If you’re in any way connected to the world of garment printing, you’ll have heard of Kornit, a firm synonymous with custom-printed merch. In January, the company announced the release of the Atlas, a high-end printer that directly applies ink to the fabric.
Direct to garment printing, or DTG printing, has been the holy grail of custom merch sellers for years. Kornit hopes that with their new product, sellers everywhere will be able to create custom apparel and print out their designs just like they might print on paper using a regular inkjet printer.
The hype around the Atlas is enormous. The company promises to democratize the garment-printing industry, taking power away from big printing shops and putting it in the hands of individuals. For the first time in history, people can design and print their apparel fast and get a quick turnaround. It’s been said the Kornit Atlas can produce over 100 full color t-shirts in 60 minutes.
That advantage for businesses that supply print-on-demand merch is extraordinary. But is it the best direct-to-garment printer on the market? Is it worth the investment?
React Fast To Changes In Consumer Demand
When it comes to merch, consumer tastes design all the time. But up until now, it was hard for sellers to be agile, providing topical printed apparel on-demand to cater for particular events. The Kornit Atlas changes all that: sellers can observe a topical trend and immediately begin creating messages that will appeal to consumers.
There’s no longer a need to wait weeks for a print shop to process the order, by which point the opportunity may have passed. Kornit says that it can process orders within 24 hours.
Boost Image Quality
Getting high-quality prints, even from a print shop, can be a challenge. But the notion that you could achieve high-quality garment printing with a device that is potentially within reach of the average consumer seems even more far-fetched. The demonstrations of the print quality, however, put to bed any doubt that people might have about whether the device performs – it does.
The Kornit Atlas can achieve a print fidelity rarely seen in the direct-to-garment industry. Merch sellers now have the freedom to print complex, intricate designs and images, and no longer have to stick with monotonal offerings. The Atlas has unprecedented potential to provide customers with compelling garments that deliver personalized messages to a standard they haven’t seen before. Kornit has been showing off a collection of high-quality prints in Munich and Long Beach, California, showing merch sellers just what’s possible with the new platform.
Get Higher Productivity Prints
In the past, the limiting factor for digital direct printing machines was the number of items they could deliver per hour. Printers were slow and prone to breakdown, but that’s not the case with the Atlas, claims Kornit. The printer manufacturer claims that the Atlas will churn out 160 items per hour, or three per minute, making it an excellent option for vendors with high-volume merch requirements.
Kornit says that if customers order prints from the company, they can have them ready within 24 hours with the next device owing to improved productivity.
Achieve Better Colors
Kornit has been working hard on improving color vibrancy and fidelity. One of the complaints that people had of the firm in the past was that colors on printed apparel didn’t seem to “pop.” But the company has made substantial changes to its underlying technology with the Atlas and says that it can now deliver true-to-life colors never achieved before, giving designers more options to be creative.
Developing the Kornit Atlas was a massive undertaking, according to the Omer Kulka, the company’s VP of Marketing and Product Strategy. Kulka says that the new product is not only a boon for the firm’s customers but the direct-to-garment industry as a whole. The Atlas is, in his view, the best and most cost-efficient solution on the market right now, able to deliver high-quality and quantity with rapid turnaround.
Become A Leader In Print On-Demand Merch
There’s no doubt that companies, like Amazon and Spreadshop, that invest early in the Kornit will become leaders in on-demand printed merch. Consumers want firms to be not only able to create merch with exceptional design value, but also get rapid turnarounds. That’s precisely what the Atlas provides with its high print rate.
Early beta reviews of the product were overwhelmingly positive. Kornit collected feedback from a range of clients who reported that the Atlas was able to deliver more consistent print quality and reliably higher output.
While this isn’t a “home” machine, you can still enjoy the benefits of the printing quality by selling your merch through Spreadshop (free to use) which prints their products on Kornit printers.