INTRODUCTION
Textile printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in definite patterns or designs.
In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the fibre, so as to resist washing
and friction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but in dyeing properly the whole fabric is
uniformly covered with one colour, whereas in printing one or more colours are applied
to it in certain parts only, and in sharply defined patterns. In printing, wooden blocks,
stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or silkscreens can be used to place colours on the
fabric. Colorants used in printing contain dyes thickened to prevent the colour from
spreading by capillary attraction beyond the limits of thepattern or design.
In the process of printing color designs are developed on fabrics by printing with
dyes and pigments in pa ste form with specially designed machines.
Printing is used to apply colour only on localized areas.
Printed fabrics, usually have clear-cut edges in the printed portions on the face of the
fabric. Printing allows flexibility in creating great designs, and enables the creation of
relatively inexpensive, patterned fabric. Woodblock printing is a technique for printing
text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and probably originating in
China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of
printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220.
Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used
widelythroughout East Asia and probably originating in China in antiquity as a method of
printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on doth, the earliestsurviving
examples from China date to before 220.Textile printing was known in Europe, via the
Islamic world, from about the 12thcentury, and widely used. However, the European
dyes tended to liquify, whichrestricted the use of printed patterns. Fairly large and
ambitious designs were printedfor decorative purposes such as wall hangings and
lectern-cloths, where this wasless of a problem as they did not need washing. When
paper became common, thetechnology was rapidly used on that for woodcut prints.
Superior cloth was alsoimported from Islamic countries, but this was much more
expensive.The Incas of Peru, Chile and the Aztecs of Mexico also practiced textile
printingprevious to the Spanish Invasion in 1519; but owing to the lack of records before
thatdate, it is impossible to say whether they discovered the art for themselves, or,
insome way, learned its principles from the Asiatics.During the latter half of the 17th
century the French brought directly by sea, fromtheir colonies on the east coast of India,
samples of Indian blue and white resistprints, and along with them, particulars of the
processes by which they had beenproduced, which produced washable fabrics.As early
as the 1630s, the East India Company was bringing in printed and plaincotton for the
English market. By the 1660s British printers and dyers were making
their own printed cotton to sell at home, printing single colors on plain backgrounds: