Printing

Techniques
and Defects
Submitted By:
Meenal Gupta
Supriya Bag
Pooja Yadav
Vinit
Sumit
Printing has often been described as dyeing in a localized,
patterned design.

Textile printing utilizes the same dyes or pigments applied to

produce a dyed fabric.

Dyes or pigments used in dyeing are usually in a water bath

solution. When the same dyes or pigments are used for
printing, they must be thickened with gums or starches to
prevent the wicking or flowing of the print design. The
thickened solution, about the consistency of heavy buttermilk,
is called the print paste.
 Printing Techniques

Roller Print Method

●
Screen Print Method

Heat Transfer Method

●
Block Print Method

Batik Print Method

•Tie n Dye Print Method
Ink Jet Print Method
 Roller Printing

This method of printing is comparable to newspaper printing.

High speed process, capable of producing over 6000 yards of

printed fabric per hour.

The method is also known as machine printing.

In roller printing, the design is put into fabric by copper
engraved rollers (sometimes called copper engraved
cylinders).

A separate engraved cylinder is required for each

colour in the print.

The size of the engraved cylinders is governed by the

printing machine and the design.
 A heavy copper cylinder (roller) is
engraved with the print design.

P
Loaded on the printing machine
R
O
This machine has a main cylinder that is fitted
C
with a large gear.
E
S
S This gear drives each print roller.

Each roller is fed print paste by a furnish roller

rotating in a color box full of print paste.

Fabric is fed to the machine, backed by a greige fabric

to absorb print paste flow through, and backed by a
cushioning print blanket

Printing occurs as the fabric swipes print paste from

the print roller as it passes through the pinch point
between the roller and the main cylinder.
 Roller Printing

Blanket
Wool Lapping
Back Gray

Cloth

Cylinder Lint Doctor

Doctor Blade

Engraved
Furnish Roll Printing Roll
Colour Trough
 Screen Printing

• Screen printing is a process, where ink is

mechanically applied to a substrate via the use of a
screen and squeegee.

• Each colour of the design requires an individual

screen
 The screen is a rigid frame
of wood or aluminum that
This mesh is then coated
with a light sensitive
The screens are
has a fine monofilament emulsion that will become
the stencil through which the
then mounted
nylon mesh stretched over
it. ink will pass when printed. in the press

Ink is loaded into the The actual printing is

accomplished by pushing
screens and
ink through the screen and
P squeegees are
installed.
onto the shirt with the
squeegees
R
O
C
E
S
S
Methods of screen printing

Hand screen printing

Automatic screen printing or flat bed
printing 
Rotary screen printing or rotary printing
 Hand Screen Printing
Done commercially on long tables (up to 60 yards
in length).
The rate of production ranges from 50 to 90 yards
per hour.
Table surface coated with adhesive
P
R
O Fabric is spread on the table
C
E
S Operators move the screen frames along the whole
S table
Each frame contain one colour of the print
Hand Screen Printing

S
C
R
E
E
N
P
R
I
N
T
I
N
G
 Automatic Screen Printing (Flat
Bed Printing)

Automated version of the older hand operated

screen printing.

The rate of production is about 500 yards per

hour.
Automatic screen printing is utilized for whole
rolls of fabric only.
Automatic Screen Printing

Fabric is spread
on a wide
rubberized belt.

After the squeegee Fabric moves to

action, the fabric the screen,then
moves again to the stops for the screen
next screen frame. squeegee action.
Automatic Screen Printing
 Rotary Screen Printing

Fastest method of screen printing, with production of

2500 to more than 3500 yards per hour.

The largest rotary screens have a circumference of

about 40 inches and the maximum repeat size of
patterns is, therefore, about 40 inches.
 Process of Rotary Printing

Screen
Pigment Feed

Fabric

Pigment
Squeegee Blanket

Print paste
Feeding As fabric pass
the fabric Print through the
travels,
onto paste is design
Rubber
screen areas of the
released
Blanket turns screen onto
the fabric.
Rotary Printing
 Heat Transfer Printing

Heat transfer printing is a technique where

paper is printed, followed by the transfer of the
design from the paper onto the textile fabric.
Only Disperse dye used (as it sublimates)
Temperature 400°F (205°C).

Paper Heate
Desi Pigm
& d
gn ent
Fabri (to
releas
print c soften
es and
ed on place pigme
adher
pape d nt
binder
e to
togeth
r ) fabric
er

PROCESS
 Digital Ink-Jet Printing
The newest printing method for textiles.
Machines are 60-84 inches wide.
Digital printing offers tremendous design
capabilities
It uses a CAD system with digitized image
data.
It presents the opportunity to change from one
design to another immediately without any
printed fabric waste
Digital Ink-Jet Printing
 Block Printing

The fabric is stretched over the printing table and fastened with small
pins.

Colour is a thick viscous liquid made from the pigment binder and glue.

Blocks are made of seasoned teak wood by trained craftsmen. The

underside of the block has the design hand carved on it.

Blocks is dipped into the colour.

Block is applied to the fabric, and is slammed hard with the fist on the
back of the handle for good impression.

Fabric is dried in the sun for colour fixing.

BLOCK PRINTING
 Batik Printing

Batik is a process of decorating cloth by covering a part of it

with a coat of wax and then dyeing the cloth.
The waxed areas keep their original color and when the wax
is removed the contrast between the dyed and undyed areas
gives the pattern.
Colorful batik prints grace the home furnishings with elegance
and style.
Beautiful bags, household linens, murals and wall paintings
with striking batik works enjoy a great demand in the domestic
and international market.
Batik printed kurtis, saris and wrappers are the preferred
choices of the fashion crazy populace.
 Tie n Dye Printing

Fabric is spread on wooden table and desired designs are marked

on it with a wooden block using ‘Gheru' or Red oxide mixed
with water.
Then the marked portions are tied into tiny knots with threads,
thus retaining the original color of the material in that portion.
Then, it is dyed in a light color. The area requiring the light color
is again tied and later dyed in red or another required dark color.
Thus, the different colors required are introduced into
the materials.
After the process of tying and dyeing, the cloth is washed with
soft water to remove the color impurities.
 TIE n DYE

B
A
T
I
K
 Comparison of Various Printing Techniques

Roller Printing Flat Bed Screen Printing Rotary Printing

●
High production ●
Yields more production but
●
It has the maximum production
●
Skilled Labour less than roller . among all printing techniques.
●
Downtime of machine is less ●
Less downtime
●
Downtime is very less.
●
High cost ●
The cost of machine and
●
Cost of machine and space
Cost of making a design is requirement is very high.
●
installation is very high. ●
Less skilled workers
more, as roller has to be ●
HIgh space requirement ●
Cost of making a design is very
carved. ●
Very less skilled workers
high.
●
The durability of the design ●
The durability of the design is ●
Durability of the design is very
is . very less, as new screen has less.
●
Very elaborate and fine to be made after few uses. ●
The variety of design it offers
designs can be carved on a
●
The quality of designs can be and the quality of reproduction is
roller printing. very fine. the best among all techniques.
 Printing Defects

Colour Drag- Colour of the print smears or smudges from

rubbing against an object before it becomes dry.

Colour Splatter-The print paste instead of being placed on

the fabric is thrown or splattered onto the fabric surface.

Fuzzy Pattern - The edges of patterns are not sharp, clear

lines, but are instead rather fuzzy lines. Most frequently
caused by improper singeing or improperly thickened print
paste.
 Off-register- Printing rolls or screens improperly aligned so
pattern parts do not meet properly. This imperfection is also
called out-of-fit or out-of-register.

Stop Mark- Colour streak across the fabric resulting from the

printing machine being stopped during the printing process and
then starting again.

Tender Spots- In printed fabrics, one or more colours of the

print may cause weakened areas where they were printed.
Usually due to excessive use of injurious chemicals in the print
paste. May also be found in the discharged area of discharge
prints.
 Refrences

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2369256/ISP-
1004-Textile-Printing
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24400192/1-
Introduction-to-Textile-Printing
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38497063/Garme
nt-Printing
Thank You!!!