What is the difference between an elliptical printing machine and a digital printing machine?

1. Printing principle:
Elliptical printing machine: Usually uses the principle of screen printing, and uses a scraper to scrape the ink from the pattern area on the screen to the substrate. The pattern part on the screen is hollowed out, and the ink adheres to the substrate through the hollowed-out part to form a pattern.
Digital printing machine: The working principle is similar to that of an inkjet printer. The pattern is input into the computer in digital form. After being edited and processed by the computer printing color separation tracing system (CAD), the computer controls the micro-piezoelectric inkjet nozzle to spray the special dye directly onto the textile to form the required pattern, and then different post-processing is performed according to the organizational composition of different fabrics, such as drying and fixing color treatment.
2. Printing accuracy:
Elliptical printing machine: Its printing accuracy depends on the production quality of the screen and the operating accuracy of the scraper. Generally speaking, it can achieve a certain degree of clarity, but for some complex and fine patterns, it may be limited by the screen itself, such as the smoothness of the lines and the relatively weak expression of details.
Digital printing machine: Digital printing has very high precision, can achieve very delicate patterns and rich color transitions, can accurately restore the design pattern, and has obvious advantages in expressing details and complex patterns, such as being able to clearly print photo-level images.
3. Printing speed:
Elliptical printing machine: The printing speed is relatively slow, especially when printing multi-color or large-area patterns, multiple scraper operations are required, and after each scraper, it may be necessary to wait for the ink to dry or perform other processing steps, and the production efficiency is relatively low.
Digital printing machine: The printing speed is fast, and it can complete large-area printing tasks in a short time, and can continuously perform multi-color printing. There is no need to frequently change the screen or perform intermediate drying like the elliptical printing machine, which greatly improves the production efficiency, especially suitable for large-scale production and fast delivery needs.
4. Color performance:
Elliptical printing machine: The ink used is usually oily or water-based ink, the color variety is relatively limited, and there may be some restrictions when mixing colors, making it difficult to achieve very bright and accurate color matching.
Digital printing machine: It uses special digital printing ink with rich colors, which can achieve up to millions of colors or even more. It can more accurately present various colors in the design draft, and it is more natural and smooth in color gradient and transition.
5. Applicable fabrics:
Elliptical printing machine: It has poor adaptability to fabrics of different materials and can often only be printed on specific fabrics. For example, some special fabrics may require the use of special screens or adjustment of printing parameters to obtain better printing effects.
Digital printing machine: It can be printed on fabrics of various materials, such as cotton, linen, silk, wool, chemical fiber, etc. It has strong adaptability to different fabrics and can automatically adjust the inkjet volume and printing parameters according to the characteristics of the fabric to ensure the quality of printing.
6. Pattern design and flexibility:
Elliptical printing machine: If the printing pattern needs to be changed, the screen needs to be remade, which is costly and time-consuming. This limits the flexibility and rapid update ability of pattern design to a certain extent, and is not suitable for small batch and multi-variety production mode.
Digital printing machine: The printing pattern can be changed at any time through computer software without making a new screen. It can quickly respond to market demand and customer personalized design requirements, realize small batch and diversified production, and greatly improve the flexibility of pattern design and the agility of production.
7. Equipment cost and operating cost:
Elliptical printing machine: The equipment price is relatively low and the initial investment is small, but due to its slow printing speed and relatively more manual operation, it may require more manpower input in large-scale production, and the ink consumption is relatively large, and the long-term operating cost may be high.
Digital printing machine: The equipment price is high and the one-time investment is large, but due to its fast printing speed, high degree of automation, labor saving, and high ink utilization rate, the unit cost is relatively low in large-scale production, and the long-term operating cost may be more advantageous, especially for the production of high-quality and high-value-added printing products.
8. Environmental performance:
Elliptical printing machine: Some elliptical printing machines use oil-based inks, which contain harmful substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which will evaporate into the air during the printing process, causing pollution to the environment, and will also produce certain wastewater discharge when cleaning the screen and equipment.
Digital printing machine: It uses water-based ink, does not contain harmful substances, and produces almost no VOCs emissions during the printing process. It is environmentally friendly and meets environmental protection requirements. It is a relatively clean printing technology.
9. Operation difficulty and maintenance requirements:
Elliptical printing machine: The operation is relatively complicated, requiring certain technical experience and operating skills, and the requirements for operators are high. The installation, debugging and maintenance of the screen plate require certain professional knowledge and skills, and the maintenance of the equipment is also cumbersome.
Digital printing machine: It is easy to operate. Usually, you only need to input the design pattern into the computer and adjust the relevant parameters to perform the printing operation. The technical requirements for the operator are relatively low, the equipment has a high degree of automation, and the maintenance work is relatively simple, mainly regular cleaning of the nozzle and some routine equipment inspections.