Kornit Digital has announced a new series of digital inks that is designed for use with all of its direct-to-garment systems. Being previewed at FESPA 2015 (Hall 8, stand E8), the new NeoPigment Pure formulation is designed as an organic evolution of the company’s existing NeoPigment process and brings users a host of benefits including increased vivacity, an improved hand feel and a more opaque and smooth reproduction of white.
Kornit Digital’s NeoPigment Pure ink comprises CMYK plus red, green and white and is formulated to supersede the company’s existing ink families by providing color standards that are closer to ideal LAB values. Improved overall smoothness resulting in an increased gamut of more than 15%, is accompanied by a deeper black (K), while the white ink has greater brightness and opacity with greater coverage.
With a refined hand feel, Kornit’s NeoPigment Pure ink offers reduced post-print odour, and is suitable for use on virtually all fabric types with the added benefit of offering 100% sustainability and biodegradability. The ink is fully compliant with OekoTex 100 and is GOTS pre-approved.
In addition, the new NeoPigment Pure ink has been designed to increase the performance of the Kornit Digital direct-to-garment systems’ print-heads with faster start-up and better reliability. The new ink also offers better wash-fastness, a longer shelf life and the likelihood of waste is vastly reduced. Once commercially available, the new inks will be able to be used with all of Kornit’s direct-to-garment printing systems in the field, without any hardware changes.
“Kornit Digital’s policy is never to stand still but to continue with developments across all of its technologies in order to bring customers and new users the best pigmented ink technologies to combine with their Kornit direct-to-garment printers,” states Guy Zimmerman, Kornit’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. “Our new NeoPigment Pure inks respond to customer demand for refined characteristics that we’re able to offer with our NeoPigment process, and we now have the widest colour gamut in the industry, a velvety touch and the ultimate in white ink performance.”
Kornit Digital’s NeoPigment Pure ink is making its début at FESPA where it is being demonstrated on the company’s Avalanche Hexa. Kornit’s direct-to-garment printers cover all budgetary and production requirements. The product line-up at Fespa includes the Kornit Avalanche portfolio of industrial high volume solutions, the Kornit Storm II, which is designed for single-operator use and the entry-level and small business Kornit Breeze. Kornit’s FESPA presence also features its Paradigm II printer integrated with a screen printing carousel and the Allegro 1.8m high-speed roll-to-roll fabric system.
Kornit Allegro
In a seperate announcement, Kornit announced that its Allegro system now brings single-step printing to the fashion, home textile and e-commerce markets. The roll-to-roll industrial textile printing system demonstrates unparalleled flexibility as the only stand-alone, one step, no-pretreatment, digital printing solution. The system supports multiple fabric types for fashion, active and home-decor applications.
The Allegro is based on Kornit’s NeoPigment printing technology that completely eliminates pre- and post-treatment processes for both natural and synthetic fabrics. Unlike typical digital technologies, the Kornit Allegro offers an innovative, enabling solution, saving on energy, water, space, and labour time. The Allegro eliminates the entry barrier to the digital fabric printing market which is currently addressable only by manufacturers with industrial grade printing facilities. Through its simple operation the Allegro enables the development of new business models which cater for the strong trends of mass customisation and personalisation of textile in fashion and home decor.
The Kornit Allegro can be located anywhere without environmental constraints, designed to support ultra-short up to medium-length runs. It offers amazing print quality, a vivid and wide colour gamut, excellent colour fastness and hand feel, a fully sustainable and safe process, and is OekoTex 100 certified and GOTS pre-approved.
With full support for mass customisation and personalisation business models, the Kornit Allegro has a robust construction and compact footprint that makes it the ideal solution for production houses that need to print direct to virtually all types of fabric.
“Kornit Digital is globally acknowledged as the leading solution provider for industrial mass customization of printed textiles. Leveraging our leadership position and our great success in the direct-to-garment market, we are excited to expand our product offering to the roll-to-roll market. The addition of the Allegro is yet another step towards ‘Changing the way people print on textile’. Our strategy continues to be focused on enabling a revolutionary change of the printed textile supply chain. All our systems benefit from our unique, one step, integrated pretreatment, sustainable NeoPigment technology and process, which are essential for those looking to address the industry’s transition to mass customization”, explains Guy Zimmerman, Kornit Digital’s Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. “The high-speed, standalone, Kornit Allegro opens up endless possibilities for shorter lead times, cost cutting, faster stock movements and reduced inventories.”
Providing live demonstrations on the company’s booth with examples in its sample gallery, at FESPA, the Kornit Allegro’s output will also be featured in the event’s new Printeriors application showcase where visitors can explore living room furniture and home textiles produced from Allegro-printed fabrics.