As we emerge post pandemic, the race to automated production is on. Our industry is switching to a print-on-demand business model, forcing all stakeholders in the supply chain to accelerate the digitisation of their workflows.
For the design industry – digital artwork has been a mainstay for over 30 years – but the industry now requires seamless integration. This requirement for a new depth of image handling and the addition of embedded production data will ensure that the design integrity required for “print-on-demand” is delivered, reducing waste in all aspects of textile production and the supply chain. The final print is a reflection of the design file produced at the very beginning of the design cycle - Input equal’s output.
Over the years Adobe Photoshop has become the software of choice for textile designers, giving access, as it does, to a wide range of tools for transforming and manipulating pixel-based images.
In a digital textile printing market, predicted to grow to over $8 billion by 2026 (Allied Market Research), Photoshop has provided an entry-level software that has enabled many designers to enter the market and add impetus to the digital print agenda. Yet, designing for textile printing is a complex discipline and has demands that exceed the Photoshop offer in terms of colour accuracy, facility and image manoeuvrability.
Specifically, these are the areas of pattern repeating, colour reduction and separation, and production colour management. Pattern repeating is an important component in textile printing, as correct repeats are vital in printing a side matched fabric, so that more than one width can be seamlessly joined to another during sewing.
Colour reduction and separation is essential because it is the base building block for building colourways, where a pattern may be elegantly changed to match a variety of colour schemes. And finally, colour management is crucial, because managing the file output to the printing machine, ensures that final product matches the original concept of the designer.
These requirements are vital, and the software industry has responded so effectively that, as a result, the textile print designer is faced with a dazzling array of programmes which solve all of the above problems (beyond Photoshop’s creative capabilities) and in doing so - provide a smooth CAD/CAM workflow from image to machine – seamless production.
At Nedgraphics these solutions take the process from the original painted design through colour reduction & cleaning to establishing design and repeat, and then onward to assigning colourways and printing machine profiles before sending the final file through to printed production.
In July 2021 - Aquario Design™ and Nedgraphics™ formed a creative alliance with Adobe to create unmatched Apparel and Textile design solutions from Adobe plug-ins to powerful CAD/CAM systems.
Image credit: Aquario.
As part of the creative alliance, Aquario and Nedgraphics will integrate Adobes Textile Designer technology and be compatible with Adobes PDF print engine, creating the industries most advanced Apparel and Textile design portfolio. Aquario expects to release their new product in the next few months.
Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Technology and Strategy at Adobe announced the partnership at the Digital Textile Printing US conference in Phoenix, Arizona: “Adobe’s partnership with Aquario and NedGraphics enables the combination of our technologies to create a powerful textile design solution that should be part of every fashion designer’s tool set.”
“Integrating Adobe technology into our specialized design applications, will further strengthen our capabilities as we provide design teams with some of the most popular tools on the market” added Matt Forman, President of Aquario Design.
Serving some of the world’s best-known fashion brands and retailers, NedGraphics understands departmental specialization and design needs vary from company to company. This enlarged product portfolio establishes NedGraphics as the ideal one stop shop for professional design software.
“With continued pressure to shorten collection lead times and the need to manage increasingly distributed design teams, it is imperative for brands and retailers to implement specialized design technology to remain competitive. The complementary NedGraphics, Aquario & Adobe solutions portfolio provides design teams across all departments with multiple points of entry and unlimited upgrade path scalability, supported by the most experienced team of industry specialists” said Geoff Taylor, President of NedGraphics.
Looking at alternate vendors for print workflow, the AVA Digital Print RIP provide support for mac based digital textile printers from HP, Epson, Mimaki, Roland, Encad, Mutoh, MS, La Meccanica, Stork, Regianni, Robustelli, Zimmer, Dgen and many others.
AVA Colourgives control from the digital design and production environment all the way through to conventionally printed bulk production (analogue or digital). By combining colour data from production substrates, inks and printing processes with AVA’s colour engine and custom overprint modelling technology, AVA Production Colour ensures that the product design and creation process is linked to production reality from the very beginning, drastically reducing concept to product lead times at the same time as cutting production waste.
Equally at Pointcarre, where a powerful tonal separation engine assists the designer to separate colours, enabling them to move on to colouring the design to a specific colour family where regrouping the design to client-provided swatches provides an often-demanded customisation feature.
At Inedit, their textile design offer is based on an enhanced plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, where in NT Masquerade, part of their neo Textil plug-in, precise colour separations can be created in a matter of minutes and exported as a .PSD file for printing.
Inedit’s neoStampa is a reference Rip software for digital printing based on its ability to reproduce colours regardless of the substrate, ink, or machine used. NeoStampa Delta enables the printer to print any type of PDF file using the new Mako® engine from Global Graphics®.
Corel Corporation’s CorelDRAW’s powerful vector illustration tools turn basic lines and shapes into complex works of art. CorelDRAW is an increasingly popular vector design software for the professional textile design industry. The textile designer can now create curves with many versatile shaping and drawing tools. Then, with a wide choice of file output, the finished design goes seamlessly to print.
Caldera’s TextilePro is an intuitive production suite for textiles giving design, colour, ink and substrate control at the touch of a button, allowing textile producers to create patterns and variations without error and waste. With TextilePro creating repeatable and aligned patterns is simplified thanks to the inclusion of Caldera’s existing Tex&Repeat module which works in tandem with the Photoshop plug-in for colouring patterns and swapping swatches quickly. TextilePro keeps all colours in RGB to guarantee full fidelity to the original. Fashion users can take advantage of a choice of generation methods for blacks to achieve the richness and texture they desire for their design. Further, TextilePRO features standard-ready colour management and supports all major textile printer manufacturers.
Image credit: Ned Graphics.
Textile design software has been with us for over thirty years and has played its part in shaping the future of digital textile printing. In its day it revolutionised the time scale of print production by eliminating the complex and tedious process of manual repeating and colour separation.
And now, with its continuously upgraded capabilities, design software is driving the digital textile print agenda forwards as it accelerates to meet new business models. Its increased simplicity has democratised its appeal and at the same time it has become progressively capable of ever more complex renditions of both design creation and a seamless image workflow.
Discover the latest innovations in digital textile printing at theGlobal Print Expo 2021, Europe's leading exhibition for screen and digital wide format print, textile printing and signage.Discover the latest products, network with like-minded individuals and explore new business opportunites.Register nowand use promo codeFESH101 to receive a discount of 30 euros.
FAQs
Computer-aided design (CAD) in textile design:
Computer-aided design (CAD) has brought a revolution in the textile designing.
Which technology is used for textile design? ›
Computer-aided design (CAD) in textile design:
Computer-aided design (CAD) has brought a revolution in the textile designing.
What is digital printing in textile? ›
Digital Textile Printing is a process of printing on textiles and garments using inkjet technology to print colorants onto fabric. This process allows for single pieces, mid to small-run cycle production and even long-runs as an alternative option to screen printed fabric.
What is design process in textile design? ›
Thecore aspect of textile designing involves designing the fabric by usingdifferent techniques such as printing, weaving, tracing embroidery, and colordetailing. Once the process is conceptualized, virtual samples are created, andlater on prototypes are executed.
What advantages does the digital printing process offer to the fabric development process provide two advantages in detail? ›
What advantages does the digital printing process offer to the fabric development process? This process significantly reduces turnaround time from design concept to printed fabric or garment from several weeks to days. It can test-market designs and combinations before committing to a long production run.
What are the types of textile design? ›
The three textile design disciplines include printed textiles, where an image is printed onto fabric using dyes; woven textiles, where fibers or yarn are woven together to form a fabric; and mixed media textiles, where more than one discipline is combined to create a textile.
What is textile designing printing? ›
Textile printing is the process of applying color to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fibre, so as to resist washing and friction.
What is digital workflow in printing? ›
The digital printing process involves printing on different media like paper, fabric, acrylic, plastic, etc., directly from a digital image. It is professionally done print work and small jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources which are printed via inkjet printers of large format or high volume.
What are the two types of digital printing? ›
Inkjet and Laser are the most used forms of digital printing. Inkjet and laser printers are found everywhere, from offices to private homes. Solid Ink is used more often for larger-scale printing operations, such as by graphic designers.
What is the difference between digital printing and printing? ›
Generally speaking, offset printing works by transferring ink from a plate to a rubber sheet, which then rolls the ink onto paper, vinyl or other surface. This is in contrast to digital printing, which does not use plates to transfer ink to paper.
a good eye for colour, texture, fabrics and patterns. excellent attention to detail. an interest in fashion and textiles, and an understanding of trends and materials. understanding and experience of using different textile processes and techniques.
What is textile design in simple words? ›
Textile designing is a field that includes fashion design, carpet manufacturing and any other cloth-related field. Clothing, carpets, drapes, and towels are all functional products resulting from textile design. Textile design has influenced other works or trends in the field of art.
What are the 9 steps to the design process? ›
- Identify the Problem.
- Do Research.
- Develop Possible Solutions.
- Choose One Solution.
- Design and Construct a Prototype.
- Test the Prototype.
- Communicate Results.
- Evaluate and Redesign.
Compared to conventional printing methods such as offset printing, it provides more flexibility and the ability to print on demand. This allows printers to print small batches and keep less inventory, lowering costs associated with handling and storage. Items will only be printed as needed.
What is the fastest growing method of printing on textiles? ›
Endless Design Capabilities
Digital printers can print on fabric yardage and whole garments, and allow for printing on dark colors. Direct-to-garment t-shirt printing is the newest and fastest-growing digital printing method for garment printing.
What are the two types of textile design? ›
Types of Textile Design:
Printed textile design. Woven textile design.
What are the three types of textile? ›
We can sort clothing fabrics into three broad classes. Of these, woven and knitted fabrics are the main contenders, made directly from yarns. However, occasionally, we see nonwoven fabrics. Nonwoven fabrics are made directly from fibres, often as new and sustainable alternatives made from recycled materials.
What qualifications do you need to be a textile designer? ›
You'll need:
- design skills and knowledge.
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things.
- knowledge of textiles development and technology.
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail.
- analytical thinking skills.
- persistence and determination.
- knowledge of manufacturing production and processes.
What is 3D Printing? 3D printing, otherwise known as additive manufacturing, is a recent innovation that has fast become one of the most important manufacturing methods. In this process, products are constructed layer-by-layer according to a specific computer-aided design from extruded materials.
Why is it important to study textile design? ›
Those who learn textile design can better understand how fabrics are created and used in the design process. This knowledge can help them in any field where creativity is valued.
Steps of the printing process
Prepress operations include composition and typesetting, graphic arts photography, image assembly, and image carrier preparation. Press refers to actual printing operations. Postpress primarily involves the assembly of printed materials and consists of binding and finishing operations.
Which printer is used in digital printing? ›
It usually refers to professional printing where small-run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large-format and/or high-volume laser or inkjet printers.
What is digital prepress workflow? ›
Prepress is the process of taking a document from an idea to a final product. It involves design including type and images, preparing files for output, proofing, revisions, and then finally printing the final publication.
What are the 6 major types of printing? ›
- Digital Printing. Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on to physical surfaces. ...
- Flexography. Flexography, often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging. ...
- Lithographic (Offset) Printing. ...
- Rotogravure (Gravure) ...
- Large format printing. ...
- 3D Printing. ...
- Screen Printing.
Fabrics can be printed in three different styles namely direct, discharge and resist styles.
- Direct Style of Printing.
- Discharge Style of Printing.
- The Resist Style.
Common types of printing are:
- Surface Printing.
- Flexographic Printing.
- Screen Printing.
- Rotary Screen.
- Gravure Printing.
- Digital Printing.
Digital Printing Benefits and Limitations
- Incredible Quality.
- Low costs at low volumes compared to traditional printing.
- Multiple Versions or Variable Data flexibility.
- Short Lead Times.
- Prototyping or Constantly Revising Artwork.
- Large Volumes Cost More.
- Color / Ink Limitations.
The "four-color" in "four-color printing" refers to the four ink colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK)—used in offset printing presses and many digital presses. These four colors are combined to make a wide range of colors.
Why is digital printing cheaper? ›
Large Runs and Short Runs
Digital printing does not require a setup fee for short runs, meaning it is that much more affordable than offset printing. Offset printing, by contrast, prints so fast that the offset price for each individual piece can fluctuate.
How do I start designing textiles? ›
Pursue training. Get a bachelor's degree in textile design, fashion design, or fine arts to learn design techniques such as color theory, screen printing, digital printing, block-printing, and surface design. Seek training in graphic design, and learn how to use design software, such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Textile technology is the branch of textile engineering that deals with the design, production, and application of textiles. It encompasses a wide range of material sciences, including chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering.
What is a person who design textile called? ›
A textile designer is a person who manages the aesthetic aspect of textile production, including texture, color, and patterns. Basically, they're in charge of the designs printed, woven, knit, or sewn into textiles.
What is the basic concept of textile? ›
textile, any filament, fibre, or yarn that can be made into fabric or cloth, and the resulting material itself. The term is derived from the Latin textilis and the French texere, meaning “to weave,” and it originally referred only to woven fabrics. It has, however, come to include fabrics produced by other methods.
What is the objective of textile designer? ›
To introduce styles and Methods of Printed Textiles and its effect of design. To learn the process involved in Printing Textiles. To gain Knowledge of evolution of printing process.
What are the 5 important steps for designing? ›
The short form of the design thinking process can be articulated in five steps or phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test.
What are the 4 stages of design? ›
There are several models that systematize the design thinking process. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation, Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-stage framework: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.
What is the basic principle of digital printing? ›
Basically, a laser traces your document or image onto an electromagnetic canvas, upon which electrically charged particles of toner attach. Toner is a printing material that's unique to laser printers. It's advantageous because a single toner cartridge can yield far more pages than an ink cartridge can.
Is digital fabric printing sustainable? ›
Digital printing is one of the most sustainable methods of printing fabrics. It uses less water and energy than traditional methods, and there is no need for harsh chemicals. Digital printed fabrics are also easier to recycle than traditional fabrics.
What are the 5 disadvantages of digital printing? ›
Cons of digital printing.
- the range of printable fabrics is more limited than with screen printing.
- the print is not so durable.
- the colour white cannot usually be reproduced within the print.
- due to fixed pricing, bulk printing does not offer scaled cost reductions.
Digital printing technology allows printing on different formats, including banners, flyers, posters, labels, and more. Furthermore, digital printing allows for small print runs, making it a cost-effective solution for printing smaller quantities.
Overall, screen printing is best for high quantity, high durability, low number-of-color runs, while digital printing is better suited for lower quantity and more complex images.
What is the best method of printing on fabrics? ›
Pigment Printing
Pigment printing is one of the most popular printing techniques for use on cellulose fibres, making them ideal for use on natural fabrics. It is one of the fabric printing methods which can be used on synthetic materials as well, which makes it pretty versatile.
How is digital print done on fabric? ›
In simple terms, digital printing is an inkjet printer for fabric. The printer feeds a roll of fabric through a large-format ink jet printer and the design is printed directly onto the fabric. Digital printing technology started to appear in the 1990's.
What does textile technology mean? ›
Textile technology deals with the fabrication, manipulation, and assembly of fiber-shaped (i.e., line-shaped) materials. Textile techniques can not only be used to weave cloths from cotton fibers but also to hold wounded tissues together with surgical sutures.
What is smart fabric technology? ›
Smart textiles, also known as electronic textiles (e-textiles) or smart fabrics, are textiles that contain electronic components and enhance the features of wearables, automobiles, and other products. They are either made into a textile-based product, or created with the intention of being integrated into a textile.
How is geometry used in textile designing? ›
It involves shapes like circles, lines, and triangles. Many textile designs use elements like color and line organization in regular patterns. These patterns are often defined by geometry. So, in textile design, geometry is used to define how the design elements are laid out and how they relate to each other.
What does a textile designer do? ›
Textile designers create fabric designs and patterns for woven, knitted and printed materials for clothes and interior furnishings.
What are the 6 categories of textiles? ›
Textiles are classified according to their component fibers into silk, wool, linen, cotton, such synthetic fibers as rayon, nylon, and polyesters, and some inorganic fibers, such as cloth of gold, glass fiber, and asbestos cloth.
What are 3 examples of technical textiles? ›
Technical textiles used in automobiles, aircraft, railways, and shipbuilding, such as nylon tire cord fabrics, seat cover fabric/upholstery, seat belts, cabin filters, tufted carpet, helmets, insulation felts, automotive interior carpets, sunvisors / sunblind's, headliners, airbags, seat belt webbing, car body covers, ...
What are the examples of textile Technology? ›
25 Examples of Tech-Integrated Textiles
- Abrasion-Resistant Hoodies. The Bull-It Jeans Hoodie Protects You From Nasty Pavement Encounters.
- Electronic Inked Apparel. ...
- Heat-Capturing Clothing. ...
- Digitally-Infused Music Tees. ...
- Practical Payment Jackets. ...
- Heat-Sensitive Fashion. ...
- Temperature-Regulating Fashion. ...
- Interactive Autumn Fashion.
- Sensors– It capture parameter from the environment.
- Data Processing– It is required when active processing is necessary.
- Actuators– It respond by the resulting function of sensor.
- Stimulation – It is found from the environment.
- Giving Response– From the actuators it gives response.
Data fabric software is a unified data platform that enables organizations to integrate their data and data management processes. Adopting a data fabric allows for the creation of complete views of their data, helping power existing processes and applications and enabling the rapid development of new use cases.
What does fabric software do? ›
Fabric is a headless eCommerce solution, which enables businesses in retail, fashion, electronics and other sectors to create personalized shopping experiences for customers using REST APIs.
What math is used in the textile industry? ›
Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, felting, or braiding. Most of the calculations made by a textile technologist consist of a series of relatively simple steps, mainly arithmetical and at times using elementary aspects of trigonometry, geometry Algebra.
What is the application of math in textile industry? ›
We use mathematical methods for a wide range of applications in the textile industry. From the classic material simulation of various knitted or crocheted fabrics, we also analyze and optimize spinning processes or inspect leather for faults and quality with our image processing expertise.
How are clothes printed? ›
The four main methods of textile printing are block, roller, screen, and heat transfer printing. In each of these methods, the application of the colour, usually as a thickened paste, is followed by fixation, usually by steaming or heating, and then removal of excess colour by washing.
What are the two types of textile designing? ›
Types of Textile Design:
Printed textile design. Woven textile design.
What is a textile artist called? ›
The person who is responsible for these creations is most commonly known as a Textile Designer (a.k.a. a surface pattern designer, print designer, textile graphic designer, print repeat designer).
Image credit: Aquario.
Image credit: Ned Graphics.