Printing JPEG on treated silk

[kcyocum]

Anyone have experiences to share re: printing digital images on silk?

When trying to do the math on printer ink delivery system, silk thread stitch quality, JPEG DPI, etc.. I got dizzy and passed out for a month.

Any suggestions and/0r recommendations why this will fail and find another project would be a great excuse to have a pint of dark n tan.

I have no will to do this at home. I would take this to a printer who works primarily with silk products but not DSLR JPEG reproductions. The examples I have seen from some printing companies so far are similar to a 120x120 kb digital image enlarged to 8x10 on matte canvas.

The silk I would be using will have the about the same qualities to absorb and retain ink as 1000x cotton fabric. This is only BW--2 colour with grey scale.

Help me figure out what won't work--so I can figure if it can.

Thanks Mates....Kevin

[pnodrog]

The only reason you do not seem to be getting much of a response I assume is because not many of us have tried printing on silk. There is a thread on printing on canvas and you may get a little bit of information there.

I would certainly be interested to know how successful printing on silk is and what problems needed to be sorted out.

[kcyocum]

The process is certainly interesting---and complicated. There is a refined process converting the basic pixel algorithm digitally to a film. This currently is done by a few programs -I believe RIP is one-the first obstacle is the quality of the digital transfer from pixel to film---which is then used as the positive/negative through the standard print process--then ink printed to any surface.

I do not speak the local dialect here so discussing technical terms is futile. If there is any progress worth sharing I certainly will update this post. thanks.

[Ady]

Hi Kevin,

I've had prints produced on silk and other fabrics, but I'm afraid I can't offer you anything particularly useful in terms of the specifics of the print process.

The print companies here in the UK handle all the specifics, you choose from their range of fabrics and print processes and they give you the requirements of the image file for that print process on that particular fabric. They have also been happy to discuss the optimum processing for specific images, such as making suggestions regarding tone and colour adjustments to get the best result depending on the fabric and print process chosen.

Bear in mind when selecting fabrics that as a rule the finer the thread and the denser the weave the better the detail. Also if you are thinking about fabrics that will be worn and washed, exposed to the elements or be subject to stretching and general manhandling then a dye sublimation process will produce more robust and longer lasting prints, if slightly less detailed than a typical coated/ink jet process.

In terms of size the maximum is usually 1.6m wide (typical roll width) and as long as you want.

Depending on use you may also want to consider fabrics that will take fire retardant treatments and meet any local regulations regarding furnishings.

Cheers,
A

[kcyocum]

Thanks for the worthwhile information. I have found many printing processes available for textiles ranging from tie dye to manufacturing textile companies with the latest technology which is all digital. Of course using the latest methods used by the large textile manufacturer's is out of my financial reach. The products I have in mind will not be worn or bear any physical activity. If the idea was so great then why hasn't it been used more widely?

In this current discovery process I have been able to answer many of my own questions but a few still remain. What began as questions about the image file qualifications for textile has become something else which takes the thread out of photography. Thanks for all the replies.