I recently had the opportunity to attend PRINTING United 2024, which was held over three days at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It’s a very interesting show, featuring lots of innovations in digital printing. One of the clear trends was the rapid expansion in the digital textile printing space.

Analysts are predicting growth of greater than 10% annually in the digital textile printing market, and seeing the new equipment and software at the show confirms that new technologies are one of the keys to driving that expansion.

Talking with industry executives, the interest in direct-to-film (DTF) technologies was one of the most interesting trends this year. It almost seems like we are at a tipping point now, where screenprinters are thinking that the time is right, either because of lowering costs or technical improvements, to add a DTF printer to their production floor. This way, printers can handle both screen and digital jobs without having to outsource them.

This is also confirmed in my feature story, “Growth Continues in the Digital Textile Segment,” which begins on page 22. Ink and printing industry executives talked about what they are hearing from their customers, and the ability to print short runs or even single items in an environmentally friendly fashion is a major selling point.  As for the leading segments, ink industry experts point to apparel, soft signage and home furnishings as among the strongest growth areas.

There is plenty of room for digital printing to expand in the textile segment, and with new technologies emerging, it seems likely that digital textile printing should continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

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The October 2024 issue features Ink World’s annual Buyers’ Guide which provides the printing ink industry with its most comprehensive listing of raw materials, equipment and services, distributors and trade associations. In addition, you can also find our annual Buyers’ Guide online at ajay.ink.rodmanadmin.com. We hope you find it to be very helpful!