TEXTILPLUS FACHARTIKEL AUSGABE 11/12-2019 25 Software and workflow topics are often underrepresented in the machine-dominated textile industry, but they have a critical influence on quality and profitability. Professional color management, for example, enables technology-agnostic printing of textiles or networked printing across remote locations. RIP TECHNOLOGY, COLORIMETRY AND COLOR MANAGEMENT IN DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING ■ ■ ■ Inkjet printing on textiles has many advantages: there is no need to make printing forms or screens, which makes the process ideal for smaller runs and enables the economic production of personalized and individualized prints. Ink- jet-based processes are also preferred for printing photo- graphic images. However, there are also some challenges to be mastered: on the one hand, ink is absorbed by fabrics, so the textile or fabric must first be pre-treated. The differ- ent types of fibers, dyeing techniques and finishings of the base material provide a wealth of changing parameters as well. Still, customers have high expectations of the print qual- ity: despite the relatively uneven surface, they expect a de- tailed and well-resolved print with a large color gamut. In direct-to-garment printing, the substrate is often a dark or black garment. In such cases, the use of white ink is a basic requirement for the printing process, because the CMYK inks used are not opaque but translucent. Without a white underbase, the print would be hardly visible. Sometimes white logos, halftone designs or even white photos are printed on dark textiles, which requires control of the linear reproduction of tonal values. In textile roll-to-roll printing, on the other hand, printing is mostly done on white or at least light-colored fabrics so textile roll-to-roll printing sys- tems usually do not feature white ink. In both direct-to-garment and roll-to-roll printing, addi- tional colors such as red and green are often used for extend- ing the color gamut. This means that, together with white and the subtractive primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), sometimes up to seven primary colors have to be managed. The RIP: the data preparation hub All these and more tasks are fulfilled by the RIP and color management solution. In the closer sense of the word, a RIP («Raster Image Processor») is a software or hardware compo- nent that converts print data into the output format of the press. This is not trivial because the popular PDF format, which is often used in prepress, stores information in a resolution-independent way whenever possible. The letter T, for example, is not defined as a collection of pixels but as a «vector graphic» consisting of basic geometric shapes such as lines, circles and curves. The core task of a RIP is to convert such image descriptions into the actual print resolution and raster format of the attached printing system. In practice, however, machine operators call practically any software a «RIP» that is used to control the printing system – even if it does nothing more than passing on existing pixel data, e.g. from Photoshop, to the printing system more or less un- changed. Professional RIPs, such as the Textile Production- server from ColorGATE, are characterized by the following OLIVER LUEDTKE Dipl.-Ing. Chief Marketing Officer ColorGATE DE-30171 Hannover [email protected]
5
Embed
RIP TECHNOLOGY, COLORIMETRY AND COLOR MANAGEMENT …€¦ · 12-11-2019 · Inkjet printing on textiles has many advantages: there is no need to make printing forms or screens, which
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
TEXTILPLUS
FACHARTIKEL
AUSGABE 11/12-2019 25
Software and workflow topics are often underrepresented in the machine-dominated textile industry, but they have a critical influence on quality and profitability. Professional color management, for example, enables technology-agnostic printing of textiles or networked printing across remote locations.
RIP TECHNOLOGY, COLORIMETRY AND COLOR MANAGEMENT IN DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING
■ ■ ■
Inkjet printing on textiles has many advantages: there is
no need to make printing forms or screens, which makes
the process ideal for smaller runs and enables the economic
production of personalized and individualized prints. Ink-
jet-based processes are also preferred for printing photo-
graphic images. However, there are also some challenges
to be mastered: on the one hand, ink is absorbed by fabrics,
so the textile or fabric must first be pre-treated. The differ-
ent types of fibers, dyeing techniques and finishings of the
base material provide a wealth of changing parameters as
well.
Still, customers have high expectations of the print qual-
ity: despite the relatively uneven surface, they expect a de-
tailed and well-resolved print with a large color gamut. In
direct-to-garment printing, the substrate is often a dark or
black garment. In such cases, the use of white ink is a basic
requirement for the printing process, because the CMYK
inks used are not opaque but translucent. Without a white
underbase, the print would be hardly visible. Sometimes
white logos, halftone designs or even white photos are
printed on dark textiles, which requires control of the linear
reproduction of tonal values. In textile roll-to-roll printing,
on the other hand, printing is mostly done on white or at
least light-colored fabrics so textile roll-to-roll printing sys-
tems usually do not feature white ink.
In both direct-to-garment and roll-to-roll printing, addi-
tional colors such as red and green are often used for extend-
ing the color gamut. This means that, together with white
and the subtractive primary colors cyan, magenta, yellow
and black (CMYK), sometimes up to seven primary colors
have to be managed.
The RIP: the data preparation hubAll these and more tasks are fulfilled by the RIP and color
management solution. In the closer sense of the word, a RIP
(«Raster Image Processor») is a software or hardware compo-
nent that converts print data into the output format of the
press. This is not trivial because the popular PDF format,
which is often used in prepress, stores information in a
resolution-independent way whenever possible. The letter T,
for example, is not defined as a collection of pixels but as a
«vector graphic» consisting of basic geometric shapes such
as lines, circles and curves. The core task of a RIP is to convert
such image descriptions into the actual print resolution and
raster format of the attached printing system. In practice,
however, machine operators call practically any software a
«RIP» that is used to control the printing system – even if it
does nothing more than passing on existing pixel data, e.g.
from Photoshop, to the printing system more or less un-
changed. Professional RIPs, such as the Textile Production-
server from ColorGATE, are characterized by the following