Digital print on demand has been around for decades, pretty much since Xerox launched the 9700 in the 1970s. We all know the benefits of print on demand: short runs, personalization/customization, no inventory, etc. Web to print - online ordering of print - appeared in the late 1990s and added a few new benefits, particularly order anytime/anyplace and design online or modify an existing template then order. Books on demand - especially photo books - took the stage a few years ago and now you can even personalize your own copy of  THE OBAMA TIME CAPSULE: World History in the Making on Amazon. Check out sites like Lulu.com, Cafepress, or Blurb to get a feel for how easy - and cheap - it is to publish your own book. Now sit down, have a cup of coffee, and think about how many different ways this same technology can be used. Did you come up with printing fabric on demand? Didn't think so... Does it surprise us that Stephen Fraser and Gart Davis from Lulu.com* would take the whole idea and apply it to fabric? Not a bit! Spoonflower Spoonflower - Fraser and Davis' new venture - allows quilters, crafters, and graphic designers a place to upload create and upload images that will be printed on 100% cotton fabric suitable for quilts, clothing, and home decor. Much like Lulu assumes that you can write coherent sentences and paragraphs that flow (then again, that's a pretty big assumption), Spoonflower assumes that you know how to create a graphic design. "Imposition" of an image to be repeated on a yard of fabric is a foreign language to printers. You'll find terms like: basic repeat, half-drop, half-brick, and mirror repeat. Suffice it to say that the online tools provide a template to "shuffle" the image for you. Spoonflower customers can get a printed sample of their design to do color comparisons and corrections and then order any amount of fabric. Those who wish can also sell their fabrics through the site. Fabric on Demand Rysa Pitner and Andy Graven offer Fabric on Demand and provide more of a personal touch. You'll get a proof of your image and a call from the FoD people before your fabric is printed. Pitner and Graven have decided that the personal touch is important, and rather than automate the process from beginning to end, they "semi-automate" it. Karma Kraft Both Spoonflower and Fabric on Demand print direct to the fabrics with pigment inks; the design is laid on top of the fibers. Karma Kraft prints using reactive dyes and the image is then part of the fabric. For extremely light fabrics, like silks, the image then is crisp and clear from both sides of the fabric. The folks at Karma Kraft also differentiate themselves by offering extensive "cut and sew" services. For designers who can create exciting images but don't know which end of a needle is up, this can be just the right solution. Your mission, should you accept it... Now, see if you can come up with another product group that can be printed on demand from consumer created content! *Note: Lulu.com was founded by Bob Young, who also launched Red Hat, the open-source software company.