Printing on fabrics-- ICC profiles and suggestions

[sfblue]

Hi,

I'm printing on an Epson 7900 and very occasionally I print on fabrics.  I have rolls of jacquard fabrics-- indian dupion, crepe georgette, and mostly Habotai.   In the past, I've been a clueless experimenter (actually I am still a fairly clueless experimenter!) and just tried a bunch of different profiles for different fabrics.   I would happily purchase profiles for these fabrics if they were available.  I've also made my own profiles for normal photo paper with the spyder 3 (although I've never been happy with anything I've made myself and ended up buying some good profiles from Eric Chan.)  

a.)  Does anyone have profiles for these fabrics or know where I can get/buy them?   I don't think I can get profiles made for fabrics the same way you can for normal photo papers.
b.) If not, any suggestions on other profiles which work ok for the habotai silk for example?
c.) Any other suggestions/tips on settings, etc in printing on fabrics?

Thanks,

Dan

[Sven W]

a.)  Does anyone have profiles for these fabrics or know where I can get/buy them?   I don't think I can get profiles made for fabrics the same way you can for normal photo papers.
b.) If not, any suggestions on other profiles which work ok for the habotai silk for example?
c.) Any other suggestions/tips on settings, etc in printing on fabrics?

Thanks,

Dan

Dan,
I print on cotton and polyester fabrics sometimes. Do you print with the driver or a third-party RIP?

I know that it's tricky to make own profiles on these materials, there are devices (spectrophotometers) designed for those.
Spectro for textiles

My own workaround is simple: The very useful "Enhanced Matt" profile with Mk-ink !
Gives almost every time a good graybalance and then I usually fiddle with the Color / Ink density, esp. to avoid "overinking"
(9900 & 11880 printers)
/Sven

[lmwacctg]

I've had the same issues with my Epson R2880. I'll give your solution a try. and report back if I can get reasonable results.

Thanks to the both of you for bringing this up and providing a suggestion.

[shewhorn]

a.)  Does anyone have profiles for these fabrics or know where I can get/buy them?   I don't think I can get profiles made for fabrics the same way you can for normal photo papers.

Why not? If you can run it through your printer and print a target on it then it ought to be profilable in some way.

The folks I would talk to are Chromix http://www.chromix.com (click on color services) as they have an arsenal of equipment for building profiles and Scott Martin (not sure if he's in the business of just building one of ICC profiles but he has an arsenal of gear and know how as well, he watches these forums too). http://www.on-sight.com

Cheers, Joe

[jule]

Hi,

I'm printing on an Epson 7900 and very occasionally I print on fabrics.  I have rolls of jacquard fabrics-- indian dupion, crepe georgette, and mostly Habotai.   In the past, I've been a clueless experimenter (actually I am still a fairly clueless experimenter!) and just tried a bunch of different profiles for different fabrics.   I would happily purchase profiles for these fabrics if they were available.  I've also made my own profiles for normal photo paper with the spyder 3 (although I've never been happy with anything I've made myself and ended up buying some good profiles from Eric Chan.)  

a.)  Does anyone have profiles for these fabrics or know where I can get/buy them?   I don't think I can get profiles made for fabrics the same way you can for normal photo papers.
b.) If not, any suggestions on other profiles which work ok for the habotai silk for example?
c.) Any other suggestions/tips on settings, etc in printing on fabrics?

Thanks,

Dan

Dan, you can get profiles made for the fabrics in exactly the same way as for any other paper. You just have to be mindful of the ink load and allocate the paper an appropriate media setting and adjust the ink density.

I have used jacquard fabrics - habotai silk and the crepe georgette , printed with my Epson 9900 for my exhibitions. Because of the nature of the work I was doing and the effect I was trying to convey, I ended up going for black and white rather than colour though.

The profiles can be made quite accurately, but do require expert attention and a bit of time to fiddle around to get it right.

Julie

[framah]

Just to ask a question here... when you print on fabric, do you use dye inks or pigment inks?

Always wanted to print on fabric but really don't want to have a printer dedicated for just that.

[jule]

Just to ask a question here... when you print on fabric, do you use dye inks or pigment inks?

Always wanted to print on fabric but really don't want to have a printer dedicated for just that.

Pigment  
Epson 9900

Julie

[Colorwave]

Jacquard makes a line called Fabrisign for pigment that does not require steam setting and is wateproof (at least with HP inks), but not "washable".  They also make a line for dyes that are steam set and supposed to be fully washable called ProCoat.  I've tried Indian and Chinese Dupion, Habotai, and Crepe de Chine silks, with variable results.  I still haven't gotten particularly saturated colors, and have built my own profiles with HP APS.  For images that don't require screamingly bright colors, the results are quite pleasing.  I'm currently printing on Lycra for some swimsuit prototypes, and the colors are much better on that.  The best prices for Jacquard fabrics are not direct from them, but from Dharma Trading, who ironically drop ships direct from Jacquard.  Their 6' x 42' sample rolls for $26 are a relatively painless way to experiment, and they also have swatchbooks that are available.