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How would you summarise the main advantages of a hybrid system? Julian Wright: This system will give the user a great advan- tage when printing multi-coloured images with gradients and fades; it will allow almost photographic quality with minimal set-up time and graphic adjustment. Mark Evans: Freedom to combine the best of both worlds– the convenience of CMYK digital printing with the customi- sation and added value that screen printing can add to the process. Oliver Luedtke: New and creative applications and business opportunities (short runs, fast turnarounds, photorealistic prints, personalisation, customisation), and low cost per print as white base layers can be produced by the carousel, along with reduced time and labour when preparing screens and setting up carousels. Other advantages include reduced in- ventory of screens and a simplified print process that reduces the use of inks. Geoff Baxter: A hybrid screen and inkjet DTG printing system provides the ability to screen print a white ink underbase, which can be optimised for performance on specific fab- rics, and can cost up to 20 times less than digital white inks. Pantone spot colour and/or special effect inks can be printed after the Digital Squeegee Station, and bleed blocking barrier bases can be printed on difficult fabrics if required. It offers high productivity with lower cost consumables, no pre-treat- ment is required and it minimises the need for pre-press and art department involvement. Colin Marsh: Hybrid printing bridges the gap between DTG and screen printing, making low volume complex colour designs possible with very low set-up costs. Nuno Venda: With the Hybrid solution we can have the best of both technologies: with screen printing, the use of special effects in garment decoration; and with digital printing, unlimited number of colours, high resolution, quick machine set-up, reliability in colour reproduction, minimum waste of material, and reduced number of stencils (they’re only used in the decoration of dark garments and/or special effects).

Do you think a hybrid system is better than having a separate direct-to-garment (DTG) machine and screen printing press? ME: DTG offers a better solution for four-colour process than CMYK using screen print technology as it is possible to use high resolution FM screen- ing for the CMYK print. What DTG lacks is the ability to add special spot colours, and printing the white underbase is the biggest issue for DTG print- ers. So, again, it’s the best of both worlds. Combining the two technologies–screen and digital–opens up new creative opportunities for garment printers. A hybrid system is also a good stepping stone for existing screen printers who want to add DTG printing into their production workflow. GB: Yes, hybrid technology truly merges the best of both analogue screen and digital printing, such as minimal artwork preparation and a very fast time to press with no need for colour separations and time-consuming screen prep, very fast press set-up, close to screen print production speed and a significant reduction in consumable cost. It eliminates the requirement for pre-treatment, and allows for printing on a wider range of substrates, including synthetics and performance fabrics. NV: Yes, a hybrid solution is a better choice. It al- lows the printer to create jobs that are not possible with just one of the technologies. It gives a wider range of jobs that the printer can produce or de- velop. And the printer will still have the opportunity to use each of the technologies as standalone if he wishes so. JP: No two customers are the same, however with the ability to produce contract work and bespoke work on the same machine, printers are no longer turning away work.

John Potter: To take full advantage of the mass customisa- tion market that has grown in the UK.

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