Knowledge base.
A glossary of terms, a catalog of sources for ongoing monitoring, and a fact-check of claims circulating in the industry, including the AI-generated ones.
Fact-check: we verified before we published
Some “industry knowledge”, especially the kind coming from AI-generated reports, does not survive contact with the sources. Below are the claims we verified before publishing this edition.
“The Kornit Apollo prints up to 400 pieces per hour, with wet-on-wet pretreat and inline drying.”
“The new Kyocera KJ4B and Dimatix StarFire printheads have continuous ink recirculation.”
“Kornit QualiSet performs on-the-fly nozzle compensation (inline nozzle compensation).”
“Libiao’s RaaS model delivers 30–50 extra robots for peak.”
“AVT Helios (Esko) and BST TubeScan systems are used for print quality control on apparel.”
“AI-powered 8K line-scan cameras behind dryer tunnels are becoming the standard in DTG fulfilment.”
“The Digital Product Passport (DPP) will be mandatory for textiles from 2026/2027.”
“Pigment inks reduce drying energy consumption by 15–25%.”
Glossary
The full glossary, with definitions →
Source catalog: what to monitor every week
| # | Source | Why | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FESPA.com — news hub | The canonical source on European specialty print, the Print Census, personalization trends | free |
| 2 | WhatTheyThink | Print's fastest analytical newsroom; Debbie McKeegan's textile column | freemium |
| 3 | PRINTING United Alliance | State of the Industry + decorator panel research (Apparelist) | free |
| 4 | Images Magazine | The UK's “official gazette” of garment decoration; excellent machine tests | free |
| 5 | Impressions Magazine | US deco-apparel + the annual “State of Apparel Decorating” | free |
| 6 | TexIntel | A daily textile-print press room — catches the releases that slip past everyone else | free |
| 7 | Printweek | Hard business news: who bought, who folded, who installed | metered |
| 8 | Apparelist | PRINTING United's apparel vertical — the best Apparel Zone coverage | free |
| 9 | Printwear & Promotion | UK printwear + the P&P LIVE! event pipeline | free |
| 10 | Print Monthly | Reliable UK/EU trade show reporting (strong FESPA Textile coverage) | free |
| 11 | Keypoint Intelligence — blogs | Research-grade analysis of DTF/POD/wide-format — the free layer of the paid InfoCenter | freemium |
| 12 | Beyond-Print | The best European lens on web-to-print/POD platform economics | free |
| 13 | ASI Central | The promotional products angle: trend data from shows, decorator statistics | partial |
| 14 | Smithers — resources | Quotable numbers from paid print and textile forecasts | freemium |
| 15 | OEKO-TEX · GOTS · Textile Exchange | Few posts, but critical for compliance — annual regulation cycles | free |
The plan for future editions
Quarterly Print Barometer
An index built from an anonymous survey of print shops in Poland and Central Europe: average DTF and DTG price per print, lead time, capacity utilization, volume change month on month. Nobody publishes those figures for the region, so shops quote against guesswork. Participants get the full cut, everyone gets the headline numbers.
Ongoing Print defect atlas
A photographic library of defects: symptom, cause, fix, prevention, across DTG, DTF, sublimation and screen. Every defect gets a permanent URL, so the one that keeps costing you reprints can be bookmarked and sent to a shift that has never seen it.
Monthly TCO teardown
The full cost of one print on one real setup: depreciation, ink, film and powder measured on the shop floor, labor, defect rate, energy. The spreadsheet comes with it, so the numbers can be replaced with yours. Vendor ROI calculators stop at the machine price. This one keeps going.
Official press rooms — photos & b-roll
Official newsrooms with product photography and b-roll, usable with credit under each vendor’s own press terms: Kornit · M&R · Brother DTG · Mimaki · Epson · ROQ · Libiao · Exotec · FESPA · PRINTING United
NozzleCheck links to press images rather than re-hosting them, so the credit and the license terms stay with the vendor that issued them.