Besides the quality of colour reproduction itself, there are other secondary print quality attributes. Secondary print quality evaluation is very important and is influenced primarily by the print method and type of substrate. For textile printers, there is an additional challenge related to macro non-uniformities due to the nature of the substrate. One of these secondary quality attributes is print mottle, which is influenced by macro non-uniformities that remain at the top layer of the print after the ink is fixed on the substrate. Print mottle values primarily consist of an analysis of macro non-uniformities and can be analysed using the Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) method, among others. In this study, the GLCM method was used as well as the macro non-uniformity index or NU value verification method performed by ImageJ software. Four different textile printing methods and one cotton fabric substrate are used. The objective is to examine print mottle and the impact of printing method on macro non-uniformities. The printing methods include DTF, DTG, screen printing, and screen transfer printing. The aim is to compare the results of different printing methods and to determine their relation to perceived non-uniformity as assessed visually.

This paper reports the impact of screen-printed PEDOT:PSS conductive ink on the optical properties of polyester fabric and colourimetric properties of yellow screen printing ink printed in a different number of layers. Yellow was chosen as one of four process colours which should theoretically suffer the most prominent changes from PEDOT:PSS overprinting. The study found that PEDOT:PSS ink significantly impacts the optical properties of the fabric and yellow ink, especially regarding the lightness and b-coordinate of the yellow ink. The acid treatment of samples, to increase PEDOT:PSS conductivity, also affected the optical characteristics through partial neutralization of the changes in the b-coordinate, especially when the sample was printed with a larger number of layers of the yellow ink and a smaller number of layers of PEDOT:PSS ink. Samples with two layers of yellow and one layer of PEDOT:PSS ink showed good conductivity results even without acid treatment, while the base colour appeared slightly darker. This change in the lightness can be compensated to some extent, proving that the aforementioned combination of PEDOT:PSS and base ink layers are the best when aspects, such as optical characteristics, conductivity, the complexity of production, production time, and limitations of the use of substrate materials are taken into account. This study provides useful insights for optimizing the printing process of PEDOT:PSS conductive inks over screen printed fabrics for various applications, including wearable electronics and smart textiles.

It is known that gloss has a significant impact on colour measurement. The UV varnish used for surface finishing, spot effects, as well as special effects, such as 3D effects and formation of Braille, has a pronounced gloss effect. In this work, a comparison of the spectrophotometer measurement geometry influence on the colour measurement of an unprinted PVC sample covered with UV varnish was done. UV varnish was applied successively in layers, and patches with different number of varnish layers, from 1 to 12, were formed. Two spectrophotometers with different measurement geometries were used for the measurement: Konica Minolta CM-2600d with d/8 measurement geometry, with spectral reflection included and excluded, and different measurement aperture 3 and 8 mm, and X-Rite eXact with 45/0 measurement geometry. By comparing the measurements, it was estab-lished that there is a significant difference in the measured values between different measuring device geometries on the given samples, and that the number of UV varnish layers has a significant influence on this differenc

High surface texture of textile materials is rougher than other printing substrates which can cause excessive macro non-uniformity. Adding metal oxides into the ink to enhance material properties usually add to surface roughness and increase print mottle. In this paper copper(I)oxide particles and different amounts of Pinus sylvestris L. plant extract were added to modified alginate paste (CHT-NV) prior to printing. The aim of this paper is to inspect the influence of added metal oxide and plant extract on the print quality of linen based material via surface macro non-uniformity GLCM determination method. In the pattern recognition phase, the co-occurrence matrix is applied to calculate the texture characteristics, such as contrast, correlation, energy, entropy and homogeneity. The research results indicated that the metal oxide particles have had a negative influence on macro uniformity of printed linen. Increasing of the concentration of extract leads to a dilution of the printing paste, and thus to a greater penetration of copper ions between the threads of the fabric, as well as into the yarn itself.

PurposeThe research aims to examine the varying influence of printed inkjet ink on the warm/cool feeling and air permeability of printed textile materials and thus on the thermal properties of printed garments.Design/methodology/approachThe influence of different number of printing pass and different tone value (TV) coverage was examined. The tested samples were printed with water-based pigment inkjet inks with 10, 50 and 100% TVs with one, three and five printing passes. The tested samples were subjected to thermal characteristics testing by measuring the warm/cool feeling and air permeability before and after printing.FindingsThe research results showed that there is an increase in the value of the warm/cool feeling by increasing the amount of applied ink on the textile material, which occurs by increasing the TVs and the number of printing pass. At the same time values of air permeability decrease by increasing the number of printing pass, as well as by increasing TVs.Originality/valueBased on the results, mathematical models of the dependence of the warm/cool feeling value of printed textile materials on the air permeability and parameters of digital inkjet printing were created. These models are important in clothing design because they show in advance the values of the warm/cool feeling of the clothes being designed and thus enable the design of clothes for different purposes with optimal esthetic and thermal properties.

Many recent research has focused on graphic design and shape of the packaging, and their effects on the customer's decision-making process as two separate categories. Since the shape of the packaging along with the graphic design plays an important role in the visual appearance of the packaging and attracts the customer's attention, the main objective of this research was to find out which packaging shapes and graphic elements customers find most attractive, as well as to understand the general opinion of customers about the influence of packaging aesthetics on their decision-making process when purchasing a product. Methodology of this research was conducted in two stages, from which the first one included creating three different graphic design solutions combined with three shape categories, and three variations of added value, for the same food packaging. The second part of the research covered an online questionnaire, in which a group of 50 people participated. This questionnaire focused on three variables: graphic design of the packaging, packaging shape and it’s added value. These variables were evaluated using the Likert scale. Through the questionnaire, participants were asked to answer general questions about the impact of the packaging visual appearance and added value, on their decision-making process when buying a product, as well as to choose the most appealing packaging between the given options. The research results showed that customers preferred non-standard packaging shapes and simple graphic design, as well as packaging with added value. The results of this research prove that the aesthetics of packaging has an impact on the customer's perception of a product, which means that packaging plays an important role in product marketing.

Textile materials are increasingly being subjected to the process of printing. The printing process with its parameters significantly affects the properties of textile materials and clothes made from these materials. This paper examines the effect of the parameters of inkjet printing on thermal resistance characteristics of printed textile materials. As the essential print parameters were selected tone value and a different number of passes. In this research were used knitted fabric materials of 100% cotton fibers and 100% polyester fibers. Results of the research demonstrated that, in addition to material composition, the inkjet printing process with its parameters have a significant influence on the thermal resistance of printed textile materials. The values of the thermal resistance of the printed samples show that the increase in the number of applications of ink in the printing results in a rise in the value on cotton knitwear, and decrease in thermal resistance value on polyester knitwear.

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the importance of braille for visually impaired people and the possibility of printing it by using the ultra-violet (UV) inkjet printing technique. Design/methodology/approach The vision impairment, definitions and statistics, as well as braille letter and standards, are first reviewed. Then, the methods of printing braille have been discussed, with a focus on UV ink-jet printing. Finally, this study indicates a significant role of UV ink-jet printed Braille, its possibilities and its advantages. Findings Research studies in the field of UV ink-jet printed braille are showing that it is possible to print good legible braille of the adequate height of dots. This paper highlights some advantages of printing braille with UV ink-jet, like the possibility of achieving greater dot height than embossing and no need for printing form. Printing of additional elements on top of braille dot has also been tested, and possible use for differentiation of the written notation is shown. This paper also indicates the importance of technological and operating conditions in UV inkjet braille printing. It predicts a significant role of UV inkjet in braille printing. Originality/value This paper provides a detailed review of UV ink-jet printed braille: possibilities, advantages and application.

The human body transforms the chemical energy of the food into the work and the heat through the process of metabolism. The produced heat through the skin is transferred to the environment. In this case, in the state of thermal equilibrium, the amount of heat produced is equal to the amount of heat lost by conduction, convection, radiation, evaporation and breathing. The process of conduction of heat is transferred from the body to the environment, through layers of clothing and air, with the person standing still. Conductivity of heat in clothes depends on the thermal conductivity of the fibers from which the clothes are made, the conductivity of the air trapped in the pores of the clothes and the air on the surface of the clothing, the surface of the clothing layer through which the heat and the thickness of the clothes pass. The amount of heat transferred by conduction is usually negligible because the clothing, by its characteristics, slows down heat transfer in this way. Additionally, ink layers made in printing process significantly affect the properties of textile materials and clothes made from these materials. And today textile materials are increasingly being subjected to the process of printing due to aesthetic requirements of the people. This paper investigates the influence of digital printing parameters on the thermo-physiological features of textile materials. The essential print parameter was a different number of passes. In this research were used textile fabric materials of 100% cotton fibers. With printing process parameters, such as number of passes in the print, it is possible to influence the amount of ink that is applied on and in printed material, and thus the achievement of desired values of thermal parameters of printed materials. The influence of print parameters to thermo-physiological properties of the material is evaluated through a thermal conductivity and heat retention ability. Results of the research demonstrated that, in addition to material composition, the printing process with its parameters have a significant influence on the thermo-physiological characteristics of textile materials. The values of the thermal conductivity of the printed samples show that the increase in the number of application of ink in the printing results in a rise in the value of thermal conductivity coefficient, and decrease in heat retention ability value.

Microcapsules are used in various fields of application, such as in pharmacy, medicine, agriculture, chemical industry, construction industry, food industry, biotechnology, electronics. Fragranced and PCM (phase change materials) microcapsules also found their use in the printing and the textile industries, where they are applied in the combination with the appropriate ink or varnish on the desired substrate material. Microcapsules are applied either by coating or by different printing techniques, which main advantage is the ability to transfer the microcapsules onto desired areas of the substrate material without or with as little damage as possible, thus allowing the deposited microcapsules to fulfil their basic functionality. The aim of this research was to investigate the morphologic characteristics of the fragranced microcapsules and the coated prints using selected varnish and different fragranced microcapsules concentrations, as well as to determine how variable concentrations of the applied microcapsules in the varnish affect the optical characteristics of the coated prints. Performed SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and spectrodensitometric analyses of the coated prints revealed that both the coating process without microcapsules, as well as the different fragranced microcapsules’ concentration in the coated water-based varnish, significantly affected both the morphologic and the optical characteristics of the coated prints.

Tekstilni materijali tokom upotrebe bivaju izloženi različitim spoljašnjim uticajima. Jedan od češćih uticaja kojem su ovi materijali izloženi je toplotno dejstvo. Toplota na tekstilnom materijalu izaziva promjenu strukturnih karakteristika vlakana, čime dolazi i do promjene reprodukovanih otisaka. Cilj ovog rada je da ispita uticaj toplotnog dejstva na kvalitet sito štampanih tekstilnih materijala. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo i analizu zavisnosti kvaliteta štampe od karakteristika štampane podloge, te karakteristika korištene štamparske forme. Eksperimentalni rezultati analiziranih otisaka prije i nakon toplotnog dejstva, dobijeni spektrofotometrijskom analizom reprodukovanih boja kao i digitalnom obradom slike, ukazuju da toplotno dejstvo utiče na kvalitet reprodukovanih otisaka. Rezultati istraživanja su potvrdili i zavisnost kvaliteta reprodukcije od karakteristika materijala na kojem se vrši proces štampe, kao i od karakteristika štamparske forme pomoću koje se vrši proces štampe.

During exploitation, textile products printed with screen printing technique are quite often exposed to various influences, one of which is a heat treatment- firstly during the production process and later on when ironing. Heat is simultaneously affecting deposited colorants (ink) on the surface of the substrate material, as well as textile fibers in the material structure. As a result, colorimetric characteristics of printed colorants are changed. The research presented in this paper aims to determine the influence of heat treatment on color changes of screen printed textile substrates, observed in CIE L*, a*, b* color space. Macro non-uniformity of the printed cotton textile materials was analyzed as a function of temperature levels applied during thermal treatments and textile material characteristics, as well as mesh counts of screens used in the printing process. The results show that thermal treatment affects the color change of printed samples.

The printing plate and its characteristics in the conventional printing techniques have a significant impact on print quality and image appearance. In screen printing, a weave of screen mesh i.e. a number of threads per cm, is the most important characteristic of the printing plate, hence the most relevant factor which defines printing quality. Print quality itself is a complex term that includes desired colour reproduction and satisfactory reproduction of image elements. In this paper focus was centred upon the reproduction of text and basic image elements (lines and dot structure) when printing on non-absorbent and absorbent substrates with different screen thread counts. The image element analysis led to the conclusion that using mesh with higher thread count does not significantly improve the reproduction of image elements. However, it is a very important parameter for text reproduction since low thread count may result in poor readability.