Ink bleeding
Within textile printing, the expression ‘ink bleeding’ describes two different inks mixing with each other before drying and being absorbed by the substrate. Except for when it for effect is done intentionally, color bleeding reduces print value. The amount and extent of color bleeding is determined by many factors, including the fabric type, the fabric’s color absorption and capillary action, the ink type, and accompanying traits such as how quickly the ink dries as well as the printing technology (such as nozzle design and color spacing). When printing on polyester, the phenomenon is called “dye migration.” Dye migration is what happens when a polyester fabric’s color bleeds into the clothes’ screen-printed ink. A typical example of this is when white ink turns pink after having been printed on a red polyester t-shirt. Within digital printing, the phenomenon is often triggered by the high temperatures typically used for curing.

Visit our ColorStop-page to learn more about how our excellent heat transfer application setup minimizes color bleeding and produces exact and durable transfers of maximal quality.

Water-based ink
Water-based ink is ink made with water instead of plastic or PVC. Water-based ink can be divided into two main categories: Water and pigment. Water-based ink does not contain plastic, making it a more environmentally friendly choice than plastisol ink. In the absence of a bonding agent, the ink will seep into the clothing and dye the material instead of settling on top of it, yielding more consistent results and a vintage look after just a few washes. Water-based ink can produce some of the industry’s softest and lightest prints, in some cases with almost no difference in ‘feel’ between the printed and non-printed elements of the final product. By using a bonding agent that bonds water-based ink to the fabric, rather than letting the ink be absorbed, producers can offer the organic, no-toxin advantages of water-based ink without sacrificing graphic detail, color clarity, and versatility — areas where plastisol typically is the superior performer.

Visit our transfer pages to learn more about how our water-based inks deliver clear, accurate, and durable prints while guaranteeing clean, green manufacturing processes that adhere to the industry’s most stringent quality and sustainability demands.

Pixel
Within digital image production, a pixel is a physical point in a raster image which is the least pliable element in a display unit’s screen rendering. Each pixel is a fragment of an original image. The more fragments, the more accurately the original image is rendered. The intensity and illumination of each individual pixel varies. In color imaging systems, a color is typically represented by three or four component colors such as red, green, and blue (RGB) or cyan (blue), magenta (purple), yellow, and black (CMYK). The measures dots per inch (dpi) and pixels per inch (ppi) are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings, particularly for printer devices, where dpi is a measure of a printer’s dot density placement. The more pixels used to render an image, the better the result. The amount of pixels in an image is often used to indicate its resolution, even though this feature has a more specific definition.

RGB
The RBG-color model is an additive color model that blends together red, green, and blue light in a variety of ways to render a broad array of colors. The RGB model’s main purpose is rendering and displaying images in electronic systems such as television sets and computers, though it has also found use within old-fashioned photography. RGB is a device-dependent color model. Different devices perceive or render RGB values in different ways, as the color elements and their response to individual R, G, and B levels varies between different manufacturers, or even on the same device over time. An RGB value hence doesn’t define the same color on all devices without a degree of color management. Common RGB output devices can be television sets within different categories of technology (LCD, plasma, CRT etc.), computer and mobile phone displays, video projectors, multicolor LED displays, and various large screens. Color printers, however, are not RGB-devices but subtractive color devices (often the CMYK color model).

Vector graphics and printing definitions
Vector graphics are computer graphical images defined by 2D points and connected by lines and curves toward forming polygons and other shapes. Each one of these points has a specific positioning on the coordinate system’s x and y axis and determine the direction of the lines and curves. Furthermore, each path can have varying properties including values for stroke color, curves, shapes, thickness, and fill. Now a days vector graphics are often found in the graphic file formats SVG, PDF, EPS, or AI and are fundamentally different from more common raster files like PNG, GIF, MPEG4, and JPEG. Vector art is perfect for printing. As it’s made from a selection of mathematical curves, the prints will appear very clear even when enlarged. A low resolution raster graphic, on the other hand, appears blurry or pixelated when enlarged.

DPI
Dots per inch (DPI) is measure of dot density in 3D prints, videos, or image scanners — particularly the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line with a width of one inch. DPI is used to indicate the dot resolution number per inch in a digital print and the print resolution of a paper print’s dot gain, which is the size increase of halftone dots during printing. This comes from the ink spread on the surface of the material. Up to a certain limit, printers with higher DPI produce clearer and more detailed results. A printer doesn’t necessarily have only one DPI value. It depends on the method of printing, which is typically influenced by driver settings. The range of printer-supported DPI values mainly depends on the used printer head technology. A printer’s DPI value often has to be significantly higher than the PPI value of a video display in order to produce results of equal quality.

CMYK
The CMYK color model (four color, process color) is a subtractive color model based on the CMY color model used within color printing and to describe the printing method itself. CMYK refers to the four ink plates used within certain areas of color printing: magenta, yellow, cyan, and key (black). The CMYK model works by partially or completely masking the colors against a lighter, typically white, background. The ink diminishes the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called ‘subtractive,’ as inks ‘subtract’ the red, green, and blue colors from the white light. White light less red produces cyan, white light less green produces magenta, and white light less blue produces yellow. In the CMYK model, white is the background’s natural color while black results from a full combination of inks. To save on ink expenses and to produce deeper black tones, unsaturated and dark colors are produced by using black ink instead of combining cyan, magenta, and yellow.

Heat press
A heat press is a machine engineered to print a design or a graphic representation on a substrate, such as a sweatshirt, through the application of carefully selected heat temperatures and pressures for preset periods of time. Heat presses are often used to print designs plates, mugs, caps, and other products. Heat presses as well as concomitant manuals are widely available. A majority of automatic heat presses on the market use an upper-heating element made from aluminum with a heat rod cast into the aluminum or a heating wire attached to the heating element. For high-volume printing with continuous activity, dual platen and automatic shuttle platen are employed. The substrates on which designs are to be printed are loaded onto the lower platen and moved under the heat platen, which then applies heat and pressure as needed.

Inkjet printer
’Inkjet printer’ is the name of a printer invented in the 1900’s for uses unrelated to digital textile printing. The inkjet printer creates an image by dripping ink onto a dedicated surface such fabric or paper. These small ink drops are less 50 mikrons in diameter, can render detailed images with remarkable precision, and flawlessly print any photograph. Different types of inkjet printers produce the ink drops in their own distinct ways, but all have a few things in common that make them extremely popular. The inkjet printer enables fast and precise results thanks to the size of the ink drops and the ability to mix different colors to obtain any shade.

Sublimation ink
The definition of sublimation ink comes from the dye sublimation process, during which heat and pressure are employed in such a manner that the ink’s state of matter goes directly from solid to gas, i.e. without attaining the intermediate state as a liquid. The high temperature lets the ink transfer to objects without migrating, smudging, or cracking, as the ink becomes an integral element of the printed product and doesn’t fade or fall off during washing. This makes sublimation prints a durable, reliable, and precise printing technique.

The durable sublimation ink is recommended for an array of printed products like t-shirts and other apparel, including that made of polyester. Sublimation ink should be considered with any kind of printing which requires a level of detail. It’s important to ensure that the printed fabric can withstand the high temperature and the high pressure used by the sublimation method, since some fabrics, such as cotton, can be damaged by these conditions.

Our digital printing experts here at Jet Sport will as always help you determine the ideal method for any printing task at hand.

Dye sublimation printing
Dye sublimation printing is a digital printing technology that uses the transfer of heat to apply a design onto a fabric substrate. The method, which also goes by the name ‘digital sublimation,’ is typically used for clothing decoration, banners, signs, and other objects with surfaces receptable to sublimation.  Dye sublimation printing consists of a binary process:

1. Graphic printing onto special transfer paper through the use of sublimation printer and inks.

2. Use of a heat transfer press to transfer the ink-on-paper to the fabric substrate.

During the first step of the process, unique sublimation dyes are transferred to the printed paper transfer sheets via liquid ink. The ink is deposited on these high-release inkjet papers (papers that easily release dyes), which are used during the next step of the sublimation process.

During the second step of the process, the printed paper transfer sheets are subjected to heat that converts the solid dye to a gas, skipping the intermediate liquid state. Together, heat and pressure cause the dye to penetrate the fabric substrate, creating a permanent color bond. When the heat subsides, the dye reverts to solid form, finishing the process.

As the colors are embedded into the substrate, as opposed to being printed onto the surface, images will not crack or fade, even after multiple wash cycles.

DTF printing
DTF, or direct-to-fabric, is a textile printing method which, unlike direct-to-garment printing (DTG), prints directly onto fabric. By this method, a roll-to-roll printer uses custom-made ink to print directly onto a fabric roll. The ink is absorbed by the fabric and becomes a built-in part of the final product, which prevents distortion of the print such as cracking, peeling, or fading. DTF-printing permits many different textile application, from home textiles to sportswear.

Color gamut
A color gamut is the full range of colors and tones supplied by an imaging system. Or in other words: It is the circumscribed part of the color spectrum available for creation during the process of converting RGB colors to CMYK colors.

A printer devices’s color gamut is determined by the saturation, hue, and lightness of its cyan, magenta, yellow, and black colors, as well as its light reflection and other traits possessed by the substrate on which the dyes are printed.

Computer screens displaying RGB colors generally have bigger color gamut than devices using CMYK inks — especially in deep black and blue colors. This entails the printed image becoming less vivid than the original RGB screen image. Printing of the image consequently demands the image’s conversion from the original RGB color space to the printer’s CMYK color space. During this process, it is specifically RGB colors outside the gamut that are converted to the printer’s CMYK space gamut, as a color ‘out of gamut’ cannot be properly converted for display on the target device.

Post-treatment
Digital textile prints use either wet or dry post-treatment to fixate the dye into the fabric after printing. For inks requiring wet post-treatment like reactive and acid inks, the printed fabric must undergo several washing, steaming, and drying post treatments. Inks undergoing dry post-treatment (dispersive and pigment) require only a heat fixation process before the fabric is fit for usage.

Color bonding
Color bonding is the interplay between dye and fabric fibers. The type of bonding interplay depends on the dye and fabric type used. Different categories of dye attach to fibers via different types of bonding. Most dye fiber interplays can be categorized as either physical or chemical.

Acid inks require the fabric to be pre-treated with an aim toward fixation, printed directly onto the textile, and steamed to set the ink. The dyes comprising acid ink create ionic or electrostatic bonds with textiles like wool, nylon, and silk. Reactive ink contains dyes that create chemical bonds with pre-treated fabric types like rayon, linen, nylon, and other cellulosic materials.

Dispersed ink is divided into high-energy, medium-energy, and low-energy dispersion. Dye sublimation ink is low-energy dye often used to transfer prints from paper to fabric. Pigment ink is finely ground powder suspended in liquid carriers containing binders. Pigments bond to natural fabrics through binders and calendering, a process of smoothing and compressing a material through heated rolls.

Digital textile printing
Digital textile printing is a printing process by which inkjet technology is employed toward the printing of dyes onto clothing and other textiles. The process permits for single, individual pieces, medium-to-small batch productions, and even large batches as alternatives to screen-printed fabric.

The first step in textile printing is to pre-treat the fabric with liquid solutions that prepare it to receive the dye and more efficiently absorb the color. Next, it is sent through the printer, which sprays the dye onto the textile in droplet form. Finally, the fabric is fixated, ensuring the design’s permanency. Depending on the textile and dye type, fixation may entail dry heat, steam, or pressure, and sometimes a combination of two or more of these constituents.