“North America is lagging behind Europe,” he says, “but globalization has had a huge effect. Signmakers and their customers alike hear about digital fabric printing at trade shows and start demanding it, so it works both ways.”
Wozny cites some of the same advantages as Frank, including the greater ease and lower costs of packing, shipping and installing fabric graphics compared to their vinyl counterparts, but also points out there is a steeper learning curve in terms of how the graphics are produced.
The European sign industry has led the way in fabric graphics. Today, applications are growing in North America, too.
“If you haven’t done it before, you will need training for production,” he says. “Printing dye-sublimation inks onto fabrics is less forgiving than with vinyl. You also need to know how to finish the graphics after the raster image processor (RIP) and printing stages.”
The payoff for sign shops comes with higher margins on the finished products. And while the most successful market for fabric graphics is the retail industry, which is already known for its constant demand for new wide-format prints, a fabric printer can allow a sign shop to branch out into less traditional markets, including theatres, museums and interior décor.
“Most retailers are using soft signage the same way they use vinyl graphics, but now you’re also seeing fabric graphics on ceilings, for example, that were never decorated before, attached to a stretch frame,” he says. “I’m a big believer in business development and I have seen fabric printing really work for our clients. Some of them have grown to become the largest soft signage suppliers in their region.”
Complementing vinyl
In this sense, while fabric graphics represent a small fraction of the overall wide-format market, they can grow without necessarily replacing vinyl graphics.
“We actually started with fabrics in 2004 and only added vinyl later, in 2010,” says Nicki Wilson, general manager (GM) for Tex Visions, which specializes in printing on fabrics and manufactures banner stands, flags, banners, fence wraps, tents, signs, backdrops and even advertising umbrellas. “New customers often assume they have to use vinyl for their banner stands, but then they see fabric. And once they hold both materials in their hands, they tend to like the look and feel of fabric graphics more.”
When Tex Visions was founded in 2004, its specialty was outdoor flags. Over the years, the company has added indoor materials, including sheer, shiny and matte fabrics.
A fabric printer can allow a sign shop to branch out into less traditional markets, including museums, theatres and interior décor.
“Our customers like to see a huge variety of materials for different applications at different price points,” says Wilson. “For many outdoor applications, we use a knitted polyester fabric. It’s fairly sheer, so wind can pass through freely, but it also offers really good print-through characteristics. For indoor applications, we tend to use a more opaque polyester substrate.”
Wilson has seen demand for fabric graphics grow across all user groups, from fast-food chains to large-scale retailers to churches, but notes there are still not many companies that can produce them well, whereas even hobbyists operate vinyl printers in their garages.
“We try to offer display systems that accept both vinyl and fabric,” she says. “We try to keep it neutral, so our products can service a wider range of customers.”
