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Printing Industry Exchange (printindustry.com) is pleased to have Steven Waxman writing and managing the Printing Industry Blog. As a printing consultant, Steven teaches corporations how to save money buying printing, brokers printing services, and teaches prepress techniques. Steven has been in the printing industry for thirty-three years working as a writer, editor, print buyer, photographer, graphic designer, art director, and production manager.

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Commercial Printing: Inkjet Printing for Interior Design

I found a most interesting article on www.inkworldmagazine.com on 7/18. I had been reading articles on the growth of inkjet printing as a tool for interior design, and I was aware that, like package design, corrugated board printing, fabric decoration, and large format printing, the use of inkjet technology in building interiors has been a growth industry within the overall commercial printing universe.

The inkworldmagazine article is entitled “Mimaki: Five Ways to Improve Interior Decoration with Digital Printing.” It was written by Mark Sollman, application manager at Mimaki.

The article references five separate areas of interior décor design that can benefit from inkjet printing, which is one of the strengths of Mimaki. The five areas referenced in the article are wallpaper, upholstery, glass, tiles, and wood, and all together they provide enough printable surface area within a building interior to dramatically distinguish one company (or even a personal residence) from another.

(I also have used Mimaki’s digital, knife-cutting equipment, through a commercial printing vendor, for a custom printing client who needed digitally printed and diecut stickers, which can be produced all at once on the same Mimaki equipment, without the need for a separate metal cutting die.)

Wallpaper

Sollman’s article distinguishes past eras of wallpaper–which could be simple and perhaps even boring in their generic qualities–from the current version of wallpaper, which can be produced on any number of substrates (with or without texture). These can include any number of patterns provided by the wallpaper company or even by the client himself/herself, affording an uniquely personalized approach. (For instance, a client can choose a particular color scheme or even base a wallpaper design on a personal photograph.)

Given the nature of inkjet printing, particularly on these substrates, wallpaper decoration can be especially fast and easy, leading to reasonable costs for highly individualized interior design.

Upholstery

I had mentioned above that fabric decoration has been appearing in the articles I’ve been reading (albeit mostly in terms of clothing design). However, in “Mimaki: Five Ways to Improve Interior Decoration with Digital Printing,” Sollman broadens this to include everything from sheets and drapes to the covering of chairs and couches.

Again, the nature of inkjet custom printing allows for easy and affordable decoration of these items, making a person’s interior environment completely unique, and involving not only patterns but also the different textures available. For instance, inkjet printing can be applied to everything from silk to the thicker fabrics used on chairs and couches. In addition, Sollman’s article notes that, depending on the fabric substrate, sublimation printing can be used to achieve brilliant coloration, even including tropical colors. And, as with the other products in the Mimaki article, upholstery printing can be done even for a single item or select products in an environmental design while still being cost-effective.

Glass

Sollman’s article then moves on to glass decoration, noting that UV inks can be applied successfully to non-porous substrates, since UV light will cure UV inks instantly and adhere them to the base material, all while retaining the intensity of their coloration.

What this does is allow for personalized and intricate decoration of windows. (For example, you can create a memorable window treatment for a conference room that will provide both privacy and also an aesthetic appearance. Or, you can decorate the windows in a large hotel lobby in an artful way.) And due to the nature of printing with UV ink, the inks will be durable and resistant to scratching and water, unlike prior generations of inks.

Floor Tiles

Just as the new technology in inkjet printing can produce striking results on glass, Sollman’s article notes that printing on floor tiles is now a viable option for interior decoration. Due to the precision of inkjet custom printing, it is possible to produce an intricate design that extends across multiple tiles and creates a large mural effect. This can be used for a wall treatment or even a swimming pool, given the water resistant nature of UV inkjet inks. (In addition, I have read other articles that describe top-coating products that will increase the rub resistance of tile surfaces, protecting the inkjetted imagery in spite of heavy foot traffic.)

Wood

Finally, Sollman’s article, “Mimaki: Five Ways to Improve Interior Decoration with Digital Printing,” addresses inkjet printing on wood. What I find interesting about printing on wood is twofold. First of all, it is thick. Fortunately, as Sollman notes, some large-format flatbed inkjet presses can accommodate thick substrates, including doors. So you can basically print right on the object itself rather than on an adhesive substrate that you would then affix to the wood.

Or, depending on your design, you might want to print on wood panels, which can then be attached to walls. Or, you could just print on wood objects, depending on the kind of inkjet printer you use.

In addition, I would think that without any kind of barrier coating (like a shellac or varnish), the wood would provide an unevenly porous surface for the inkjet ink. Fortunately, as Sollman points out, UV inks can sidestep this issue. The inks will sit up on the surface of the wood, rather than seeping into the wood, because of the instant-curing nature of UV inks when exposed to UV light.

The article does not address laminates, but I have read other articles that describe interesting effects that can be achieved by printing on wood that is later coated (like laminated surfboards and such). So there might be similar applications in the realm of interior design.

What You Can Learn from This Article

    1. Inkjet custom printing makes all of this possible and affordable. Prior to the advent of inkjet printing (and UV inkjet printing in particular), such alternatives as screen printing would have been too labor intensive and costly, and therefore would not have been appropriate for a “one-off” interior design treatment. Inkjet printing makes this possible and affordable.

 

    1. The growth of inkjet printing for interior design is apparently quite dramatic. If you are a designer, it’s wise to take note. This could be your future in a world where many printed products such as print books, newspapers, and magazines are becoming less prevalent.

 

    1. UV inks allow you to print on almost anything, while keeping the ink up on the surface of the substrate. They are also very durable in terms of rub resistance and water-fastness.

 

    1. Practically any kind of interior you can imagine, you can create. In addition, it’s much easier and cheaper to change what is essentially the “skin,” or surface treatment, of an environment. (Wallpaper can be changed much more easily in a hotel lobby than interior walls can be torn down, moved, and rebuilt.)

 

    1. Non-porous substrates are printable (such as glass). This is new, and it is the result of advances in UV-curable inkjet printing.

 

  1. Thick substrates are not a problem. If you can print on a door, you can print on practically anything.

It’s wise, and potentially very profitable, for you to keep abreast of this technology.

2 Responses to “Commercial Printing: Inkjet Printing for Interior Design”

  1. minecraft says:

    Quality content is the main to interest the visitors to visit the site, that’s what this website is providing.

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