Printed Exhibition Fabric

As part of our services at Fabricworks our fabric can have media printed upon it. Our fabrics can be printed on in a multitude of ways, for example, Inkjet, Dye Sublimation, and Appliqué. Due to the finishes and absorbency of fabrics we use, different printing techniques need to be used depending on the fabric type to achieve the best results.

Artwork for the purpose of media printing must be supplied in the following:

Adobe (Creative suite) Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, High Res PDF.

We require high resolution, print ready files; you must turn all text into outline format and supply all fonts. Original files are preferable to pdfs.

Printing onto non-absorbent fabric

To print onto non-absorbent fabric, an Inkjet process is used. This process involves laying the ink onto the surface of the fabric – where is dries without being absorbed. This results in a print that is vibrant in colour high in contrast. Therefore this technique and fabric type is generally used as banners either for exterior or exhibition purposes.

Printing onto absorbent fabric

To print onto absorbent fabric an inkjet process can be use – but unfortunately due to the absorbency of the fabric colour definition and contrast from the original picture can be lost. These levels of loss though depend on the absorbency of the material, for example there are lacquered absorbent fabrics that help prevent this problem. Alternatively die sublimation can be used and now is the prefered choice by many of our clients – see below

Dye Sublimation up to 5m wide

The process of Dye Sublimation involves printing the image onto a paper media, then through a heat transferring technique the image is transferred onto an absorbent type fabric. This two-stage process means that colour definition and contrast is not lost, producing a high standard finish with vibrant colours but at an increased cost. This process cannot be used on non-absorbent fabrics (such as PVC)

Appliqué

Appliqué transfers media to fabric through two techniques. The first way is by printing the image supplied onto a fabric then cut out and stitched onto the host fabric. The second application can be used when for example only simple one colour lettering or image is required. Though cutting out the required lettering from the fabric of your chosen colour this is then stitched onto the host fabric of a contrasting colour.