Tecstyle Vision (Stuttgard, 30/3-1/04), Fespa (Munchen, 23-26/05) , ITMA (Milano, 8-14/06): Spring 2023 featured many exhibitions that introduced technology innovations, launched new products and presented the highlights of future developments of the textile printing markets. DTF recent technology was very highly represented: Direct to Film, as the name suggests, allows the direct printing of the image, using specially designed ink-jet printer and CMYK (+ white) inks, directly on a specially treated PET film. The printed image is then transferred on the textile using a polymerizing oven or a heating press at 160°. Imported from China about 2 years ago, this technology is developing fast. Today, several European manufacturer are coming into this market with new options, such as advanced printers, developed to add more colours and expand the chromatic range; new inks, with UV formulation and metallized colours; and films with features that offer better quality and a more efficient process, such as hot peel, which is one of the characteristics of the film sold by Policrom.

The recent trends show an increasing interest in a wider range of graphic options and a richer variety of decorative and colourful possibilities. Even at ITMA, a show that covers all the textile industry, from yarn and fibers to machinery, 2 halls out of 6 were dedicated to printing technologies and machines, including wide format screen printing carousels for visual communication (flags and canvas).

Besides the need for more colour and images, the industry is focussed on the environmental sustainability of processes and products. Green marketing is top of mind for all textile markets, although, especially for materials, the result is not yet fully satisfactory That’s why the research process is going on, in the market and in all companies; in Policrom, in particular, it is the key priority of our R&D team.