I was just sent this in an email from a co-worker... not sure how much it will cost, but sounds interesting. Cloth boards might be a little easier to self print?!?!?
Brother Brings Revolutionary Ink Jet Based Garment Printer to Market
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Feb. 11, 2005 Brother
International Corporation's Industrial Products Division, a global
leader in the industrial sewing market, elevated the bar once again with
the announcement it will launch a remarkable new ink jet garment
printer. With an expected release date in July, the all-new GT-541 uses
the latest printing technology to raise performance, and productivity,
in the screen printing industry.
The Brother GT-541 uses ink jet technology that prints on many
garments in high quality color directly from a computer, with a 14" by
16" printable area. The GT-541 marks the progression from screen
printing technologies to a cleaner, faster, and more productive way to
imprint images on garments. This ink jet garment printer is as simple to operate as a desktop printer, can network with multiple units, and
delivers great print quality.
The GT-541 is faster and less expensive to operate than traditional
screen printing machines because there is no set-up, tear-down,
clean-up, screens, squeegees, or pallet adhesive. The
GT-541 water based ink can be cured by a standard heat press,
eliminating the need to purchase a conveyor dryer, and significantly
reducing operating space requirements.
"The industry is literally lining up to bring the GT-541 into their
businesses," said Matthew Rhome, Brother Marketing Manager.
"Brother is the only manufacturer developing this technology that has
field tested their printer for over one year at embroidery, and screen
printing businesses. We placed twenty-nine units and imprinted more than
100,000 shirts in a real-world setting to make sure we delivered the
quality and durability we projected."
Brother offers a full line of industrial sewing and embroidery
machines, software, accessories, parts (PAS Store) and training from the
single head to multi-head models. The company is recognized for its
high-quality, state-of-the-art machines and accessories - offering
ease-of-use and flexibility at competitive prices.
Very cool! I wonder if there will be places that will offer output of customer's files onto fabric (like a kinko's or something). I imagine that the cost of the machine will be prohibitively expensive for most of us hobby designers (I'm guessing a minimum of $1,000).
Too bad it can only print up to a 14"x16" area, that would be prohibitive for some game boards. Maybe there will be a larger format printer available in the near future.