MTEX3200 and MTEX 1.6 meter textile printers being evaluated

MTEX 1.6 at DIGIDELTA booth, Grapisphag, Barcelona 2011

Two of us from FLAAR went to Europe to test-drive the new MTEX printer. We also visited the factory where the heat fixation sublimation unit is manufactured (in Europe, not in China).

MTEX UF 3200 heat fixation system

 

Dr. Nicholas Hellmut with Marco Sousa and Silvia Herrera at MTEX heat fixation factory.

Then we did a customer site-visit inspection in Spain, of how the printer functions out in the real world. The first edition of the report is now being prepared.

The growing trend is soft signage

Everyone is coming out with new textile printers. The boom in soft signage that was predicted ten years ago never happened back then, but has been taking off now. 2011-2012 are clearly years for soft signage.

An even newer trend is backlit using textiles

Now that super-thin LED-illuminated backlit panels are available you can offer your clients gorgeous backlit with a fabric surface (you can get information from Carlos Alves of Decal).

Previously these were printed with UV-cured inks. But why buy a quarter-million-dollar printer that requires UV-curing? Now you can do this with disperse dye sublimation fixation process: direct-to-fabric, with a MTEX printer for example.

A third trend is fabrics for wall covering

If you hire a wallpaper company, they can apply old-fashioned wallpaper. If you want to cover your own walls, this you can do yourself with self-adhesive wall paper. Decal makes this kind of material, with a fabric so you walls have a textile texture.

If 1.6 or 1.8m dye sub is not enough, there is now 3.2 meter system: MTEX

When you go to Chinese expos you can find a dozen different 1.6 or 1.8 meter disperse dye sublimation printers on exhibit. The sublimation units are made by Century Star or Shanghai Color. There are several FLAAR Reports on textile printers seen at these sign shows.

MTEX 1.6 at DIGIDELTA booth, Graphispag, Barcelona 2011

But these are for basic beginning-with-dye-sub printshops. If you already know there is a market for serious production, then you need a 3.2 meter machine (5-meter machines are not practical since you can’t yet get adequate textiles in 5-meter widths).

Several 3.2 meter machines are available, but all are priced from $250,000 up to over $400,000. The MTEX is below $200,000 (depending on the exchange rate of the Euro).

MTEX 3200 at DIGIDELTA booth, Graphispag, Barcelona 2011

Several 3.2 meter machines are available, but most of their picoliter drop sizes are large. The advantage of the MTEX is that drop size is 8 picoliters. Yet since it offers variable droplet size, you can get larger drop sizes when you need them.

There is a separate FLAAR Report on the MTEX3200

This web page does not need to repeat what is already in the FLAAR Report on the MTEX 3200 and MTEX 1600. You can download this report at no cost (should be ready first week of April). You can also ask the folks at PODiberia about their MTEX printer and ask the folks at Decal about the media.

Dye sublimation fixation unit is made in Europe: not in China

I visited the factory in Europe where they make the dye sublimation fixation unit, which is engineered by Marco Sousa of PODiberia, the developers of the MTEX solution.

Recent update May 2011.

Prepared March 21, 2011, one day before Graphispag expo, Barcelona.
Posted after visiting demo room, factory in Europe where the sublimation unit is made, and visiting customer site in Spain.