Missy Donovan

By Melissa Donovan

As textile printing accelerates, it is important to address finishing. A breadth of cutting options are available for textiles, from automated flatbeds with laser options to semi-automated roll sheet cutters and handheld rotary cutting devices. These are not unfamiliar to the print service provider (PSP), as experience in cutting traditional flexible signage materials can translate to fabric.

An industrial, short-run, or one-off environment thrives when the correct cutting equipment in chosen. Volume dictates the tools required for finishing. Choosing a fabric cutter is also driven by materials and cost. The type of fabric used on a day-to-day basis may determine whether an automated conveyor flatbed system with laser cutting capabilities is necessary in comparison to a semi-automated, entry-level cutting device.

Cut Through the Clutter
Many PSPs may just be entering fabric printing, thus fabric finishing, for the first time. Helping to become quickly up to speed on their operation, they leverage their previous knowledge of finishing banners and vinyl.

“From a finishing standpoint, fabric is really no different than vinyl or banner material,” shares Dan Cantrell, national sales manager, Zünd America, Inc. With many digital cutters, it is as easy as adding a driven rotary tool and cutting the same as any flexible substrate.

Leonard Marano, director, product marketing, Gerber Technology, agrees. “Previous knowledge of fabrics used, banners or vinyl, will do nothing but enhance the cutting experience out of the gate. Understanding the difference in material properties allows setting cutting parameters for automated processes with a minimal learning curve.”

“Experience with cutting vinyl and banners is useful because it gives customers knowledge in regards to the needs of adapting to different materials and challenges, which come with the use of these materials,” shares Martin Sofranko, account manager, Assyst Bullmer Ltd.

While legacy knowledge plays a part in learning how to finish fabric, Steve Aranoff, VP sales and marketing, MCT, Inc., cautions that banner and vinyl materials are in many ways easier to handle than fabric. “They aren’t as soft and stretchable as fabric, and don’t fray the same way, nor do they get dirty in a manual cutting environment.” In essence, fabric actually benefits even more from an automated finishing system.

“Banners and vinyl tend to be more stable and repeatable through the production process than fabrics. Distortion is a common challenge with many fabric processes that can often be avoided, but if not must be accommodated,” explains Robert W. Boyes, senior product line manager, Coherent, Inc.

Slice of Life
Fabric production comes in many volumes. Whether it be industrial, short run, or one off, it’s important to find a finishing device that matches typical output quantities. Different work settings effect the level of automation and tool variability required.

“It really depends on the output needed,” adheres Jen Kester, marketing manager, Foster. “If it’s going to be an all-day, everyday requirement, then the customer might require something automated for a faster output level. If they are doing more short runs or if their budget doesn’t allow them to get something that big, then going with a tabletop cutting solution is a better fit.”

In environments where patternmaking is common, Werner Waden, president, Colex Industries, states that accuracy and repeatability are critical. “When cutting composite fabrics, small differences in the pattern can change the properties of the finished product.” Both semi- and fully-automated flatbed cutters equipped with intelligent software are ideal for this scenario.

“The market trend is toward just-in-time production so I recommend our customers to get in the short-run niche. For this, a conveyor belt driven digital table with roll feeding system is the best option,” explains Erick Rodriguez, territory manager, DGS – Digital Graphic Systems.

Paul White, sales account manager, tables, Esko, believes automated flatbed tables will do a better—and quicker—job for short runs and industrial applications. For one offs, many times these cuts are fine to complete manually.

Michael Cox, SVP, HSGM Heat Cutting Equipment & Machines, Inc., suggests small handheld units for smaller jobs and larger handhelds with a transformer separate from the handle for more continuous production atmospheres. “Large quantities are decision makers because you cannot use a unit designed for small jobs on large jobs with large quantities or you may damage the unit,” he cautions.

Carving Out a Plan
Various factors play into which cutting mechanism is the best fit for a printer. When determining which tool will aid in productivity—and not detract—PSPs should consider the type of fabric they commonly work with, usual dimensions of fabric, pattern/cut shape, and cost.

Material
Material type is important. Having a finishing device that offers a multitude of cutting accessories—from a knife to a laser cutter—provides the print service provider with enough variety to finish any type of material.

“The two types of ways to cut fabric traditionally are with a knife blade or a laser. To determine which is best, the shop needs to look at the technical specifications of the fabric and learn how it is treated—many are sprayed or treated with a chemical to hold the fibers together better,” advises White.

Rick Heath, sales, ez Router, Inc., suggests that tangential knives, water jet, rotary knives, and lasers as all ideal for many fabric types.

“Some fabrics cut and seal well with laser, and others do not. Cottons, for example, require knife cutting—as do some thicker fabrics. Thinner fabrics, however, even if they can be cut by a driven wheel, are much better cut with a laser because they tend to stretch and pucker,” says Aranoff.

When using a hot cutter, which cuts and seals fabric simultaneously, synthetic fabrics are the best option. “If you try to use it on the something like cotton the material burns or the PVC base melts,” advises Kester.

Dimension
Fabric size should be considered. Cantrell explains that in the fabric world 3.2-meter or ten-foot is a very common roll size, making width a consideration when choosing the correct finishing device. He points out that length is not so important because automated, conveyorized flatbed cutters allow for endless cutting.

“One of the first questions to ask yourself is what is my widest fabric. This dictates the width of the gantry. You will need a vacuum table to secure your fabric during automated cutting. This table can be as long or as short as needed, but longer tables tend to be more efficient,” advises Thomas Carlson, manager, Carlson Design.

Sofranko encourages customers to make full use of their five-meter wide printing equipment by purchasing the widest fabrics possible. This means a cutting machine must also be prepared to handle material up to five meters in width.

Many manufacturers create finishing devices specifically for the customer. “Systems are configured to meet the customer’s widest material and longest pattern piece that needs to be cut,” explains Elizabeth McGruder, marketing manager, Eastman Machine.

Pattern/Cut Shape
Patterns and types of cuts are another factor. “It depends on the type of material and pattern that needs to be cut. We determine if the customer needs to cut patterns, straight lines, large radius curves, one-of-a-kind patterns, and samples in high or low volumes,” shares McGruder.

For example, Aranoff points out that a semi-automatic roll sheet cutter using knife cutting/slitting would be a good option for handling rolls of mid-length or longer rectangles. Conversely, if PSPs plan on cutting smaller rectangles or other shapes like curves, a fully automated flatbed cutting system is ideal.

“It depends a lot on the upstream process and how the material will be presented to the machine. Flatbed machines with laser cutting options tend to do better with materials that are cut into sheet form, as this allows the material to be presented to the laser in a reduced stress state,” adds Boyes.

Ed Prieto, managing director, Media One Digital Imaging Solutions, LLC, agrees, explaining that since no pressure is placed on the media when cutting with a laser, it provides 100 percent accuracy. “It makes it an effective solution for an efficient workflow in the manufacturing of soft signage.”

Cost
Cost analysis is imperative for any large purchase. “Savings in labor and materials should be considered when evaluating your return on investment and selecting a cutter that makes the most sense for your shop,” shares Marano.

With many cutting systems, costs range depending on whether the PSP already owns a solution and simply needs to purchase the correct accessory to cut fabric or they are buying an entirely new cutter.

An automated cutting solution ranges from $20K to $60K at Carlson Design, depending on the model size and how turnkey or custom the user requests.

Laser-based machines vary in cost. For example, Coherent’s newest solution—which is built to handle fabric, film, or foil, lists at just under $100K.

Colex’s Sharpcut Basic Cutter is $80,000, while its Sharpcut Conveyor Cutter with an automatic roll feeder is $100,000.

Conveyor belt, automated roll feeding tables from DGS come in at $65,000 for a 51-inch width and $140,000 for a 120-inch model.

Eastman’s manually operated cutting machines start at $500. Its fully automated systems begin at approximately $70,000.

Esko’s Kongsberg tables, including all of the parts appropriate for cutting fabrics, start from a little more than $100,000.

For a cold cut, semi-automated option like Foster’s Evolution-E2, the cost ranges from $1,360 to $2,195 depending on the size. Looking to hot cut, a print provider can add a heat knife carrier option for an additional $240.

A small handheld heat cutter’s price at HSGM starts at around $150. A larger heat cutter offering more continuous cutting is about $1,500.

For a semi-automated roll sheet cutter, Aranoff cites MCT’s ten-foot systems as priced under $100K.

At Zünd, Cantrell says a new cutter can range anywhere from $110K to $250K because of the modularity of its systems.

Staying a Cut Ahead
Whether familiar with fabric cutting or new to the game, PSPs should realize the importance of transferring prior finishing skills to this service. Understanding the nuances of a specific material, how often it will be cut and quantity levels, type of cut shapes, dimension, and cost are all additional criteria to consider. The result is the appropriate finishing tool in house that allows a PSP to manage customer expectations while offering high-quality fabric services from print to cut. When this is achieved unlimited opportunities are available for fabric-based creations.

Click here to view the Digital Finishing Vendors Target Chart – an all-inclusive information resource!

Jan2016, Digital Output

By Courtney Saba

Digitally produced fine art prints are revenue generators for many print service providers (PSPs). Customers need prints that withstand challenges such as precipitation and human handling. Liquid coatings aid in achieving this. In addition to protecting, they enhance canvas prints by offering richer colors and different textures to strengthen the artistic intention. When applying liquid coatings, there are several options to consider—brush, roller, spray, or lamination. Each presents its own challenges.

Benefits
Liquid coatings serve multiple purposes. Physical protection and artistic enhancements are the main reasons a PSP would choose to use them. There is a decreased possibility of UV light degradation, moisture, humidity, handling, and abrasion when a liquid coating is used. In addition to guarding a print, liquid coatings can also prevent the ink set from performing poorly and eliminate the possibility of glare.

“Liquid coating keeps inks from cracking when a canvas print is stretched during the finishing process,” explains Nate Goodman, product manager, Drytac Corporation.

Sarah Perkins, sales and marketing coordinator, Marabu North America, provides an example of when she created a canvas print for a colleague and did one with a liquid coating and the other without. “When I went to stretch the uncoated canvas, the ink immediately cracked at the corners of the piece and started peeling away from the canvas,” she shares. The print that was coated not only provided more saturated colors throughout the graphic, but it was “night and day” how the canvas reacted upon stretching.

Goodman shares that besides physical protection, liquid coatings also help to manage gloss levels and reduce glare and reflections that detract from an image.

While offering protection, liquid coatings provide the added benefit of visual improvements to increase the quality of the canvas print. “It enhances the ‘pop’ factor that makes the colors more rich and vibrant,” explains Michael Clementi, experience center team leader, LexJet Corporation. The color quality that can be achieved after applying a liquid coating is a benefit recommended by multiple companies that manufacture this product.

Greg White, director of sales and marketing, Premier Imaging Products, finds that besides artistic enhancement, different types of coatings improve the end result. “Using a gloss, satin, or matte finish changes the final appearance of the canvas regardless of the initial type of finish.”

White continues by providing the example of beginning with a typically less expensive matte canvas and applying a gloss coating to yield a high-gloss finished product. Another suggestion is applying specialized coatings such as embellishments that provide the appearance of a three-dimensional brush stroke.

Application Options
Liquid coatings are applied with a brush, roller, spray, or laminator. The size and type of media and intended final appearance determine which method is chosen.

“It is important to consider how compatible a coating is with the inks, media, and application method used. Thicker coatings can be rolled or brushed on, but the coating must be thin enough to run through a spray nozzle if being sprayed on,” recommends Goodman.

Brush application is a popular method. “It is a quick and easy way to coat canvas and you achieve good square footage per gallon. When you use spray, you lose some coating to the atmosphere so square footage is only about 60 percent of what you’d achieve from a brush and roll application,” suggests Perkins.

While a brush is one of the more common and inexpensive ways to apply a liquid coating, it comes with its challenges. “A closed cell brush or roller minimizes the amount of air bubbles during application. But, since the coating is applied in sections with this method, it can result in an uneven or streaky finish. It is also difficult to control the thickness of the coating applied to the media with a brush,” advises Ike Harris, president, Daige.

Rollers are also a low-cost application option. “It is most often a printmaker’s go-to method. It’s simple and low cost to get into, requiring very little ancillary equipment or technical knowhow,” says Will Vermillion, inside sales, Breathing Color.

However, rollers can be difficult to use with larger pieces of art because the coating tends to dry too quickly, causing inconsistencies in the final product. Even with smaller pieces it’s sometimes hard to get the coating to look even and precise.

Spray guns are efficient and easy to use, both White and Clementi point out, but require a bit of technique. Using this method requires the ability to judge how much coating has been applied, as well as the thickness. Another thing to keep in mind with the spray method is the footprint you have to work in. A spray booth is suggested, but will take up a good amount of space.

“Spray applications are nice because they can help avoid paint roller transfer, which is when the coating re-wets the ink and colors transfer from the canvas to the roller. With a spray application the coating settles from above as opposed to disrupting the surface,” shares Perkins.

Lamination is the final option for applying liquid coating. “By far, a liquid laminator is the quickest, most consistent option,” says Goodman. He explains that certain liquid laminators use a Mayer bar to evenly apply the coating across the image. This is successful in metering the thickness of the coating applied and drying the print before winding it on a core.

Harris outlines three different types of lamination—roll to roll, sheet-fed motorized, and manual. Roll to roll laminators apply the coating to a roll of canvas, dry the coating, then rewind the canvas on a roll. Sheet-fed motorized devices coat individual sheets. Manual laminators apply a smooth, even coating to sheets of canvas.

“Liquid laminators are ideal for those who don’t have the space for a spray booth or brush and roll application—the canvas has to lie flat somewhere and dry in between coats and that can take up a lot of space. They also allow the operator to go do other things while the canvas is running,” recommends Perkins.

Challenges
Liquid coatings are meant to protect and enhance canvas prints. However, a number of challenges—bubbles, pinholes, ink uptake during rolling, orange peel effect, drips/runs, craters, and unevenness—can occur while using any of the application methods. All are preventable. Additionally, the type of coating and canvas used can present issues.

When spraying liquid coating, a challenge is the liquid running on the canvas. “You’re likely applying too much coating, try increasing your hand speed. Also keep your print at about a 60 degree angle on the easel or spray surface,” suggests Vermillion. He also advises on how to avoid pinholes and bubbling during and after application. After application, if there are pinholes, there is not enough coating being applied during the first coat. If there is bubbling during and after application be sure the liquid is stirred and never shaken.

Clementi adds that for spraying on canvas, “if you have it set too heavy, gravity will cause the coating to coagulate and form drops. This may also cause the spray to form a texture on the surface of the canvas by spitting out too much coating. The quality of the gun and the size of the nozzle also determines how smooth and even the spray applies.”

The biggest challenge for a PSP working with a liquid laminator is keeping the machine running smoothly. To do so, it is important that it regularly undergoes maintenance. Machine settings should also be addressed on a consistent basis to ensure it is working in an optimum environment.

If applying by a roller, ink lifting can occur. This happens when the roller is allowed the time to dry completely. Clementi recommends two coats, one vertically and let dry completely, and then apply the second coat horizontally.

Another common concern is streaking. If there are thicker lines where the edges of the roller applied the coating, go back over them and level them out while still wet. This eliminates any form of streaking.

When using a roller or brush, Perkins cautions against pushing down too hard, the result is bubbling. “Bubbling can also be a result of an incompatibility with the inkjet receptive layer and the coating, causing the air in the pores of the inkjet receptive layer to be pushed to the surface—but nine times out of ten it is just pushing down too hard with the roller or brush.”

Aside from method deficiencies, the coating itself could create some challenges. “Before the liquid coating can be applied, it must be thoroughly mixed. If it is over agitated, bubbles that cannot be popped may appear. To avoid issues like outgassing, reticulation, and streaking, the coating must work well with the print,” explains Goodman.

Coatings should never be mixed with a wood-based product, according to Vermillion. “Never allow wood, cardboard, or newspaper to come in contact with your coating or prints. This can and will likely cause acid contamination and yellow prints.”

Much like a coating can cause difficulties, so too can the canvas. It is important to match the canvas type with the coating. “Water-based liquid laminates are designed for use with water-resistant canvases printed with UV or pigmented inks. If you try to coat a regular canvas with pigmented inks, then the liquid coating will lift the inks,” advises Harris.

“Using a moisture sensitive canvas, as opposed to a matte water-resistant canvas, can cause cracking. It is important to remember that if you are using a moisture-sensitive canvas, you need to use a solvent-based coating as opposed to a water-based coating,” advises Perkins.

Some canvases also have a pre-coat that may cause bubbles. “Although the majority of canvases can be coated properly with the liquid coating, some canvases have a pre-coat that causes excessive bubbles. Instead of the bubbles popping and drying smoothly, they dry into craters,” cautions Harris.

Coatings
The benefits of using liquid coatings for canvas prints outweigh any challenges. It is important to understand the different application methods before starting a project. When the correct combination is used, the result is a protected canvas print.

Jan2016, Digital Output