Digital Apparel Printing Overview

What is Digital Apparel Printing?
AnaJet Inc. develops and manufactures digital apparel printers, serving the $22 billion garment decoration industry. This class of equipment prints directly onto garments and other textile items such as bags, pillow cases, head wear, mousepads and other decorative items. Such printers provide a clean, easy and convenient way to decorate garments, and replace conventional screen printing and dye sublimation methods. The technology comparison page provides comparative advantages of various garment decoration methods.

How to Choose a Digital Apparel Printer?

• Good and Consistent Ink Flow
  Inkjet garment printing is an evolving technology, and these printers need careful evaluation. Poor ink flow and the need for excessive amounts of head cleaning and maintenance are common issues in most direct to garment printers on the market today. Good ink flow requires proper printer engineering with a closed-loop ink delivery system and good quality ink. A key element is a good ink delivery system which is sealed from open air. Such systems maintain the necessary internal pressure balance and prevent inks from touching open air in the ink bottles - essential factors for good ink flow. That is why all major OEM inkjet printer makers use closed-loop ink delivery systems. Some "direct to garment" printers using open ink bottles may need too much maintenance and do not provide consistent ink flow.
  
  Experience AnaJet's Closed-Loop Ink Delivery System and Auto Print Head Maintenance to appreciate superior ink flow, lower maintenance and the highest up-time in the industry.
  
  
• Ink Volume Control and Single-Pass Print
  The second most important feature to look for is if the printer can control ink flow to provide full ink saturation in a single pass print. Some modified photo printers marketed as "direct to garment" do not have enough ink flow volume and require over-printing to get sufficient inks on the garment. Over-printing can lower print quality and slow production.
  
  AnaJet has 15 levels of ink volume control. Its high ink flow rate assures a single-pass print for a wide range of fabrics, even for sweat shirts. Single-pass printing means higher quality prints at a higher production speed.
  
  
• Printer Productivity and Maintenance
  All direct-to-garment inkjet printers require simple but regular maintenance such as printhead and maintenance station cleaning. Inkjet printers also require the ambient humidity to be above a certain level. Carefully evaluate the printer's performance and reputation. Your productivity will be directly related to the level of head cleaning and maintenance required.
  
  AnaJet SPRINT, with its Gen 2 print head, Auto Print Head Maintenance, and Closed-Loop Ink Delivery System, requires less maintenance than any other direct-to-garment printer today. Coupled with its fast printing speed, the SPRINT provides unsurpassed performance.
  
  
• Quality of Inks and Color Vibrancy
  Higher quality inks mean good ink flow and high optical density for color vibrancy. Resistance to repeated wash and sun-light fading is also important. Ink formulation is a complex science.
  
  Both AnaBright inks for cotton blends and PolyBright inks for polyester and synthetic fibers are specially developed digital textile inks, providing the highest vibrancy and print longevity. Printed white shirts will match the longevity of screen printed shirts. Printed black shirts will last as long as or longer than any competitive printers.

There may be many other factors to consider based on your specific production needs. But focus on the above essential factors in evaluating an apparel printer.