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[DannyGruninger]

There's lot of companies working on bridging the world of dtg and screen printing together. Knowing what I know that manufactures are working on I'm confident to say that within the next 24 months you will see digital like prints being done on a printing press at the speeds that can compete with standard printing. It's coming and if anyone doesn't want to believe it, the times are going to pass you by. Loading shirts on press that prints digital is not far out. Just sayin

You saying that $60,000 CTS is just collecting dust now? Dang it....

Absolutely not. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying if you watch the industry closely they are trying to bridge the gap between digital dtg and traditional screen printing. This is why direct to screen whether it's m&r I image, douthitt, exile, kiwo, etc dts is allowing regular screen printing the ability to get closer to digital. In my shop we make screens and most of the time setup with no micro that to me is an example of "bridging the gap". Eliminating setup time to a minimum is already doing this. Also you look at companies like virus who are doing 4you process printing or kornit with the paradim rolling up to press  they are mimicking what dtg is doing on press in a way you can produce larger volumes. All I'm saying is companies are already creating ways that are bridging that gap. Screen printing will never just go away but when large companies can produce quickly in a controlled, streamlined way with auto seps for everything then in my opinion the industry is changing. It will take years to trickle down but there's lots of smart people working on ways to print cost effectively in a way that is basically push button. I don't believe screen printing as we know it will ever go away but there's lots of breeding between digital and screen printing going on.

[Lizard]

There's lot of companies working on bridging the world of dtg and screen printing together. Knowing what I know that manufactures are working on I'm confident to say that within the next 24 months you will see digital like prints being done on a printing press at the speeds that can compete with standard printing. It's coming and if anyone doesn't want to believe it, the times are going to pass you by. Loading shirts on press that prints digital is not far out. Just sayin

You saying that $60,000 CTS is just collecting dust now? Dang it....

Absolutely not. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying if you watch the industry closely they are trying to bridge the gap between digital dtg and traditional screen printing. This is why direct to screen whether it's m&r I image, douthitt, exile, kiwo, etc dts is allowing regular screen printing the ability to get closer to digital. In my shop we make screens and most of the time setup with no micro that to me is an example of "bridging the gap". Eliminating setup time to a minimum is already doing this. Also you look at companies like virus who are doing 4you process printing or kornit with the paradim rolling up to press  they are mimicking what dtg is doing on press in a way you can produce larger volumes. All I'm saying is companies are already creating ways that are bridging that gap. Screen printing will never just go away but when large companies can produce quickly in a controlled, streamlined way with auto seps for everything then in my opinion the industry is changing. It will take years to trickle down but there's lots of smart people working on ways to print cost effectively in a way that is basically push button. I don't believe screen printing as we know it will ever go away but there's lots of breeding between digital and screen printing going on.

I agree and most of it is good stuff that isn't going to hurt anyone who wants to embrace it.  What Amazon is doing isn't going to effect anyone's business on here. I don't think too many of us are in this to print one offs as our main business.

I looked at a few dtg/auto setups at sgia and think they still need some improving but man does that open up some real possibilities.  Endless name drops, color changes, etc...  At a much improved production rate.

[GKitson]

"Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it!" is kind of relevant to this discussion.

Change will happen, those who accept change generally benefit the most.

I have often quoted the story of a smoked filled Eastman Kodak board meeting where the old guys in suits felt it necessary to remind those in the room that Kodak was in the photographic paper industry and the reason they sold that paper was because people created "Kodak Moments".

He also felt it necessary to remind the group that this new "digital crap" was not going anywhere and the boards job was to keep the paper business healthy.  At the time Kodak controlled most of the digital patents so they licensed this technology rather than pursuing it so they could concentrate on the paper business.

Change did happen, as it always does.  The Kodak business model evolution is something for apparel decorators to be aware as it appears that the digital crap did indeed go somewhere.

If you don't believe this ask the professional studio photographer in your town how her business is?  Might be difficult as most of those photo pros who survived by selling 8 x 10's of milestone moments are gone.  Those that have survived have evolved into photographic artists who sell their knowledge by the hour and hand over a DVD or a link to a website.

The typical studio photographer had a handful of employees, was often a family operation and once the original capital investment was paid for had a great cash cow because nothing ever changed.  Sound familiar?

Change will happen, those who accept change generally benefit the most.

Oh yeah, Kodak was actually in the memory business and did not realize it, the medium to preserve those memories was irrelevant to all but a few of their clients.  Nobody needs another T-shirt, but they will buy a memory or a really cool design effect regardless of what technology decorated it.  What business are you in?

My 2 cents...

[Homer]

amazon selling shirts is great, go for it!... BUT...that's with the customer supplying the artwork. I don't know about you guys, but the custom ink screen shots I get, 99.9% of them are terrible.. there will always be a need for good artwork and it just so happens we can print shirts too. Customer service is another thing. You order online, that's fine but what happens when there is an issue? You are just a number waiting in line. You buy local, you become a face. some people appreciate that, and that's my market.

I think King screen nailed it.....

[Sbrem]

And the next step will be machines like this as self-service at copy stores or in kiosks in malls.

This is a great time to be 67 years old and not too worried about the future! 

Ditto, 64 in a few weeks...

Steve