Textile Printing Techniques Quiz: Block, Screen, Digital and More

Hand printing

• Block printing: carved wooden blocks are dipped in colour and pressed onto fabric by hand. Sanganer and Bagru near Jaipur in Rajasthan are famous centres, as is Ajrakh in Kutch.
• Dabu: a mud-resist print from Rajasthan. A paste of mud and other materials is printed onto the cloth; when it is dyed, the covered areas stay undyed.
• Kalamkari: from Andhra Pradesh. Kalam means pen: in Srikalahasti the design is drawn and painted by hand with a pen; in Machilipatnam it is block printed.
• Batik: hot wax is applied to the cloth, which is then dyed. The wax resists the dye and is removed afterwards, often leaving fine crackle lines.

Machine printing

• Flat screen printing: colour is pushed through a mesh screen, one screen per colour.
• Rotary screen printing: cylindrical screens print continuously. It is fast and cheap per metre for long runs, but making the screens costs money, so small lots are expensive.
• Digital printing: an inkjet printer prints the design straight onto fabric. There are no screens, so it suits short runs, many colours and photographic designs. Surat's mills use it widely.
• Sublimation printing: the design is printed on paper and transferred with heat. The dye bonds with polyester, so it does not work on pure cotton.
• Discharge printing: a chemical paste removes colour from dyed fabric, leaving a lighter pattern, which can also be re-coloured.

Which method for which order?

• Small lot, many designs, many colours: digital.
• Large repeat orders of one design: rotary screen.
• Handcrafted, premium look with natural variation: block print.

Hand block prints show small variations between repeats; that is a sign of the craft, not a defect. Also try the Gujarat textile crafts quiz.