When it comes to printing textiles with inkjet, apparel, particularly T-shirts, comes quickly to mind. Other areas of interest with apparel include fast fashion, while soft signage and home decor are growth areas outside of clothing.

In terms of the strongest segments for digital printing of textiles, François Aguilar, chief commercial officer for Kao Chimigraf, pointed to direct-to-garment T-shirts; fast fashion apparel in cotton, silk, and viscose (reactive ink); fast fashion apparel in polyester (dye sublimation); and home textiles, with pigment inks starting to grow quickly.

“Looking ahead, digital printing is expanding its presence into various manufacturing industries,” added Aguilar.

“Strong segments for digital textile printing include fashion apparel, sportswear, home textiles, and soft signage,” said Paul Edwards, VP of the Digital Division at INX International. “These segments benefit from the customization, quick turnaround, and design flexibility offered by digital printing. The next big segment to make inroads could be the interior décor market. This includes areas such as digitally printed upholstery, curtains, and other home furnishings.

“The ability to offer personalized and on-demand designs,” added Edwards, “aligns well with the preferences of modern consumers in the home decor space. Technical textiles and functional fabrics used in medical or industrial applications could also be a promising area for future digital printing expansion.”

“The strongest segment for digitally printing textiles has been apparel, and more specifically T-shirts,” Tim Check, senior product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America,  said. “Further down the line, we expect there will be digital solutions to be more accessible to small business owners, such as those who run Etsy shops, giving consumers more access to creating their own printed apparel.”

“As inkjet represents less than 10 percent of total textile printing, it is not dominant in many segments where rolls of fabric are printed,” Simon Daplyn, product and marketing manager, Sun Chemical, pointed out. “However, one apparel segment has a significantly higher adoption rate—direct-to-garment printing.”

Daplyn noted that decorating T-shirts directly on digital printers has continued to grow and offers process efficiency and design flexibility not possible with other printing methods. “This has been strongly challenged in the last 18-24 months with the emergence of direct-to-film (DTF) printing where designs are printed to a polyethylene release film, backed with white ink and a powder resin and then heat transferred to substrates such as t-shirts, caps and accessories,” he added.

Don Whaley, VP of Kornit Digital Americas, pointed to apparel as the largest segment, followed by many other markets.

“Imprinted apparel has long been the strongest market for digital, especially as shrinking print runs have strained screen printers seeking to maintain profitability from their orders,” Whaley said. “We’ve seen considerable growth in areas of high fashion, branded/licensed gear, sports and teamwear, accessories, home furnishings, even automotive applications.

“Since the proliferation of web-based design tools, and especially the market shifts that came with the pandemic, the need to fulfill do-it-yourself (DIY) projects has created a wealth of new opportunities, especially for custom-printed materials to be cut and sewn by the purchasers themselves,” added Whaley. “We’ve seen designers using this technology with latex and leather applications, and to simulate lace, distressed surfaces, and other innovative concepts that would not have been possible before.

“We’re even exploring the use of 3D/textured printing to help suppliers repurpose materials which have fallen out of favor and are otherwise just taking up warehouse space,” Whaley noted. “Because digital impressions have strong fastness to wash, rub, and light, the possibilities for new applications are considerable, and we’re continuing to explore them.”

Gabriela Kim, DuPont brand and marketing manager, said that direct-to-film (DTF) segment has grown in double-digits in the recent years, as per in-dustry reports, and will continue to show high growth.

“It’s amazing to see how fast this technology has gained share in digital printing,” Kim observed. “Because of its ease of use, low investment, and flexibility, it is disrupting not only in-kind compe-tition within digital, but even replacing analog technologies. As we saw various DTF printers launched in the last few years and many new upcoming, this is definitely a segment to watch.”

“Digital printing is also used widely in sign and display markets printing for flag, signage, exhibition displays and more. In this segment, sublimation printing dominates, and the benefits of digital print are significant,” said Daplyn.

Daplyn added that other areas where growth is strong are in fashion and sports.

“In fashion, designs change regularly and the need for a rapid response to the consumer is paramount, meaning that digital printing is the best method for production,” Daplyn noted. “Additionally, with the switch in consumer mindset from disposable fashion, shorter runs of more differentiated designs with high quality fabrics and inks mean greater garment longevity and is best met by digital printing. We will see a strong growth in pigment printing aligned to this due to the perceived sustainability benefits of a low water, low energy process. As more markets adopt this model, the level of digital adoption will continue to grow.”