Digital textile printing has been a growing market trend for at least six years now in North America, but within the last two years, especially, interest has reached an all-time high. Print service providers (PSPs) have educated many of their customers about the benefits of fabrics over other substrates, including lower costs for both drayage and longer-distance shipping, due to lower weight; ease of handling and storage; and permanency as reusable graphics. Most importantly, these customers have begun to take note of the esthetics of dye-sublimated fabrics, which tend to convey a perception of high quality.
数码印花在北美市场已经有六年的发展市场，但是，在过去的两年里，在利润方面，已经达到了历史新高。这得益于打印服务提供商（PSP）向他们的客户介绍织物优于其他基材的优势，包括重量较轻而降低拖运和较长距离的运输成本，易于处理和储存，可重复使用等。最重要的是，这些客户已经开始关注染料升华织物的美学效果，这种织物倾向于传达高质量的画面。
Printing on fabrics is no longer a new concept. While there is still a continuing stream of education being delivered—both showing PSPs how to do it and explaining to customers why to have it done—most of the industry seems to have a good, basic understanding of digital textile printing in general. And many businesses have recognized opportunities for new profits as this market segment continues along a healthy upswing.
在织物上打印虽然不是一个新概念，但是我们希望做到更好地做好PSP展示，并向客户解释为什么要做好这一点，许多企业已经认识到如何赢得新的利润的机会，想必也是因为这个细分市场一直在继保持健康的增长态势。
That said, there are still some areas of confusion, particularly given the growing range of printing technologies available.
任何事物都存在两面性，在好的增长态势下，仍然存在一些混乱的地方，特别是考虑到可用的打印技术的范围越来越广，如何选择合适的技术来达成好的效果。
Sublimation and non-sublimation
升华和非升华
Digital textile printing in a traditional sense involves dye sublimation, a process that uses heat and pressure to convert solid dyes into a gas and permanently infuse them as colourants into a polymer-based material, usually polyester (see Sign Media Canada, May 2014, page 56). Today, however, it is also possible to print graphics on fabric using ultraviolet-curable (UV-curable) or durable aqueous ‘latex’ inks.
传统意义上的数字纺织品印刷涉及染料升华，这是一种利用热量和压力，将固体染料转化为气体，并永久性注入聚合物基材料（通常为聚酯）的过程。现在，也可以使用UV固化或耐用水性乳胶墨水在织物上打印各种图案。
With dye sublimation, the fabric retains its look and feel, sometimes referred to as its ‘hand.’ The other types of fabric printing are not comparable in this respect, as they place ink onto the surface of the substrate, rather than permanently infusing it within the fabric. So, the resulting graphics cannot be washed, folded or handled in the same ways as a dye-sublimated piece. They also do not generally have the same high-end appeal.
通过染料升华，织物能保持自然的外观，其他类型的材料在这方面不具有可比性，因为它们将油墨置于基材表面上，而不是永久性地注入织物内部，因此，生成的图形不能像染料升华一样可进行清洗、折叠或处理，此外，它们通常也不具有高端的视觉吸引力。
‘Non-sublimated’ digital textile printing is typically used for specialized applications on non-polyester fabrics, like cotton or canvas, where dye sublimation is ineffective. It may also be adequate for many shorter-term printing needs.
非升华数码印花通常用于非涤纶织物的特殊应用，如棉花或帆布，对于许多短期印刷的需求，也可以用于其他特殊的应用。
Dye sublimation remains the optimal production method for retaining the esthetics and other benefits of fabrics along with image permanence. This is important for signmakers to keep in mind as they consider how to respond to increased market demand for printed fabric output.
染料升华仍然是保持织物的美学和持久性的生产方式，这对于标识制造商来说相当重要，因为，他们需要考虑如何应对市场来保证印花面料产量的增长。
Direct and transfer
直印和转印
To add to the confusion, there are two basic methods for printing with dye sublimation inks onto fabrics: transfer and direct.
用染料升华油墨印在织物上有两种基本方法：转印和直接印花。
The most common method, traditionally, has been to print an image onto transfer paper and then sublimate it onto a coated or uncoated polyester-based textile. In the direct process, on the other hand, the image is printed onto a coated fabric and then sublimated, without the use of transfer paper.
传统上，最常用的方法是在转印纸上打印图像，然后将其升华到涂布或未涂布的聚酯基纺织品上。另一种是在直接处理中，图像被打印到涂布的织物上，然后升华，而不使用转印纸。
The advantages of transfer and direct sublimation are still being debated within the industry today. While it is certainly possible to argue about the quality of output from each method, however, the differences between them are much more nuanced than those between sublimation and non-sublimation printing. The choice of which to use will depend on the capabilities of the print or sign shop and the types of printers under consideration.
转移和直接升华的优势目前仍在业界中有大量的争论，虽然每种方法的产出质量都存在争议，但它们之间的差异比升华和非升华打印之间的差异要细微得多，选择哪一种方式进行打印取决于标识制造商所拥有的打印机类型和功能。
If a sign shop already has a heat-transfer press, for example, then it would make sense to continue with transfer-based dye sublimation printing capabilities, since stand-alone heat presses generally run at higher speeds than printers.
例如，如果标识制造商已经拥有热转印设备，那么继续进行转印的染料升华打印是存在意义的，独立的热转印机通常比打印机能有更高的运行速度。
Other considerations reflect workflow preferences and specific application needs. Some signmakers, for example, prefer to set up a printer profile once for a specific paper and then only change settings on the heat press for different polyester-based fabrics. Others are concerned about the additional expense of the two-step transfer process, as they must buy the transfer paper. The playing field is slightly levelled because direct sublimation requires coated fabrics, which are more expensive than the non-coated fabrics that can be used in transfer sublimation—but the addition of paper is still more expensive at approximately 12 cents per square foot, compared to the additional three cents per square foot for coated instead of uncoated fabric.
其他需要考虑的事项包括反映工作流程和特定的应用程序，例如，一些标识制造商喜欢为特定纸张设置一次打印机配置文件，然后只更改热压机上不同聚酯基织物的设置。由于直接升华需要涂布织物，比起可用于转印升华的非涂布织物来说，纸张的添加量会更昂贵，大约每平方英尺需要12美分，相比之下， 每平方英尺增加的是三美分，而不是未涂布的织物。
If a sign shop has very specific needs for backlit graphics and flags, then it may make the most sense to use direct sublimation, which offers the advantage of a heavier ink load for these applications. With flags, for example, dense ink is typically required to show through both sides. And with backlit graphics, greater ink density means improved colour integrity when light is shining through.
如果标识制造商对背光图形和标识有非常明确的要求，那么最好使用直接升华，它能提较重的油墨负载优势。例如，使用旗帜时，通常需要通过双面显示密集墨水。使用背光图形时，高浓度的墨水密度意味着，图形在被光线照射时，颜色的完整性能得到改善。
For more precise and detailed graphics, on the other hand, transfer sublimation offers a slight advantage, with little to no bleed when laying ink down on well-profiled transfer paper.
另一方面，对于细节精确的图形，转印升华具有一些特殊的优势，在将墨水放在形状良好的转印纸上时，几乎不会流动。
Fortunately, there are some printers on the market today that allow PSPs to choose the best process on a project-by-project basis, supporting both direct and transfer sublimation. Indeed, this flexibility has quickly made these presses among the most commonly installed across Canada and the U.S., at least in the industrial 3-m (9.8-ft) wide category.
幸运的是，目前市场上有一些打印机可以让PSP在逐个项目的基础上选择最佳工艺，支持直接升华和转印升华。事实上，这种灵活性打印设备很快成为加拿大和美国常用的打印机，这些打印机都是至少在工业级3米可操作的（9.8英尺）范围内。
In this sense, the industry is balancing the overall market interest in fabric graphics with recognition of the importance of printing versatility.
从这个意义上说，该行业正在平衡整体市场对织物打印的兴趣，同时认识到了打印的多功能性。
On-board and in-line
在板和在线
Another advance in dye sublimation printing has been the recent innovation of supporting true heat press sublimation on-board the printer, making the machine an ‘all-in-one’ unit. This is referred to as ‘in-line’ sublimation.
染料升华打印的另一个发展是能支持真空热升华在打印机上的创作，使机器成为一个“全合一”单元，这被称为“在线”升华。
In the past, some textile printers promised on-board sublimation by passing the fabric near a coiled heat source during substrate transport. This was not true dye sublimation, however, as there was no actual contact or pressure and the coils could not generate sufficient heat without the risk of damaging the substrate. The resulting graphics were not water-resistant off the printer and ink could bleed from the print. This necessitated additional steps to fix the final ../images, including washing and steaming to remove any excess ink that had not been properly sublimated.
过去，一些纺织印刷商承诺，将卷绕的织物通过升华进行板上升华，然而，这不是真正的染料升华，因为没有实际的接触或压力，并且线圈不能产生足够的热量，这没有损坏衬底的风险，由此产生的图形不能在打印机上具有防水功能，并且墨水可能会从打印机中流失，因此，这需要额外的步骤来修复最终的图像，包括清洗，以去除适当升华的多余墨水。
Some newer all-in-one printers instead feature a true on-board heat press calender, ensuring the dyes are fully sublimated into the fabrics.
一些较新的一体式打印机采用真正的机上热压方式，确保染料完全升华到织物中。
Ink developments
油墨的开发
As elsewhere in the sign industry, the wide-format printers used for dye sublimation have seen much progress over the years, in terms of faster speeds, greater efficiency and higher-quality output. Dye sublimation inks, however, have been slower to evolve.
除此之外，用于染料升华的宽幅打印机也取得了很大的发展，其中包括快速，高效的产出。
In the past, solvent- or oil-based inks were common for wide-format dye sublimation, neither of which were environmentally friendly, colour-vibrant or particularly easy to work with. Smaller printers used water-based inks, but were generally very slow and used the afore-mentioned coil-based heat systems, which left many steps to be completed after printing.
过去，溶剂型或油性油墨在宽幅染料升华中很常见，色彩鲜艳，特别容易处理，但是，它们都不环保，而较小的打印机使用水基油墨后，通常运行地非常缓慢。
Today, however, there has been much progress in water-based inks for larger printers, achieving a vibrant colour gamut and greater batch-to-batch consistency. Compared to earlier options, these inks offer a higher pigment load, higher yields and lower cost per litre.
现在，用于大型打印机的水性墨水已经取得了很大的进步，实现了鲜明的色域和更大批次间的一致性，与较早的选项相比，这些墨水能提供高的颜料负荷、高的产量和低的成本。
Finishing
精加工
If there is one area of the fabric printing business that is still somewhat lacking in proficiency, it is finishing.
如果打印业务中，有一个领域的技术水平仍然需要提高，那么这个领域需要革新。
One of the strongest selling points of fabric graphics is the ability to form them in almost imaginable shape with ease, beauty and seamless appearance. This ability, however, has not tended to be part of a typical sign shop’s skill set.
图案强大的卖点之一是能，它们是否拥有柔美的线条与形状，美观与无缝的外观。然而，这种卖点并没有成为标识制造商所拥有典型的一部分技能。
One key is to plan for finishing right from a graphic’s conceptual stage. Specifications for sewing, stretching and framing should be worked into the design from the start so as to take into consideration such factors as shrinkage and skewing.
其中一个关键性因素是，图形概念阶段的计划没有完成，从一开始，就应该将缝纫、拉伸和框架规范纳入到设计中，以考虑收缩和歪斜等因素。
Sign shop employees may be intimidated at first by the need for specialized skills and, indeed, fabric graphic finishing should not simply be left to an existing print production crew without the right training and tools. With the right investment in a dedicated finishing department, however, a sign shop can certainly build sufficient knowledge and expertise to provide high-quality finishing in-house as a lucrative part of the business, rather than outsourcing it.
标识制造商的员工最初可能因为需要专业技能而感到迷茫，事实上，如果没有正确的培训和工具，织物图形印后加工不应该仅仅留给现有的生产员工。因此，标识制造商应用建立专门的印后加工部门，以及足够的知识和专业知识库，以提供内部高质量的印后加工程序，作为业务的有利部分，而不是将其外包。
Customer trends
客户的趋势分析
As awareness of the high-quality appearance and easy manageability of fabric graphics, many types of customers are fuelling this industry trend.
随着对高质量外观，以及面料图形的管理性的认识，不同类型的客户正在推动这一行业的发展。
In the trade show business, for example, exhibitors are painfully aware of the costs for drayage and shipping from show to show. The difference in weight between the typical vinyl or rigid graphics and lighter fabric graphics is extraordinary, but another advantage of the latter is the ability to use the same eye-catching booth imagery for multiple events, rather than having to reprint graphics for each show.
例如，在贸易展览业务中，尽管参展商意识到从公司到展会的拖车和运输成本很高，像典型的乙烯基、硬质图形与较轻的织物图形之间的重量差异非常显着，但仍然会选择投入资金去应用这些打印图形，其原因就是，它能作为展位图像起吸引作用，而不必为每个展位重新做装饰。
This convention and exhibition market tends toward the look and feel of soft knit materials, which offer the four-way stretch capabilities needed for silicone-edge graphics (SEG) and tension frames. They also generally offer a matte finish, which is desirable to prevent glare on signs under all of the lighting of a large exhibition hall.
这种应用市场非常重视针织材料的外观和感觉，又提供了硅胶边图形（SEG）和张力框架所需的四向拉伸功能，为了避免在大型展厅的照明下防止眩光，它们通常制成哑光的效果。
Fashion and beauty product retailers are also switching to the richness, beauty and feel of fabric graphics to reflect their sophisticated and elegant brands. For many point-of-purchase (POP) display applications, retailers are drawn to the visual effects of backlit graphics, so translucent textiles are being designed accordingly.
另外，时尚和美容零售商也在转向应用织物图形，利用这种面料图形的丰富性、美感和手感来宣传他们优雅的品牌形象。对于许多POP显示应用来说，零售商会选择背光图形，对透明的纺织品进行设计。
The hospitality, museum and theatre décor markets are also strong customers of fabric graphics. And while sign shops continue to mainly focus on commercial wide-format graphic applications, there are other markets the same equipment could help them serve, particularly in the future. Already, such items as upholstery, apparel, drapery, curtains, pillows, carpets, backdrops, custom furniture and other elements of interior décor are being decorated using digital textile printers, though usually in very short runs and one-offs. Just as digital printing has already taken over and continues to dominate many areas that were once served by offset and screenprinting systems, so too is there enormous potential for digital textile printing to take over much of the textile screenprinting and rotogravure markets.
酒店、博物馆和剧院也是数码印花应用的大客户。尽管标识制造商主要专注于宽幅图形的应用，但是，其他市场可以使用相同的设备来帮助他们提供服务。像室内装潢、服装、窗帘、窗帘、枕头、地毯、定制家具和其他内部装饰元素等物品，特都在应用数码印花技术。正如数字打印已经接管并主宰由胶印和丝网印刷系统服务的许多领域，数字纺织品印刷也有巨大的潜力接管丝网印刷和其他市场。
A maturing market
成熟的市场
As digital printing technology continues to mature in terms of speed and capacity—and as PSPs gain stronger knowledge of new processes—there is room to absorb market share from traditional textile businesses. Fabric graphics have a high perceived value, which is opening doors for sign shops to serve higher-end clients and increase profit margins.
随着数字打印技术在速度和容量方面的不断成熟，以及PSP对新工艺的深入了解，传统纺织企业有足够的空间吸收市场份额，加上数码印花图形具有很高的感知价值，这为标识制造商打开了更多市场，为高端客户提供服务，并提高利润率。
This is especially true at this early stage of an emerging industry, when fabric graphics are not as heavily commoditized as vinyl banners and other signage applications. With profitability and demand for better products driving improvements in digital imaging and printed output, innovations will continue for years to come.
由于织物图形不像乙烯基横幅广告和其他标牌应用那样大量商品化，加上盈利能力和更好的产品需求推动着数码印花产品的改进，行业的创新将继续持续数年。
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