The Rise of Online Digital Textile Printing Services and its Impact on Costume Design Practice

Abstract

Background. "Digital technology is changing the face of textile design, from methods of creating and presenting designs to the ways in which they are realized" (Bowles & Isaac, 2012, p.7). Digital textile printing has many capabilities making it ideal for the costume industry. Traditionally costume designers spend a great deal of time and energy sourcing appropriate textiles and costume shops dyeing, painting, embellishing, and distressing textiles to manipulate the sourced textiles (Cunningham, 1989). With digital textile printing, it is possible to recreate vintage patterns in endless colorways, to engineer motif within a garment pattern pieces, and to give the illusion of embellishments and distressing (Bowles & Isaac, 2012). In addition, the ability to print on demand and in smaller quantities (Carden, 2016) works with tight time lines and individual costume textile needs (Anderson & Anderson, 1999). The birth of online digital textile printing services grew out of the new "maker" economy, the DIY ethos, and "democratization of technology" found in makerspaces (Joseph & Heslop, 2014, p.6). Bowles and Isaac (2012) equate individual designer digital textile printing to the rise of desktop publishing; both large-scale fashion companies and independent freelance designers can use this technology. The technology did not emerge as quickly for the textile industry because of the need to "develop suitable inks and large-format printers to accommodate woven as well as stretchable cloth" (Bowles & Isaac, 2012, p. 12). Today contemporary designers utilize digital image manipulation and digital textile printing to enhance their design aesthetic. Even smallscale designers can use home computer software, like Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Paint, and digital textile printing services to create their own design and print short runs (Treadaway, 2007). Online digital textile printing companies, such as Spoonflower and Karma Kraft, primarily promote printing repeat designs and are marketed towards crafters and freelance textile surface designers (Polston, Parillo-Chapman, & Moore, 2014). Digital Textile Printing in Costume Design. Digital textile printing is defined as the: (a) digital creation a surface design using a computer program and (b) digital printing of surface design file using a large format printer that prints the design directly onto the textile (Carden, 2011). However, not all costume designers have the computer-aided design (CAD) skills required for digital textile design,-and not all costume shops or theatres have access to the hardware and equipment required for digital textile printing (Joseph & Heslop, 2014). Therefore, online digital textile printing services have capitalized on theatres' limitations to integrate digital

Innovations and Analysis of Textile Digital Printing Technology

“…Moreover small-scale designers make their own unique designs and print short run fabrics by using Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Paint on their home computers through online digital textile services. [7].…”

“…There are several significant benefits to digital printing, most notably, savings in time and space, faster print speeds and the ability to print with both reactive inks, which are used with fabrics like wool, cotton and silk, and disperse inks, which must be used with polyester. Most notable benefit capability to dispense both types of inks from the same machine is that the changeover time between inks is only 10 minutes, compared to 120 minutes associated with traditional printing [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”