable for flags, banners, soft signs and, now, wallcoverings.
"The UK and Irish markets are still underdeveloped when compared to Europe; we have only just scratched the surface here."
A new dawn
A fabric that might just make the difference was launched at Fespa this year. Called 'Varitex' it is a polyester fabric that has received a CA coating and can be printed using latex, pigmented water-based or UV-cured inks to give the same brilliant results as when printed using dye-sublimation. It is, says Seemann, indicative of the way forward. "Users want outstanding results from green products;" he says, "printers want reliable output and the minimum amount of stock on the shelves. Varitex meets both criteria."