Texo Trade Services, the leading expert in transfer print media and printable textiles, is the only company in the world to supply 5-meter-wide protective paper for sublimation printers of the same width. The first of these printer models, the Durst Rhotex 500, was launched at last month's FESPA DIGITAL 2016, the largest digital wide format print exhibition in Europe, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The current generation of sublimation printers can only accommodate a width of around 3.2 meters. The protective paper inside the Durst Rhotex 500 printer tracks the printed textiles in the calendar and ensures that the calendar's Nomex® band remains clean and in good condition. The protective paper called PPX, produced and converted by Texo Trade Services, enables printers to fixate their 5-meter-wide prints on their calendars to achieve superior print results.
Unique: 5-meter-wide protective paper PPX facilitates risk-free sublimation on 5-meter-wide textile
The introduction of PPX is extraordinary because it enables printers to fix the ink on the printed canvas using a traditional calendar, without any risk. When printed textiles are fixed to what is known as a 'belt-less' calender, there is always a risk that certain types of textile end up shrinking uncontrollably and lose contact with the heated cylinder, rendering them useless. The good news is that the world's largest sublimation printer can be used not only for large-scale and seamless printing, but is also equipped to produce the best results.
Sublimation: a superior printing technique
The Durst Rhotex 500 printer model prints directly on textile while using direct printable sublimation inks. Up to now, printing 5-meter-wide surfaces was possible only using UV and solvent technologies where the textile needed to be coated in order to facilitate printing. Sublimation printing is the technique that produces the best results on textiles. Since the ink penetrates deeply into the fabric (i.e. into polyester yarn) and the fabric is uncoated, the canvas can easily be stretched while remaining absolutely wrinkle-free and keeping its soft hand. The sublimation technique creates an exceptionally wide range of colours. These colours are deep, vivid and sharp and remain that way, because the ink is absorbed into the polyester yarn, making it absolutely wear-resistant. Additional benefits are that the ink is more environmentally friendly and odourless, while sublimated textiles are easy to fold. This requires less volume than the process of rolling up large-format prints, making packaging and transport more efficient and sustainable. XXL visuals are now within reach of almost anyone!
One-stop-shop for 5-meter-wide textiles and protective paper (PPX)
In addition to PPX, Texo Trade Services stocks a wide range of 5-meter-wide textiles for direct sublimation printing. These textiles are manufactured to B1, M1 and Euroclass fire retardancy standards, contain no heavy metals or PVC, and are OEKO-TEX®-certified and REACH-compliant. This makes Texo Trade Services the perfect one-stop shop for printing companies that have purchased, or are considering the purchase of, a 5-meter-wide sublimation printer so as to provide even better services to their customers.