When Katie Lee, a textile designer, started her career she created her designs by using analogue techniques such as drawing. With the advent of digital technology she began to make her designs on a PC, and then some years ago, Katie invested in an inkjet printer and a heat-press so she could produce her own sample prints, instead of having them outsourced. For Katie, it was a steep learning curve, but now having mastered the digital process, she can create unique one-off designs for her customers.
When Katie considered investing in an inkjet printer, she had no idea what to look for. After talking to a reseller, she decided to purchase a system from Roland DG that included Kiian Digital inks as part of the package. At first it was sufficient for her needs, making small sample prints of the designs for her clients. She was excited with the new found flexibility to make design changes easily before having the finished article printed. It soon occurred to her that she could not only produce design sample prints, but she could make the end product as well.
When some of Katie's early designs were sent to the print shops that her clients used, there could be subtle colour differences from the original on these commercial prints. Katie was often asked to make a re-design to compensate for the limitations of the digital printing equipment and the ink sets used. When she invested in her own printer, Katie initially settled for the standard CMYK ink-set supplied by the reseller. During an open house at her suppliers, Kiian Digital showcased the extended colour gamut that was possible by using Kiian Fluo inks and spot colours. Katie spoke with Kiian Digital about the possibilities and she then decided to ask her supplier to change her printer to include spot colours so she could free herself from colour gamut limitations.