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Faster production of inkjet printing is one of the important research themes yet to be resolved. The importance of pre-processing technologies is another one that must not be overlooked. Pre-processing
holds much importance in the inkjet printing of textiles with dye-based inks.
Scores of inkjet printers for textiles were exhibited at the 7th OTEMAS,and with every one the importance of pre-processing was being stressed. Practical knowledge of pre-processing is crucial in
order to bring about better printing results, before the nozzle produces a jet of ink over fabric. Pre-processing, here, is a technology to make printing pastes more adherent to fabric.
Seiren Co., Ltd., Japan, has a process for the adhesion of special paste onto fabric before printing with Viscotecs (the trade name for its inkjet system). The recipe for its preparation is kept
confidential. It indicates that introducing a device for pre-processing does not necessarily lead you straight to easy inkjet printing with dye-based inks. Manufacturers of inkjet printers could impart
pre-processing methods, however, they would only be generally available recipes. Distinctive color performances in inkjet printing could only be aimed for by hauling yourself up by your own bootstraps
to create pre-processing methods.
Konica Corporation had synthetic stretch fabrics and light woven materials printed by inkjets on display at the 7th OTEMAS. A high degree of dye fixation to fabric is required for the inkjet printing
of such materials. In other words, the correlation between the characteristics of dye-based inks and their fixation to the fabric is severely called into question. What efforts Konica has made to establish
such a correlation, in persistently keeping a high level of intellectual exchange with printing engineers, can only be speculated.
Matsuo Nassen, a Japanese printer, had original prints demonstrated at the 7th OTEMAS, using Toshin Kogyo's inkjet printer with dye-based inks. The special feature was the felicitous expression in
their unique designs, with a twist in the interrelation between their resolution and designs. A number of experimental expressions, created in a search for optimum expressions of design and resolution,
was being displayed. And the designs, in their recondite tastes, were depicting the importance of pre-processing all the same.
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