The future of transfer printing - DST

The future of transfer printing
DST - Digital Screenprinting Technologies
Øster Søgade 10
1357 Copenhagen K.
Denmark
Contents
Who is DST?
 What does digital offer?
 Textile transfers
 Plastic decoration

Who is DST?

DST was founded to develop new industrial solutions that
combines digital printing with traditional printing technologies.
Based on the world-wide system patents that DST have for the
combination of digital printing with screenprinting, DST has
developed, markets and sells unique solution for producing textile
transfers, plastic transfers for IMD and self-adhesive transfers which
is an alternative to traditional self-adhesive labels or direct printing.
What does digital offer?

The development within digital printing has taken some major steps
since the early days. Today there is no discussion about quality or
reliability, it is a given for any industrial press.
Besides offering top quality printing, utilizing digital printing also
means that you are able to reprint any job with perfect color
matching, something which is extremely hard for other
technologies as the end result is affected by color mixing,
temperature, etc.
What does digital offer?

With digital printing, you can mix as many jobs as you want on one
sheet without loosing productivity, making production planning
much easier and dramatically reducing printing costs.
Today variable data printing is widely used by printers as it makes
it possible to completely personalize any product, either with a
serial number, name, logo, barcode, or make the print 100% variable.
This technology also means it is much easier to created limited
editions and to fight counterfeit products.
What does digital offer?

If the garments are sent to Europe or the US to be sold, using
transfers means that they can be decorated or marked as they are
sold, dramatically reducing the stock and cost for the seller since
they only have to stock unmarked/labelled t-shirts instead of having
to stock 8 different versions for different customers, without
knowing which ones will sell and how fast they will sell.
Examples of digital
Examples of digital
Examples of digital
Examples of digital
Examples of digital
Textile transfers

How does it work?
The artwork is printed digitally, at the same time films for the white
and adhesive screen is printed
Textile transfers

How does it work?
The two screens for printing the white and the adhesive is
developed
Textile transfers

How does it work?
The DST white is printed onto the artwork and the ink is cured
Textile transfers

How does it work?
The DST adhesive is printed on the white and the ink is cured
Textile transfers

How does it work?
The transfer is now ready to be transferred onto the intended
product
Textile transfers

Quality
The print quality is superior to anything produced with screen
printing of offset printing.
The transfer is extremely durable and will pass any wash test used
in the industry. The choice of different DST adhesives means that
transfers can be produced for high temperature washing, dry
cleaning, work wear and leisure wear.
Today the transfers have passed tests by:
Nike
Adidas
Fruit of the Loom
There is no rendering or change of quality from printed substrate
to end product
Textile transfers

The Green Aspect
The DST solution is an environmentally friendly system since
the transfers contains no:
PVC
Phthalates
APEO
The transfers can be Eco-tex certified since the toners used in
digital printing also are environmentally friendly
The transfers have passed skin irritation tests conducted by
one of the biggest clothing brands worldwide
Since all colors are printed digitally customers no longer need
to have a big stock of mixed colors are throw away excess
color
Textile transfers

Advantages
No need for expensive separations of multicolored jobs
Optimization of production as 2,3,4,5,….. colored jobs can be
mixed on one sheet
Low consumable cost per sheet / meter
Only printing white & adhesive on the screen press dramatically
minimizes time used for preparation, setup, waste, cleaning, etc.
Proofs printed on the press are actual production samples
Textile transfers

Security features
Impossible to copy with traditional printing
Use of variable data, from basic to advanced
Sequential or random numbering
Changing barcodes
Use of QR (Quick Response) barcodes
Textile transfers

Security features
Changing logo’s
Use security toner – invisible toner, light up under UV light
Use variable data together with security toner
Micro text
Special colors for specific accounts
Textile transfers

Examples of QR codes
Textile transfers

Examples of QR codes
Textile transfers

Examples of QR codes
Textile transfers

Examples of QR codes
Textile transfers

Examples of QR codes
Textile transfers

Target materials
Because of the choice of different adhesives from DST, transfers
can be produced that can be applied onto literally any type of
garment or material.
Some of these includes:
Spandex
Neoprene
Polyester
Cotton
Cotton blends
Stretch fabrics
Knit and woven materials
Polyurethane and PVC fabrics/films
Textile transfers

Applications
There are a number of applications for the textile transfer system
from DST, however the two major ones are:
Product decoration
Product marking/labeling
Textile transfers

Product decoration
Anything from chest logo's, back prints to numbering of
sportswear can be printed with the DST system. Unlike for
example offset printed transfers which has a “rough” feeling,
the DST transfers are very soft and have a nice feel.
Utilizing the digital printing technologies, companies can
create limited editions or personalized garments, thereby
increasing the value and interest in the garments. You could
imagine shirts with personalized greetings from a football or
baseball player.
Textile transfers

Product decoration
Or making individual shirts for the different players on team,
making a limited edition shirt when the team wins a certain match,
etc.
All of the above can be produced without any significant cost since
all that is needed is to print the artwork digitally and then screen
print the white and the adhesive. If this is to be produced
traditionally, up to 16 screens would be needed, or if printed in
offset, a high volume would be needed to justify the costs.
Textile transfers

Neck labels
The DST system offers a unique solution to the branding market –
branding, care instructions, etc. Today the garments are typically
branded either with woven or printed labels or a direct print in the
neck (typically 1 color). The limitations to the woven/printed labels
are that only limited amounts of information can be added to one
label since fine text & logo's can not be printed. This often results in
2 or 3 labels in each garment. Due to the technologies used to
produce the labels, it is expensive to add more colors and as most
end users do not like the labels since they irritates the skin, most
people removes the labels, thereby removing not only the care
instructions, but also the logo & brand name.
Textile transfers

Neck labels
Labels produced with the DST system can be produced in
either sheet or roll format so the labels can be supplied in
singles or rolls. Due to stability, the 75 or 100 micron liner is
used for the singles production, while the 36 micron liner is
used for the roll production. The advantage of the roll
production, is that the transfer time is no more than 2-3
seconds and the operator only has to place and replace the
garment to be labelled.
Textile transfers

Neck labels
Transfers produced with the DST system can also be used
for rebranding, as transfers can be produced that completely
covers and already existing label.
Due to the quality and fine details that digital printing offers,
all information can be included on one transfer: branding
(logo), care instructions, size and origin of the garment.
The fact that the transfers are printed on a polyester liner is
a big advantage in this market, since the transfers are sent to
locations that often have a high humidity, which can destroy
transfers printed on paper.
Textile transfers

Economy
Producing transfers with the DST system has a number of financial
advantages for the producer due to a number of reasons:
Standard prepress operation
Drastic reduction in amount of screens to be produced
Operator can run press and prepare jobs
Screen printer does not need to register x amount of screens
No inks have to be mixed and then stored or thrown away
All types of jobs can be combined on one sheet
Optimal usage of every sheet
Reduction of stock
The DST solution

Release liner
We offer a choice between paper or polyester release liner,
depending on the application, the printer or digital press that you
are going to use.
Polyester:
75 micron, cold peel.
Paper:
110 grams, hot peel
110 grams, cold peel
Both materials are available for toner based and HP-Indigo
enginees.
The DST solution

Ink
White ink – Water-Based, contains no Phthalates, APEO, PVC,
solvents or other harming chemicals.
Has superior opacity
Water-based adhesive – contains no Phthalates, APEO, PVC or
other harming chemicals.
With this adhesive it is possible to get Eco-Tex certification.
Plastisol-based adhesive – 3 different versions are available for
different applications
The DST solution

Turn-key
The complete DST system has been extensively tested and a
number of customers worldwide are running production with the
system every day.
The range of adhesives means it is possible to produce transfers
for any type of garment and at the same time pass all tests in the
market including skin irritation, high temperature washing, drycleaning, etc.
In short, the combination of digital and screen printing offers the
high quality, flexibility & durability that is in the market.
Plastic decoration

InMoldDecoration
Utilizing the DST patents, DST have developed the first digital
industrial solution for IMD production. Like with the textile
transfer system, the digital print is screen printed with a white or
clear ink & an adhesive specially formulated for the plastic the print
is to be molded into.
As the product is being molded, the print becomes part of the
object with an extremely high scratch resistance and a quality
which is superior to what the current technologies used have to
offer.
Plastic decoration

Hard surfaces
A new development from DST is a solution for hard surface
decoration.The application is developed for pail decoration, but will
also be attractive for a number of other applications within the
cosmetic and consumer goods industry.
The process is based on a special paper release liner, printable by
the HP-Indigo roll-fed devices. After printing, including white when
needed, the print is flood-coated with a special adhesive from DST.
The print is then ready to be applied to the pail/container by heat
and pressure in a roll-2-roll application.