ImagesMagUK_June_2021

www.images-magazine.com 26 images JUNE 2021 TIPS & TECHNIQUES H ybrid printing, where screen and digital printing are applied together, is a growing area, especially for those doing licensed prints. It may feel a big jump to make, but with the 130% tax rebate on equipment announced earlier this year by the government, we’ve already seen a large increase in the number of people asking about the Roq Hybrid. It makes that is kept clean, and, of course, it needs regular maintenance. It’s like a car: if you look after it, it’ll keep running for years. As for space, hybrids can be used on either an oval or a circular press. The minimum size circular machine you’ll need is a 14-pallet, as this will allow you to offer not just hybrid prints but special effects as well, like foil or flock, which add that extra something retailers require. When a company like Coca- Cola or Disney can get a digital print with unlimited colours with a special effect, it ticks all the boxes for them. The buyers are always looking for something new. Everybody’s seen a Mickey Mouse print, but when foils are added and millions of colours are possible, then that is great. If you’re a commission printer, that’s more of a challenge because it’s harder to sell the product. But if you’re already doing a lot of licence or promotional work, then it makes sense every day of the week to move to hybrid, because rather than be limited by the size of the machine as to the colours you can offer, now you’ve got an option to offer as many colours as you want, including photographic images. Industry experts provide insight and guidance in all areas of digital garment and textile printing Digital helpdesk Alex Taylor, machinery sales manager at I-Sub, the UK distributor for the Roq range of presses, discusses the practical issues decorators need to consider when moving into hybrid printing Alex Taylor of I-Sub sense: garment decorators can reduce the size of the machines because fewer screens are needed, yet still get the same quality output. The right customer base Hybrid is great if you’re doing short to long runs and you’re looking to achieve a price of around 20p a print or less. If you want to do multiple one-offs, then direct-to-garment printers such as Kornit are probably more suitable. Licence work for big brands such as Disney is perfect for hybrid machines, as they tend to want lots of colours at a low price, plus you can use special effects to create a masterpiece! Moving from screen print to hybrid is relatively simple as you’ll already understand how to separate the white underbase, and realise that you need two operators: one to load the machine, another to offload. For those who haven’t used digital printers before, you need to understand that the hybrid system needs to be set up in a temperature-controlled room Vibrant, detailed prints with special effects are possible on the Roq Hybrid