BACK TO THE FUTURE OF SCREEN PRINTING

The past few years have been challenging for apparel decorators who utilise traditional screen printing as their primary garment-decorating technology. The introduction of industrial direct-to-garment (DTG) printers and direct-to-film (DTF) transfer-printing systems has had a massive impact on the apparel-decorating industry. DTG and DTF printers have the ability to produce hundreds of high-resolution, full-colour graphics per hour with minimal make-ready cost. In this environment, is screen printing still relevant?

There are many perceived advantages of these digital-printing systems in the apparel-decorating industry. They bring into question the long-term future of the traditional screen-printing process. M&R Printing believes that each of the print technologies used in the apparel-decorating process, have unique strengths and weaknesses. Screen printing, hybrid printing, DTG and DTF will continue to be economically viable for years to come. 

For example, DTG and DTF printing excel in applications where screen printing cannot compete, such as print-on-demand (POD) production at low, minimum order quantities. Moving forward, progressive apparel-decorating companies may employ two, three or all four of the printing technologies. This is in order to maximise efficiency, lower cost and provide the highest level of print quality and service for every order. At the end of the day, it is important for apparel decorators to have the right set in their toolbox to get the job done.

Screen printing, hybrid printing, DTG and DTF will continue to be economically viable for years to come

Industry naysayers, who forecast the imminent demise of screen printing as a relevant garment-decorating technology, fail to recognise the unique processes where screen printing excels above all others. Screen printing offers advantages that simply cannot be matched using current DTG or DTF systems. Screen printing advantages are a lower cost of consumables per impression, high production speeds and the ability to decorate on almost every type of fabric.

The renaissance of screen printing as a leading garment-decorating process is not being driven by financial metrics. It is because of changes in recent fashion trends. There is an expression in the fashion industry, that says if you want to know what next season’s styles are going to be, look back 10–15 years. One area where these cyclical fashion trends are having an impact is with the increased utilisation by designers of special effects screen-printing inks. These include puff, glitter, metallics, high density, faux leather, thermochromic, luminescent and reflective.

Today’s fashion designers are moving beyond flat CMYK images and simple one or two-colour designs. Their preferences are for high-impact graphics that incorporate special-effect inks to create images with a higher value, that stand out from the competition. The encouraging news for traditional screen printers is that these special-effects inks cannot currently be applied with the piezo-inkjet printheads used in DTG and DTF printing systems. The only way to create these cool new designs is to use a screen with a quality stencil, sharp squeegee blade and reliable screen-printing press. 

It is important for apparel decorators to have the right set in their toolbox

As the industry advances printing technologies into the future, depending on the past is a part of remaining on the road to success. To coin a phrase from the Back to the Future movie franchise, “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine, why not do it with some style?”