Personalization and print on demand are at the moment trending in the printing business. We thought it would be fun to look back at their history.

PRINT ON DEMAND

Print on demand is a somewhat new way of printing which means that nothing really gets printed until your client orders it.

Textile printing has been here for a long time (before the year 220 in China), but it became widespread in Europe in the 12th century.

Fast forward to the 20th century when Michael Vasilantone figured out a new way of doing screen-printing that was significantly faster. The enhanced speed meant it was easier to produce one-of-a-kind designs, and it was the start of print on demand.

By the 1980s, printers became accessible to people, and from here print on demand really took off.

It began with paper and slowly developed to textile – which we call today direct-to-garment printing. The first real DTG printer was named ‘Revolution’, and it became available in the 90s.

There are various ways that textiles can get printed today.

The most popular ones include digital textile print, which uses inkjets to print directly on a garment; roller printing, based on 18th-century technology to stamp designs onto fabric; and screen printing, which uses stencils and mesh to push ink into a fabric.

PERSONALIZATION

One of the biggest trends currently running the textile market is personalization. This indicates we can anticipate seeing a lot more one-off prints on T-shirts and other clothing items in the not-so-distant future!

If you need anything personalized, just ask away! We will be happy to help you figure out the best print technique for your needs. A reliable supplier can help you take care of the whole process from start to finish. We can print and fulfill your orders and drop-ship them, which means you can focus on what you love doing while knowing your printing gets taken care of in knowledgeable hands.