From the laboratory into practice - printing inks from the region for the region

The Ludwigsburg digital print shop PhotoFabrics is a test partner of the internationally successful ink manufacturer Marabu from Tamm. The joint development work has resulted in many new print products that are very successful on the market today. A cooperation from which both sides can benefit, the manufacturer as well as the user.

Screen, digital and pad printing inks for industrial and graphic applications as well as creative inks for hobby and artists' needs - this is what the ink manufacturer Marabu has stood for for more than 150 years. The Tamm-based company employs around 350 people in the region, with a further 200 employees working in the 14 foreign subsidiaries. At the same time, one of the company's comparatively young and innovative divisions is currently developing rapidly: the development and production of inks for digital inkjet printing. While the products are developed in the laboratories in Tamm, the large-format print shop Photofabrics in Ludwigsburg is the test partner when it comes to the practical suitability of new inkjet printing inks.

Digital printers have long been part of everyday life at home or in the office. But innovative inkjet printing technologies are also increasingly gaining ground in industry, competing with traditional processes such as offset, rotary or screen printing. Engineers, chemists and developers at Marabu have been working for more than 10 years to develop inks that are suitable for printing on paper, films, 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 also have to be extremely durable to meet industry demands. For example, the advertising film that Photofabrics applies to streetcars must not fade when exposed to sunlight, the ink on the large-format billboard must not peel off, and the printed eyeglass cleaning cloth must not leave ink on the glasses. Inkjet project manager Matthias Schieber has been involved with digital printing since 2008 - after completing a chemical apprenticeship - and has been working at Marabu for four years to open up new markets. "The inks are intensively tested in our laboratories. But beyond that, practical tests in real printing environments such as Photofabrics are of enormous importance. That's why we rely on partnerships with the printing industry, who work with us to further develop the products," reports Schieber. Marabu is preaching to the choir at Photofabrics in Ludwigsburg. "We are proud to be involved in the development of new products as a test partner of the renowned manufacturer Marabu. In many cases we have already been able to incorporate our ideas and launch new print products that are very successful today," says Peter Sapper, managing director of Photofabrics. With his team, he himself is constantly tinkering with new ideas and produces large format prints, custom printed carpets, vehicle wraps and much more.

Neon colors for unique designs

"Mr. Schieber's team is regularly at our company and uses our old and new digital presses to produce real print productions on them with their inks. It's a cooperation that takes both sides a step further every day," says a delighted Peter Sapper. As an example of a joint success, he reports on the introduction of fluorescent print products, the so-called neon inks. For screen and pad printing, Marabu has long had fluorescent shades in its range. However, the implementation of the effect colors in digital printing initially proved problematic. But joint testing and the persistence of the partners led to success. On Photofabrics' presses, Marabu had tested the inks as well as the fixation of the colors on the substrates with the support of Photofabrics' operations manager René Thomas, and color profiling was carried out in corresponding color management programs: "Five years ago, we were already showing fabrics printed with fluoresco neon colors. Initially, customers were still reluctant. But the current retro trend is creating enormous demand," says Peter Sapper.

The joint development work at Photofabrics has resulted in countless innovative products that bear the "Made in Germany" seal of quality. This applies equally to swimwear and costumes, for example for the Stuttgart State Theater and other cultural institutions. Knitted fabrics and Lycra materials from the manufacturers Georg + Otto Friedrich in Groß-Zimmern and A. Berger Textilwarenfabrik in Krefeld are used. In this case, says Sapper, one can speak of a value chain that remains entirely within Germany.

In order to be able to carry out the entire production spectrum, Photofabrics is investing in an additional 800 square meter production facility in Eglosheim by January 2018. In the future, new direct-to-plate presses from the manufacturer SwissQPrint and cutting tables from the Swiss manufacturer Zünd will be used there to print rigid print media for various application areas.

About PhotoFabrics

The German company PhotoFabrics was founded in 1999 by Peter Sapper in Ludwigsburg and specializes in photorealistic large prints on a wide variety of materials such as paper, foil and fabrics. In addition to its own production machines in Ludwigsburg, PhotoFabrics has a stake in the Belgian company S-Print. The company employs 14 people at its Ludwigsburg headquarters. At the new location in Eglosheim, five employees work for the time being.

Press contact:

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

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