Print method
Digital Fabric Printing
Digital fabric printing jets your artwork straight onto cloth with no screens or plates — so you get a low MOQ, unlimited colours, photographic detail and fast strike-offs on your own design. We print across our polyester base range in Keqiao (China Textile City), match your shades, and ship by the roll or the container across MENA.
How it works
Inkjet, straight onto the cloth.
Digital fabric printing is an inkjet process. The printer reads your digital file and lays ink directly onto the fabric, head by head, with no engraved screens or printing plates in between. On polyester — the bulk of modestwear and dress cloth — we print by dye-sublimation: disperse-dye ink is jetted on, then heat-set so it turns to gas and bonds permanently into the fibre, giving a soft hand and strong wash and rub fastness. Reactive and pigment inks cover cottons and blends.
Because there are no screens to engrave, there is no plate cost and almost no setup, so minimum order quantities are low — you can run a single colourway or a short trial before committing to bulk. The printheads can place unlimited colours in one pass, which means photographic gradients, fine detail and intricate multi-colour repeats cost no more than a two-colour design. Turnaround is fast: we load your artwork and return a strike-off in days, not the weeks an engraved screen takes. That is why brands choose digital for prints, seasonal capsules, design tests and any job where colour count or speed matters more than the cost per metre at very high volume. Digital is one route within our wider custom fabric printing service.
Method comparison
Digital vs rotary — which fits your order.
Both methods print quality cloth; the right one depends on your colour count, your order size and how fast you need it. As a rule of thumb, digital wins on low MOQ, colour and speed, while rotary wins on cost per metre once you are running large, fixed bulk.
| Attribute | Digital printing | Rotary / screen printing |
|---|---|---|
| MOQ | Low — from a single colourway or short run | High — typically 1,500–2,000 m per design |
| Colours | Unlimited in one pass; no per-colour cost | Limited — one engraved screen per colour |
| Setup cost | Minimal — no screens or plates to engrave | High — screen engraving per colourway |
| Cost per metre at volume | Higher on very large runs | Lower — cheapest once screens are made |
| Detail | Photographic gradients and fine multi-colour detail | Crisp flat colour; true metallics and speciality inks |
| Lead time | Fast — strike-off in days, no engraving | Slower — screen engraving adds weeks up front |
| Best for | Prints, capsules, design tests, low MOQ, your artwork | Large repeat bulk of an established, fixed design |
When digital wins
Four reasons buyers pick digital.
Buyer questions
Digital fabric printing, answered.
What is the MOQ for digital fabric printing?
Low. Because there are no screens to engrave, you can run a single colourway or a short trial length before bulk, which makes digital the natural choice for new prints, seasonal capsules and design tests. For ready-made prints in stock, see our printed fabric wholesale catalogue.
Can you print my own artwork and match my colours?
Yes — digital prints your design directly from a file, with unlimited colours at no extra cost. Send your artwork and a target shade or Pantone and we match it, then return a strike-off on real cloth before bulk. For exclusivity, repeat setup and design protection, see our custom fabric print design service, which sits within our wider custom fabric printing offer.
What are the file requirements?
Send print-ready artwork at full repeat size — a high-resolution file (300 DPI at final scale) in TIFF, PNG, PDF or layered PSD, in CMYK or RGB with the repeat clearly set. Vector files are welcome for line work. Tell us the final motif size and we will confirm the repeat and return a strike-off for approval.
When should I use rotary instead?
Choose rotary or screen printing when you are running a large, fixed bulk of an established design, where the lower cost per metre outweighs the screen setup, or when you need true metallic or speciality inks digital cannot reproduce. For most low-to-mid runs, multi-colour designs and your own artwork, digital is faster and cheaper. Talk it through on our contact page and we will recommend the right method for your order.
Print your design
Send your artwork, get a strike-off.
Share your design, the base fabric and your colours — we’ll confirm the repeat, print a strike-off on real cloth and come back with pricing, so you approve before any bulk runs.