Clevedon, UK - Leading wide format printer manufacturer, Roland DG has revealed the findings of its Texart Digital Textile Survey, carried out at ITMA 2015 in Milan. Roland enjoyed a highly successful show with its ‘Go Digital’ themed booth packed with innovative profit-making textile solutions, creative samples and live demonstrations which captured the imagination of attendees. 

Encarna Luque, Business Development Director for Roland DG states: “The level of interest has been extremely high with many visitors embracing digital technologies, either as their main production method or as a flexible, cost-efficient complement to their analogue workflows.”

Findings from the Texart Digital Textile Survey*, undertaken on the Roland booth, reflect this with 80% of respondents who are printing on textile, already using digital technologies in their textile print production and all of those who are currently only using analogue methods, stating they are also considering digital textile print technologies. Textile print providers are also prioritising investment in digital with 49% of those intending to invest, planning to do so within the next year.

According to those questioned, the main benefits of digital textile print technology over analogue production methods include flexibility, quality and speed. These benefits were brought to life on the Roland DG booth with a ‘real-time’ digital workflow demonstrating each stage of the production process. Designs by students specialising in fashion and couture at the ACOF school were transformed into stunning garments. Visitors were able to follow the process step-by-step as the designs were printed by the Texart XT-640 and RT-640 dye sublimation transfer printers, pressed on the Texart CS-64 calender and sewn by on-booth seamstresses. A live photoshoot showcased models wearing the finished garments.

Digital dye sublimation transfer printing proved a popular option on the booth, used by over 40% of digital textile print providers surveyed, and there was a great deal of interest in Roland’s Texart digital dye sublimation transfer range, and in particular the brand new XT-640 64” printer.

Visitors were in a buoyant mood with nearly 95% of textile print providers stating they were optimistic about the future of the textile print industry and over half of those using digital methods were confident that production levels this year will be higher than in 2014.

Encarna Luque comments: “The feedback from our international visitors via the Roland DG Texart Digital Textile survey is extremely insightful and I am very encouraged by the positivity on the booth at ITMA 2015. Our aim was to inspire visitors and increase their understanding of how going digital with Roland DG technology can give their business a competitive edge in terms of reduced set up times, low fixed costs and increased versatility of output. We look forward to building on already strong relationships with our customers and partners in the coming months.”

For more information on dye-sublimation transfer printing download Roland DG’s Dye-Sublimation With Digital Inkjet Guide.