Digital Fabric Printing Machine or DFM is an automatic machine which prints on various fabrics. These include laser print, ink-jet print, or paper. It is used mainly for large-scale printing. A lot of business firms are turning to this method as an effective alternative to manual printing.
The most important parts of the DFM machine are print heads and toner. Print heads are those little machines that are responsible for taking the images from the computer/laptop and getting them onto fabric. There are various types of print heads and toners which are available in the market. You can choose one depending on the kind of material that you would like to print on.
There is also a need for you to do some market research before you actually start your project. You will be required to first do a survey on the various options available in the market to find out the best option for your needs. Digital fabric printing machine market size depends on the requirements of the customer. For instance, if you intend to use it for mass print a single large file then you can buy a machine having appropriate capabilities for that purpose. If you are looking for something which can be used to print a range of small items then it’s advisable to get the smaller machines.
Do a thorough market research to find out the price of the digital printing machine along with the price of the ink for the printer. Check with different vendors who sell digital fabric printers in your area and also do a web search to find out their prices. Check the spec sheets of the machine along with the user manual to find out all the features. If the digital fabric printer has certain special features like Auto Tracking, automated document management, high-quality image processing and other similar features, they will definitely increase the price of the machine. However, if all these features are missing in your printer then it will be more cost effective to buy the lower end printer.
Secondly, you have to decide how much you want to spend for the machine. If you are using digital textile printing machine to print large volumes of textiles like quilts or T-shirts then you will definitely need the help of a third party supplier for the printing process. The manufacturer of the digital fabric printing machine may not provide you with the accessories required for the printing process. It is always good to enquire from the suppliers if they have any such accessories which can be used along with your digital fabric printing machine.
The price range of the machine will also depend on the number of colors that the machine can print out. Some digital fabric machine manufacturers give additional features such as the anti-static feature, which will help the users to reduce the amount of electric currents used. Moreover, some manufacturers offer various kinds of maintenance-free warranties which will also help the users to get the benefits at low rates.
Before buying the machine, you also have to know about the difference between the conventional ink supply and the electronic one. In case of the former, the ink supply is provided by a push button while the latter requires a motor-driven mechanism for the ink supply. There is a wide gap between the quality of the prints that you get from the print heads of the conventional machines and that from the electronic ones. Many users prefer the non-electronic print heads because they find it easier to adjust the color and resolution of the print heads.
Currently, there are two types of manufacturers of the fabric printing machine market: Colorjet and Hewlett Packard. While Colorjet is leading in the global markets, HP also has its own share in the global markets. Both the manufacturers offer machines with full color support, high resolution and affordable price. Thus, we can say that the competition in this area is tough. Only the top products can survive in the digital textile printing machine market.
