The latest innovations in DTF printing

The Direct-to-Film (DTF) market is experiencing significant growth, with major printers now offering dedicated solutions. Beyond the traditional textile applications, there's a notable expansion into UV DTF technology, allowing for heat-free application to various objects. This evolution, alongside advancements from companies like Epson, Roland, Brother, and Ricoh, indicates DTF's continued diversification and increasing appeal for diverse printing needs.

The last few years have seen huge growth in the Direct-to-Film market, which can be easily seen at any recent Fespa trade show with DtF solutions popping up on many of the stands throughout all the halls. The appeal is obvious. The machines are generally quite inexpensive, reasonably compact and easy to operate. The final prints can be applied to many different textile substrates, including polyester garments, without any of the hassle associated with dye sublimation.

The basic concept behind printing Direct-to-Film is fairly well established by now. The film is supplied on a roll and fed first through the printer, where the inks are laid down but left wet and tacky, then onto the powder shaker, where the powder is applied and shaken to ensure an even distribution that only sticks to the image areas where the ink is. The film web then passes under the heater where the powder is melted, effectively turning it into a hot melt glue layer.

It’s not a particularly sophisticated process, which explains why the market has been completely dominated by relatively cheap and cheerful Chinese devices. This has caught most of the more established printer vendors on the hop, and they have struggled to add value whilst still remaining competitive. Not surprisingly, most vendors have opted to simply rebadge Asian solutions, mostly from Chinese manufacturers, but there was some evidence at the recent Fespa Global Exhibition that the established printer vendors are looking at ways to further develop this technology.

Epson's SureColor G6000 is a dedicated DtF printer. ©Nessan Cleary

Epson, for example, showed its first dedicated DTF printer, the SC-G6000. It’s a roll-to-roll printer, taking media up to 900mm with a print width of 894mm, which is wider than the more usual 60cm but not radically so. It prints Epson’s UltraChrome DtF inkset, which includes CMYK and white, with the inks supplied in 1.6l cartridges. Naturally it uses Epson’s PrecisionCore printheads, and includes recirculation for the white ink. Epson claims to have upgraded the maintenance system for the printheads, by using fabric rather than rubber to wipe excess ink away the heads. The rubber wiper itself had to be periodically cleaned so this should lead to less manual maintenance though the fabric spool will be another consumable item. It produces around 5.6sqm/hr when printing both the colours and white ink.

Roland has introduced its first dedicated DtF solution, the TY-300, which is a 762mm wide printer using Epson printheads and a new S-PG2 ink. This ink appears to produce a relatively thin ink film that makes for a more pleasant feel on garments. The TY300 also includes a cutting module for a print and cut workflow, which I believe is unique amongst DtF printers. It’s a nice idea and the ability to add perforated cuts around the graphics may appeal to some users.

Brother has also developed a dedicated DtF printer, having previously adapted its GTXPro DtG printer. The new DTRX-series is a roll-to-roll printer that takes media up to 800mm wide. Both the ink and printheads come from Brother and Brother also supplies the powder shaker. The inkset is CMYK plus 2x white. Folker Stachetzki, head of marketing at Brother Europe, says that it should be available in Europe in September when there will be more details such as the print speed.

Ricoh’s has led the trend towards larger DtF printers with its D1600, which was officially launched at last year’s Fespa. Essentially this aims to improve productivity by having a much wider print width than other DtF solutions. It’s based on the chassis of Ricoh’s 1.6m wide resin printer and will take films up to 1300mm wide. It can run at up to 20sqm/hr.

Ricoh has also shown off a small DtF solution, under the banner of DtF in a cube. This consists of a small printer, the DtF 400 Cube paired with Inktec’s small A30 powder shaker. It takes film up to 423mm wide, with a print width of 407.2mm, though the powder shaker is just 30cm wide. The printer uses Ricoh 1200 dpi print heads, with automated maintenance. Ricoh also supplies the ink and it comes with the ColorGate ProductionServer RIP.

Ricoh's D1600 is a large DtF solution taking films up to 1.3m wide. ©Nessan Cleary

Sticking with the compact theme, The Chinese company Leaf showed an interesting all-in-one DtF printer called the Leaf DtF 570i. The printer and powder shaker have all been combined into a single machine, which gives it a slightly smaller footprint than the usual set up of two separate units. It has a 60cm print width and uses two Epson I3200 printheads.

Beyond fabrics

The recent Fespa show in Berlin, Germany, revealed a sudden growth in a variant of DtF that uses UV ink instead of the normal aqueous ink. The process involves two separate rolls of clear film, one fed from the backside and one from the front. The rear film has an adhesive layer on top, with the ink printed on top of this. After printing, the second film, which is essentially a laminate layer is pressed on to it, using nothing but pressure. This allows the graphic to be handled and, for example, to be posted to a customer.

To apply the graphic, you just have to peel the top layer off, press the graphic against the object you want to decorate and then rub it to force the ink in the graphic to transfer. There’s no need for heat or any kind of press as hand pressure on its own is enough.

Mimaki's UJV300 is a UV DtF solution for decoration. ©Nessan Cleary

Mimaki has developed its own UV DtF printer, the UJV300 DtF 75. This has two printheads, each with four channels. It prints CMYK plus two white channels and two clear ink channels. There’s a choice of different films depending on the intended application. This can include items such as mugs with the process capable of being put through a dishwasher.

RS Pro showed off a similar system but with the addition of metallic inks, which lead to some very striking effects. RS Pro also had a second variant that it called UV 3D DtF, which gives a much more textured effect. The printing is similar in that you have two films, and print to the glue layer and then spool the films together to create a single sheet with the graphic sandwiched in the middle. However, applying the graphic is more involved and does take some skill. The trick is to warm the substrate up slightly to around 120°C and then apply the graphic through a heat press.

Unlike the other UV DtF solutions, this is primarily aimed at textiles. It’s not really suitable for clothing because it doesn’t offer much in the way of washfastness. It was mostly demonstrated on tote bags but it seems to me that it would be much more effective on hats.

Taken together, these various solutions demonstrate that the DtF market is showing no signs of slowing down, and is actively expanding into new applications.

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