Mimaki USA Event Highlights Process, Innovations in Textile Printing

Mimaki USA’s Digital Textile Microfactory event, presented October 30 at the company’s Los Angeles, California-area technical center, provided those in attendance with an expansive view of digital textile printing as it stands today, and featured a strong roster of industry experts who are working to refine, strengthen, and simplify the process.

Whether for apparel or soft signage, digital textile printing offers sharp color. | Credit: Wide-format Impressions

Timothy Mitchell, senior manager, customer experience with Mimaki USA, provocatively shared that the word “digital” should likely be removed from the name of the event, noting that, in his opinion, “digital is the default” today. What should be pointed out at this point, he said, would be if the event focused on analog processes. That concept, though delivered later in the day, encapsulated the event: textile printing has changed and digital is the future.

While the event featured opportunities to see the wide range of digital printing solutions Mimaki USA currently offers the broader printing industry, it also featured tabletop exhibits from process providers throughout the digital textile printing process.

Exploring Today and Tomorrow for Digital Textiles

The morning of the one-day event featured two wide-ranging panel discussions, moderated by Victoria Harris, Mimaki’s senior textile specialist. The first panel explored high-volume dye-sublimation printing, and featured representatives of top transfer paper, fabric, process control and apparel pattern businesses, and included the insight of two enterprising business owners – Jonathan Gautschi, owner of LR Threads (City, State) and Josh Mejia, CEO of Sublimation House (City, State).

The panel illustrated that while dye-sublimation printing is highly popular and profitable, its process is complex, and it presents numerous production choices that can separate good work from great work, high-production from one-offs.

Numerous vendor tables enabled attendees to explore digital textile printing solutions in depth. | Credit: Wide-format Impressions

The second panel discussion of the morning addressed an emerging digital textile space: direct pigment printing, which is opening doors of opportunity for textile printers by enabling them to print onto a wide range of substrates including natural fibers such as silk and cotton, natural and vegan leather, and other materials without pre- or post-treatment of the material. “We have a big shift on our hands,” Harris said, describing the process considerations that make Mimaki’s direct-pigment system – called TRAPIS – work.

She shared that this process comes from a strong partnership between Mimaki, textile producers, transfer paper producers, and production software developers.

During the panel, Jorg Schuurman, sales and marketing manage for calendar OEM Klieverik, said one of his company’s goals for 2025 is to scale direct pigment calendaring system up for higher production.

The Digital Textile Process, Exploded

So-called “exploded views” of machines, be they airplanes or inkjet presses, provide a fascinating view of how things are assembled and how they work. Mitchell, taking to role of moderator for the event’s afternoon sessions, presented an exploded view of the textile printing process, dividing it into 12 discreet but essential steps toward achieving a successful result. He then convened three panel discussions addressing prepress, materials and production machines, and finishing. Within these panels, experts from OEMs and solutions providers discussed current challenges, potential pitfalls, and new innovations that are easing the complexity of the digital textile process.

The Biggest Takeaway

The biggest takeaway from the event was not simply one of many kernels of wisdom shared or a new technology development presented. It was bigger than that. The event showed that digital textile printing – whether for soft signage or apparel applications – is an amalgam of technologies, materials, and approaches that must align to create successful, salable, more sustainable, profitable end products. And, while developers and consultants do all they can to make the process simpler, more efficient, and easier to manage, responsibility still rests with graphics and apparel producers to do all they must do to bring the whole process to fruition.