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You may have seen the phrase ‘direct to embroidery’ floating around for the last couple of months. In this article, Folker Stachetzki, head of marketing at Brother, explains more about this new technique and how it can benefit you.
Direct to embroidery (DTE) stands for no more than the combination of embroidery and direct to garment printing – embroidered designs with a 1200dpi print on top in unprecedented precision.
Whether large runs or personalised small runs – it makes no difference for this combination.
This opens up completely new possibilities in the finishing of embroidery – where otherwise different coloured threads are used or have to be dyed, they can now be finished with a white thread and the Brother GTX series printers in CMYK mode to achieve almost photorealistic results.
Expansion of possibilities
Brother introduced this concept at FESPA Global Print Expo in March, expanding the possibilities for decoration for decorators using a GTXpro series printer. Through the use of a high-resolution camera and specially developed software, the print design and embroidery are combined to create a unique and outstanding look. Once connected with the printer, the camera system recognises the position of the embroidery placed on the printing plate and forwards the print image to the printer at the exact position of the embroidery.
Furthermore, this workflow is very user-friendly, because there is no need to align the embroidery image in detail on the printing plate. There is no need to align the embroidery in detail on the printing plate. This is because the camera system scans the embroidery regardless of whether it is turned or upside down on the printing platen. The camera’s scanning ensures that the print is positioned exactly on the stitch. This eliminates misprints almost completely.
There is no need to convert the GTXpro series printers for this process. All that is required is to connect the camera and the associated software to the printer. In addition, the process for this innovative printing method on an embroidery is identical to classic direct to garment printing.
What is special about DTE is that only a white thread is required for the embroidery. The white embroidery image can be finished with water-based and GOTS-certified Brother inks. This opens up many unique possibilities in the embroidery sector: bright and bold colours, colour gradients, transparencies and a fast workflow.
Simpler options
This process will give producers more and, above all, simpler options for colour customisation – the colours or colour gradations in which the customer’s desired design is produced can be chosen completely freely and easily shortly before production. The combination with a direct to garment printer also opens up completely new, cost-effective personalisation options. The embroidered design of your choice with personalisation, for example a name, is no problem.
In addition, larger quantities can of course also be pre-embroidered and printed at a later stage – whether this is done in the same production process or the textile print is applied externally depends on the type of production and capacity.
Feedback
When this solution was presented for the first time at FESPA, visitors were particularly impressed by the speed and precision with which the image can be printed.
Producers in particular, who already have a broad product portfolio, showed great interest in integrating this solution into their production, as it can be implemented without much effort.
Some embroidery companies have also shown interest because, as described above, it is possible to realise motifs that would otherwise not be possible or would only be possible with a great deal of effort.
All of this opens up completely new ways of finishing and is not only the first ever clear link between digital direct textile printing and classic embroidery, but also opens up new synergy opportunities for both sides – the textile printer and the embroiderer.
