Talk about digital printing technology and market

Talk about: digital printing technology and market trend

I have been engaged in the digital printing industry for just two years. In these two years, I have witnessed the rapid development of digital printing technology in the Chinese market. Various data have shown the potential development of the market of this technology

I. how to understand and understand digital heat transfer technology

1. What is digital heat transfer technology: digital heat transfer technology is a new technology that combines traditional heat transfer technology with digital printing technology to print color images and patterns in the form of no plate making. At first, this technology was mainly used in the production of advertisements, signs, cards and ceramic shadows in China, but later, with the expansion of application fields, it was more used in industrial production, such as digital printing and dyeing and garment production, shoe material production, ribbon, garment label and other industrial production, and the application products are increasing

the first countries to apply this technology include the United States, South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, China and other countries. In terms of the size of the market in the past two years, China has become the world's largest digital heat transfer processing market. Many international brands of heat transfer color printing inks have begun to focus on the huge Chinese market and participate in market competition. There is a great potential for mountain rain, and the competition will become increasingly fierce. Here, we want to talk about digital heat transfer printing, which takes the form of inking printing technology that sprays, for example, the inlet temperature of crude oil at the tube side of the top condenser of a German crude oil distillation tower is 50 degrees Celsius, Because this technical form can ensure a certain width and length, and is suitable for industrialized production

2. Market significance of digital heat transfer technology: digital heat transfer technology can be said to be a new technology in order to adapt to the development of personalized market and consumers' demand for personalized products. It is an effective supplement to traditional heat transfer technology and traditional heat transfer product market. Therefore, strictly speaking, the market positioning of digital heat transfer technology and products is the personalized product market. Traditional heat transfer products are difficult to produce personalized products in small batches due to technical limitations and plate making costs. Therefore, in the traditional heat transfer market, in terms of personalized products, digital heat transfer technology was a blank market before it appeared. The emergence of this technology makes it possible to produce personalized heat transfer products. Not only that, the printing quality of digital heat transfer products' image patterns also far exceeds the traditional heat transfer technology. This is also the reason why digital heat transfer technology can be promoted and popularized in just a few years

2. How to distinguish and understand heat transfer printing and digital heat transfer printing

1. What is heat transfer printing: Generally speaking, heat transfer printing is a kind of transfer technology and product, which uses heat transfer equipment to heat the patterns and images on the heat transfer paper to 180c0--230c0, and transfer them on different material media. Heat transfer printing technology was first used in textile printing and dyeing industry and shoe material industry. Later, with the development of the times and the progress of science and technology, the application fields are increasing, especially the emergence of digital technology and the emergence of personalized consumption concept make the application of heat transfer technology more popular and extensive, and the application products emerge in endlessly, covering almost all material fields. For example, heat transfer technology can be applied to metal, wood, stone, ceramics, glass, PVC, leather and chemical fiber fabrics to transfer exquisite patterns and images, and produce and make exquisite products

2. There are two printing methods: thermal transfer printing. Thermal transfer printing has two printing methods, one is sublimation transfer printing method, and the other is thermosetting transfer printing method. Sublimation method refers to that after printing the color paste produced by heat rising disperse dyes into printing paper with silk or gravure, the pattern on the printing paper is transferred to the required medium. Thermosetting transfer printing method refers to that after printing into printing paper with thermosetting ink (also known as hot melt glue because there are more than 90 general categories of plastic), There are obvious differences in the application of the two printing methods when transferring the patterns on printing paper to products such as T-shirts and clothing. The sublimation transfer method is mainly applied to chemical fiber fabrics and hard materials coated with heat transfer coating, and the thermosetting transfer method is mainly applied to pure cotton products

the difference in texture between the two printing methods is that the heat sublimation pattern does not change the original texture of the material after transfer, and the hand feel and appearance are good. After the thermosetting pattern is transferred, a layer of gel is formed on the surface of the attachment, which has poor hand feel and is airtight. The two printing methods have their own advantages and disadvantages in production

3. Several technical methods of traditional sublimation heat transfer there are three technical methods of traditional sublimation heat transfer: silk screen heat transfer, gravure (copper plate, electric engraving) heat transfer, offset heat transfer. Traditional sublimation heat transfer printing is characterized by plate printing

4. Digital thermal transfer digital thermal transfer is a new technology that combines digital printing technology with traditional sublimation thermal transfer to print pattern images in the form of plate free printing. It is characterized by the application of digital printing technology to print color patterns and images without plate making, which saves the plate making process and cost, so it is suitable for the production and printing of personalized products

the technical feature of digital heat transfer printing is that digital printing equipment uses special heat transfer color printing ink and heat transfer printing paper

5. Differences between traditional heat transfer printing and digital heat transfer printing

(1) differences in printing methods: traditional heat transfer printing belongs to plate printing; Digital heat transfer printing belongs to plate free printing

(2) differences in printing color quality: traditional heat transfer printing can not solve the problem of color restoration; Digital heat transfer printing can solve this problem as long as the ink quality is guaranteed

(3) differences of application products: the application products of traditional heat transfer printing are relatively single; Digital heat transfer products are widely used

(4) differences in market positioning: the traditional heat transfer market positioning is a popular market; The market positioning of digital heat transfer printing is a personalized market

(5) difference in production quantity: traditional heat transfer printing has a large capacity, which is suitable for the production of mass popular products; Digital heat transfer printing has a small capacity, which is suitable for the production of small batch personalized products

(6) difference in market price: traditional heat transfer products have low market price because they are popular products; Because digital heat transfer products are personalized products, the market price is high

6. How to understand and distinguish between the traditional heat transfer market and the digital heat transfer market

the digital heat transfer market is a personalized new market, and its products and market prices are determined by the concept of personalization. Digital heat transfer products and technologies are the development and extension of traditional heat transfer. The two markets coexist and complement each other, and are independent of each other, forming different market prices and consumer groups

the traditional heat transfer market is a low price market

the digital heat transfer market is a high price market

the difference between the two markets cannot be simply discussed in terms of price. The fundamental difference between the two markets lies in the quality, content, form and technical content of products. Due to technical limitations (plate making, color performance), traditional heat transfer printing cannot produce high-quality products and personalized products required by digital heat transfer printing

therefore, the market for digital heat transfer printing is the consumer group of application products with high added value. Due to the clear market positioning of digital heat transfer, it is not contradictory to the traditional heat transfer market, and each has different consumer groups and application fields

considering the production cost and added value of digital heat transfer products, digital heat transfer technology does not enter the heat transfer market at traditional prices

III. core technology of digital thermal transfer printing thermal transfer color printing ink

1. Thermal transfer color printing ink (water-based): thermal transfer color printing ink is prepared with thermal sublimation disperse dyes, other chemical additives and water. In the ink market, it is customary to divide the ink into oil-based ink and water-based ink, so when this product appeared in the early market, people called it heat transfer color printing ink. Because this ink belongs to water-based ink, now people are used to calling it heat sublimation printing ink or heat transfer printing ink

2. The difference between thermal transfer color printing ink and silk thermal transfer (thermal sublimation) paste, thermosetting ink, gravure thermal transfer (thermal sublimation) paste, offset thermal transfer (thermal sublimation) ink. Thermal transfer color printing ink is different from silk, gravure, offset thermal transfer paste, ink and silk thermosetting ink. Heat transfer color printing ink is used in desktop printers and photo inkjet machines. The printing form is plate free printing, and other heat transfer printing forms are plate printing. In addition, there are also qualitative differences in printing quality, such as color saturation and color restoration. Digital heat transfer printing has obvious quality advantages

◆ heat transfer color printing ink is mainly used to produce personalized products

◆ silk heat transfer paste and gravure heat transfer paste are mainly used to produce printing paper for chemical fiber fabrics and shoe materials, which are suitable for the production of low-cost traditional products

◆ thermosetting ink (thermosol) is mainly used in the production of T-shirts and children. 8. Printing paper with low stiffness of pressure stabilizing spring of oil delivery valve or blockage in the cavity of throttling needle, which is suitable for the production of traditional products

◆ offset heat transfer ink is mainly used to produce heat transfer pictures for advertising posters, flags and banners, which is suitable for the production of batch advertising products

3. Classification of heat transfer color printing inks: digital heat transfer color printing inks can be roughly divided into two categories., As digital heat transfer application products are roughly divided into advertising image products and industrial products, if this classification is used, the heat transfer color printing inks currently used in the market can be divided into advertising image grade inks and clothing printing and dyeing grade inks from the perspective of quality and price