From the laboratory to the clinic – printing inks from the region for the region

The Ludwigsburg digital printing company PhotoFabrics is a testing partner for the internationally successful printing ink manufacturer Marabu from Tamm. Through their joint development work, many new printing products have been created that are very successful on the market today. This cooperation can benefit both the manufacturer and the user.

Sieve, digital and inkjet printing inks for industrial and graphic applications as well as creative colors for hobby and artist supplies – this is what the color manufacturer Marabu has stood for for more than 150 years. The company in Tamm employs around 350 employees in the region; another 200 employees are active in the 14 foreign subsidiaries. At the same time, a comparatively young and innovative division of the company is currently developing rapidly. quickly: the development and production of inks for digital inkjet printing. While the products are developed in the laboratories in Tamm, the large-format printing company Photofabrics in Ludwigsburg is the testing partner when it comes to the practical suitability of new inkjet printing inks.

At home or in the office, digital printing is now commonplace. But innovative inkjet printing technologies are also increasingly gaining ground in industry, competing with traditional methods such as offset, rotogravure and screen printing. For more than 10 years, engineers, chemists and developers at Marabu have been working on developing inks that are suitable for inkjet printing. Pressure Suitable for paper, foils, fabrics and other materials.

The challenge: The inks must fit through the inkjet nozzles in the finest droplet sizes without clogging the printing systems. They must also be extremely durable to meet the demands of the industry. For example, the advertising film that is applied to streetcars by Photofabrics must not fade in sunlight, the color on the large-format billboard must not peel off, and the printed cleaning cloth for glasses must not leave any color on the glasses. Inkjet project manager Matthias Schieber has been involved in digital printing since 2008 – after completing a chemical engineering degree – and has been working at Marabu for four years exploring new markets. „The printing inks are intensively tested in our laboratories. In addition, practical tests in real printing environments, such as those at Photofabrics, are of enormous importance. Therefore, we rely on partnerships with the printing industry, which together with us develop the products,“ reports Schieber. At Photofabrics in Ludwigsburg, Marabu is taking a lead in this area. „We are proud to be a test partner for the renowned manufacturer Marabu in the development of new products. In many cases, we have already been able to incorporate our ideas and bring new printing products to the market that are very successful today,“ says Peter Sapper, Managing Director of Photofabrics. With his Team He constantly tinkers with new ideas and produces large-format prints, individually printed carpets, vehicle decals, and much more.

Neon colors for unique designs

„That Team Mr. Schieber is a regular visitor to our house and uses our old and new digital printing machines to produce real-world print products with their colors. A collaboration that brings both parties a step closer every day,“ rejoices Peter Sapper. As an example of a shared success, he mentions the introduction of fluorescent printing products, the so-called neon colors. Marabu has been offering the fluorescent tones in its range for screen and dye-sublimation printing for a long time. However, implementing the effect colors in digital printing initially proved problematic. But the joint testing and the partners„ perseverance led to success. At Photofabrics, Marabu had tested the inks and the fixing of the colors on the printing materials using the machines and with the support of René Thomas, manager of the Photofabrics business unit, and had performed the color profiling in corresponding color management programs: “As early as five years ago, we showed fabrics printed with fluorescent neon colors. Initially, customers were still hesitant. However, the current retro trend is generating enormous demand,” says Peter Sapper.

From the joint development work, Photofabrics has created countless innovative products that bear the „Made in Germany“ seal of approval. This applies to swimwear as well as to costumes, for example for the Stuttgart State Theatre and other cultural institutions. Active materials and Lycra materials are used from the manufacturers Georg + Otto Friedrich from Groß-Zimmern and A. Berger Textilwarenfabrik from Krefeld. In this case, according to Sapper, one can speak of a value chain that remains entirely within Germany.

To be able to cover the entire production spectrum, Photofabrics will invest in a further production facility of 800 square meters in Eglosheim until January 2018. There, rigid printing media for various applications will be printed with new plate-direct printing machines from the manufacturer SwissQPrint and with cutting tables from the Swiss manufacturer Zünd.

About PhotoFabrics

The German company PhotoFabrics was founded in 1999 by Peter Sapper in Ludwigsburg and specializes in photorealistic large-format prints on a variety of materials such as paper, film and fabrics. In addition to its own production machines in Ludwigsburg, PhotoFabrics is a partner in the Belgian company S-Print. There are 14 employees at the company’s headquarters in Ludwigsburg. At the new location in Eglosheim, five employees are currently working.

Press contact:

PhotoFabrics GmbH, Mathildenstraße 10/1, D-71638 Ludwigsburg
Peter Sapper, Managing Director; Tel. +49 (0) 7141 29 8 45- 36
www.teppich-printer.de

Marabu GmbH & Co. KG
Daniel Gandner, Director of Marketing,
gan@marabu.com Tel.: +49 (0) 7141 /691-357