Manual Textile Printing Techniques
Textile Printing Techniques:
Applying colored patterns and designs to decorate a finished fabric is called “printing”. In a proper printed fabric, the color is affixed to the fiber, so that it may not be affected by washing and friction.
Textile printing is a process through which a pattern, color, or combination thereof is applied to the surface of a textile. When a fabric is dyed, all the fibers absorb the dye and assume the designated color. With textile printing, however, only the surface fibers or specified area of the textile receives the color or pattern. As a result, the color is not applied uniformly but in selected regions.
As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220. Textile printing was known in Europe, via the Islamic world, from about the 12 century, and widely used.
Methods of Printing:
The different approaches or techniques are prevalent for printing color on a fabric on manual bases is following:
Block Printing:
Block printing is a special form of printing first developed in China and it is probably about two thousand years. In block printing, the design is first drawn on wood using a sharp needle and then the desired design is carved using the chisel, hammer, file, nails etc. Ink is applied to the block, and the block is pressed onto paper. Block prints can be quite detailed if the block is well made, but normally only one color is used. The process is good for making positive and negative images and repeating patterns.
Stenciling:
The design is first cut in cardboard, wood or metal. The stencils may have fine delicate designs or large spaces through which color is applied on the fabric. Its use is limited due to high costs involved. A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a
Applying colored patterns and designs to decorate a finished fabric is called “printing”. In a proper printed fabric, the color is affixed to the fiber, so that it may not be affected by washing and friction.
Textile printing is a process through which a pattern, color, or combination thereof is applied to the surface of a textile. When a fabric is dyed, all the fibers absorb the dye and assume the designated color. With textile printing, however, only the surface fibers or specified area of the textile receives the color or pattern. As a result, the color is not applied uniformly but in selected regions.
As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220. Textile printing was known in Europe, via the Islamic world, from about the 12 century, and widely used.
Methods of Printing:
The different approaches or techniques are prevalent for printing color on a fabric on manual bases is following:
Block Printing:
Block printing is a special form of printing first developed in China and it is probably about two thousand years. In block printing, the design is first drawn on wood using a sharp needle and then the desired design is carved using the chisel, hammer, file, nails etc. Ink is applied to the block, and the block is pressed onto paper. Block prints can be quite detailed if the block is well made, but normally only one color is used. The process is good for making positive and negative images and repeating patterns.
Stenciling:
The design is first cut in cardboard, wood or metal. The stencils may have fine delicate designs or large spaces through which color is applied on the fabric. Its use is limited due to high costs involved. A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a