Get Your Questions Answered on Digital Textile Printing

Brian Hite

Interested in printing fabrics for signage, garments or home furnishings?

Join a panel of experts, coordinated by SGIA's Digital Textile Committee, for an in-depth discussion on breaking into or expanding your business in one of the fastest growing market segments of print. Whether you already digitally print textiles, or are thinking of entering this market, this panel session can provide the answers to accelerate your success.

Brian Hite, principal and co-founder of Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based Image Options, and a member of SGIA’s Board of Directors, will moderate the session. In this dynamic, interactive session, a panel of leading digital textile experts – including printers, educators, and textile, machine and dye and chemical suppliers – will take topics and questions from the audience.

“The State of Digital Printing will be held Wednesday, October 23^rd at 2:00pm in Room C140.

Rick Mandel

The panel includes Michael Sanders, director of printable textiles and finishing technology, Top Value Fabrics (Booth 8838); Hitoshi Ujiie, professor at Thomas Jefferson University; Ken Bach, business development director, Aberdeen Fabrics (Booth 7244) and a member of SGIA’s Digital Textile and Décor Committee; Rick Mandel, president, Mandel Graphic Solutions; and Toren Prawdzik, president, Photo EVO.

Areas of expertise range from graphic textile applications such as trade show graphics and in-store signage to wide-format printing, both rollfed and flatbed, for such applications as posters, banners, trade-show graphics, window/door graphics, vehicle graphics, POP displays, dye-sublimation printing on textiles, dyeing printing and finishing – both cotton and polyester fabrics.

Ken Bach

“Our panel is comprised of digital textile experts with a range of knowledge,” notes Bach. “My area comprises graphic textile applications, such as trade show graphic, in-store signage, etc. I can also address the type of textiles and equipment  used for these applications.

Mandel and Prawdzik will offer a provider perspective. Mandel, the fourth-generation owner of a 125+- year-old family business, will share his expertise on fabric signage for the event and retail environments. Prawdzik prints commercially for businesses for B2B, but also has retail storefronts where he serves small businesses. He also has an apparel and promotional products company. “I will have a view point from a smaller run, more customized product base,” he explains.

The panel will cover a range of technical and business topics, including:

• Identification and understanding of potential applications and markets for digitally printed textiles
• How do you digitally image a textile? What process is used most in each application?
• Business of doing business. What do I wish I knew then that I know now?
• Pricing, market pricing vs cost plus. Overhead, costs for facility, labor, administration, insurance, health & safety, equipment, and waste management.
• Fabric categories and types. How to choose the right material for your application. Color management, profiling.
• Sustainability and eco-friendly options in digitally printed textiles
• Now that I have printed material, what next? Finishing options for textiles

Whether you are new to fabric printing or an experienced shop, here’s your opportunity to have your questions answered.