How EnduraFab™ Can Help You Break Into New Markets

If you’re looking for new revenue streams — and who isn’t? — consider how the latex-compatible EnduraFab™ Textiles product line can help you reach new customers or expand the services you provide to your current clients.

The key to selling printable fabrics to your customers is focusing on the benefits of these products and how their versatility and ease of use can help your customers achieve their project goals. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits your customers will love:

Lightweight and easy to transport: Since they are fabric, EnduraFab™ products are much lighter weight than vinyl and can easily be folded and carried without creases and wrinkles, making it a great option for trade shows or traveling exhibits.

Durability: These 100% polyester warp knit fabrics are specially treated with a proprietary coating that makes them latex-compatible while still maintaining a nice hand feel. With latex technology, the images have great longevity and color reproduction that lasts. These fabrics have also passed wash testing as well under normal wash cycle conditions.

Versatility: EnduraFab™ products can be finished in a number of ways — stitched to create pole pockets, finished with silicone edging for framing or simply trimmed with scissors for short-term signage that doesn’t fray along the edges.

Knowing this, where can you attract new customers? Consider retail shop owners who like the elegant drape of a fabric sign, versus a vinyl banner that looks like it belongs outdoors. EnduraFab™ Frontlit is a great option for soft signage or tableskirts. Also, many retail outlets prefer SEG frames that can be easily swapped out. EnduraFab™ Stretch finished with Keder Tape or a gel edging is so easy to use that any retail staff person could make a sign switch in a matter of minutes.

Think about facilities where fire retardant properties are important, such as schools, malls and healthcare centersEnduraFab™ Frontlit FREnduraFab™ Frontlit Premier FR and EnduraFab™ Stretch FR all meet the flammability standard for NFPA 701, 2015 Edition (Test 1, Small Scale) and require heat set for desired print durability.

SEG-framed EnduraFab™ Frontlit Premier is a great option for modern, clean office or home décor that’s heavier weight and resistant to scratches and scuffs. Check out the video below to watch EnduraFab in action as a dramatic spa décor art piece.

Looking for Digital Décor Materials? Download This!

So you’re expanding your services to include more digital décor options for your customers, but you need guidance on the best materials to print to. We’ve got you covered, whether you’re printing with aqueous, latex, eco-solvent, UV-curable or dye-sublimation technology.

At LexJet, we’ve got more than 100 materials for you to choose from in a variety of finishes, including media and substrates for wall art, wallcovering, window treatments, fabrics, upholstery and accessories. With these options, you can decorate nearly all of the objects and surfaces in a room, office, retail space or commercial facility with digitally printed graphics and images.

With digital technology, you can make fully customized décor pieces that your customers will cherish. To discover LexJet’s line of digital décor materials, please download our Digital Décor Printing Line Card.

To discover more ways to incorporate digital décor printing into your operation, call a LexJet print specialist at 800-453-9538.

What You Need to Know Now About Digitally Printed Fabric

It’s nearly impossible to work in the print industry and not have heard about the expanding interest in digital textiles. Although digitally printed fabrics make up only 2% of the entire textile marketing, it’s a fast-growing technology. It’s expected to grow from a $14.2 billion industry in 2016 to a $33.4 billion industry by 2021, according to Keypoint Intelligence.

That’s more than doubling the opportunity in five short years. And it could grow even more, with big players like Amazon and Home Depot both entering the textile game in 2018.

As a print service provider, what does that mean to you? More material options with ever-advancing technology, more solutions to offer to your customers and more ways to grow your business. Here are four key points to know now about digitally printed fabric in the wide-format market.

Weekly Update: Events at WPPI, Sustainability and Textiles at FESPA, Canon’s Patents, X-Rite’s XRGA

Photographer trade show Las VegasLast week we highlighted some upcoming trade shows in the photography, large format graphics and sign markets. All of these trade shows feature educational programs that cover a variety of topics in their respective fields as well as special events, parties and industry panels…

Special events at WPPI: Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) hosts the appropriately named WPPI event, Feb. 17-24 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. In addition to a hall full of exhibitors and a full slate of seminars with 75 speakers, WPPI will include five special events: WPPI Launch Pad, a sneak peek at the latest products on the market on Feb. 20 from 2-5 p.m.; Sony Fashion Show, hosted by America’s Next Top Model celebrity judge Nigel Barker, on Feb. 20 from 7-10 p.m.; Canon Mardi Gras Party on Feb. 21 from 8-10 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena; Women in Contemporary Photography panel discussion on Feb. 22 from 7-9 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena; WPPI Awards Night on Feb. 23 from 6-9:30 p.m.; and Photoignite on the last day of WPPI, Feb. 24, where pro photographers demonstrate their techniques in five-minute presentations. Stay up to date on the latest during the show by following LexJet account specialists Justin Craft and Michael Clementi at twitter.com/LexJet, with additional news from the show at blog.lexjet.com. More info to come next week on special prizes and promotions if you find Justin and Michael on the show floor at WPPI.

FESPA Americas, coming to Orlando from Feb. 24-26, includes an all-day Digital Textile Conference on Feb. 25 that will feature a keynote speech by Nike’s Global Materials Quality Manager, Martin Wragg. Wragg will explore Nike’s sustainability projects under consideration and how printing fits into the bigger picture at Nike. Other topics during the Conference include: Market trends in digital textile printing, growing your business with fabric printing, transitioning from t-shirts to screen printing to digital printing, printing for fashion, big textile-printing applications, sustainability, mass customization and the digital supply chain, color management, a panel discussion and more. For more information about FESPA Americas, go to www.fespa.com/americas/

Canon registers 2,543 new patents in 2010: It’s official… Canon set a new company record when it registered 2,543 new patents in 2010. It also represents the first time Canon has exceeded 2,500 new patents in a single year. Some of the new products realized through the new patents include the Canon PIXMA MG8120 and MG6120 with a new light guidance system – a first for personal desktop printers – that incorporates Canon’s Full High Definition (HD) Movie Print mode; the Canon imagePRESS C7010VP, which represents the next installment of Canon’s flagship imagePRESS lineup for the production and graphic arts markets; and the CXDI-70C Wireless Digital Radiography (DR) detector, the company’s first wireless DR system.

X-Rite’s new Graphic Arts Standard: X-Rite has developed XGRA as a means to standardize and bring consistency across its current and legacy color management devices developed by X-Rite and GretagMacbeth. ColorMunki Photo, ColorMunki Design and EasyTrax already conform to XRGA and all future graphic arts instruments and software will also conform. X-Rite says the switch to XRGA results in small differences in measurement values, so many customers will not need to make any changes. For customers who have found greater differences in measurement values between former X-Rite and GretagMacbeth instruments, X-Rite will provide a means to move existing databases to the new XRGA standard.