Ricoh Printing Systems America (Booth C6431) makes an exciting announcement about its latest direct-to-garment (DTG) printing technology, which eliminates the pretreatment process and allows for printing on polyester garments — even dark ones.

RICOH DTG first entered the market in 2017 with a desktop DTG printer, called the RICOH Ri 100. Followed by the RICOH Ri 1000 in 2018. In 2020, it released the RICOH Ri 2000.

In a press conference at PRINTING United Expo, the Ricoh team gave attendees a sneak peek of its latest innovation — a DTG printer with increased productivity, expanded media, and reduced printing costs. Ricoh has yet to go into full details on exact pricing or a name, but the printer is expected to hit the market in the summer of 2023.

Haziel Mitchell, sales and marketing director for Ricoh Printing Systems America, direct-to-garment division, says customers have been asking for three things:

• The ability to print on 100% dark polyester
• High quality
• Lower costs

“Finally the breakthrough is here,” says Mitchell. The new technology Ricoh presents eliminates the manual pretreatment process via an “enhancer” that’s directly printed to the garment before ink laydown. It also boasts dual-carriage technology, which allows for faster prints.

Along with the printer technology, Ricoh announces a new white ink, which uses pigments that easily react to the enhancer, allowing ink to stay on the surface of the fabric.

The printer not only works on dark polyester but cotton and 50/50 blends in multiple colors. It must have power at all times to allow for the self-circulation of inks.

As far as speeds go, Mitchell says output is equivalent to the Ri 1000, with the capability of printing 20-25 dark shirts per hour. Talking price, Ricoh expects a starting price of around $40,000 or more.