Section outline

  • Inkjet printing is a non-contact technology where micro droplets of liquid are ejected through microjects to impact a substrate at a precise location to create an image. Its functional principle is that the pattern is drafted or transferred from any digital model or by scanner from standard photographic models or drawings to the fabric by and inkjet printer. 

    In the Ink Jet technology, only the ink drops get in contact with the surface. It is generally known as a printing method without any impact.

    The basis of the development of digital inkjet technology is the development of writing head technology. To date, a unique printhead printing technology has not been adopted, so it can be said that the development is going in several parallel directions, and they depend on the application of ink flow technology and droplet formation technology.

    In this lesson, the basic technologies of flow and droplet formation of printing ink will be described.

    • Technology of INK DROPLET formulation - CHARACTERISTICS and DIFFERENCES Lesson

      The video shows the working principle of piezo ink flow technology. It features an epson printhead for printers designed for printing on paper, but the same technology applies to textile printing.


      This video shows the working principle of thermal inkjet. Also, animation refers to the operation of a paper printer, but the same is applied in inkjet digital textile printing machines.


    • Additional Literature - Inkjet printing - the physics of manipulating liquid jets and drops File

      In this article you read about the physics involved in the precise manipulation of liquid jets and drops in ink jet printing technology. Over the last 30 years inkjet printing technology has been developed for many applications including: product date codes, mailing shots, desktop printing, large-area graphics and, most recently, the direct writing of materials to form electronic, biological, polymeric and metallic devices. The new non-graphical applications require higher print rates, better resolution and higher reliability while printing more complex, non-Newtonian and heavily solids-loaded liquids. This makes the understanding of the physics involved in the precise manipulation of liquid jets and drops ever more important. The proper understanding and control of jet formation and subsequent motion of the jetted materials requires physical studies into material properties at very high shear rates, acoustic modes in print heads, instabilities of jets, drop formation, drop motion, stretching of fluid ligaments, the role of polymers in jet break up, electrical charging of drops and the aerodynamic and electrostatic interaction of jets and drops in flight. Techniques for observation, measurement and analysis are evolving to assist these studies. This paper presents some examples of the application of physics to understanding and implementing inkjet printing, including recent work at the Cambridge Inkjet Research Centre.