This year, DuPont celebrates the 35th anniversary of DuPont Artistri digital inks. In 1989, DuPont introduced Cromalin, the first pigment dispersions, that were sampled to desktop printers. Since then, the Artistri digital inks portfolio has evolved significantly, offering solutions to multiple printing segments: home and office, textile, commercial, and packaging.

“This is an extraordinary moment for DuPont and the entire Artistri team,” commented Tucker Norton, global business director for DuPont Artistri digital inks. “Throughout this journey, we have brought countless innovations to the market and have focused on developing them in collaboration with our OEM partners.”

History of DuPont Inks

After the first dispersion was launched in 1989, DuPont manufactured the GTP (group transfer polymerization) resins, a controlled polymer technology used to make the first black pigment dispersion, replacing the dye base in desktop printers​. This innovation replaced the dye with a stable pigment dispersion, and as a result, the inks had better performance and color, states the company.

In 1996, DuPont launched its first pigmented color dispersions and the first carbon black SDP (self disperse pigment). This proprietary technology became such a differentiator in its segment that years later, DuPont invested in a second manufacturing line to fulfill the SDP demand. In 1998, the Fort Madison plant in Iowa received its first ISO9001 certification and continues to be certified with the most recent standards.

The first Artistri water-based pigment inks in the digital textile segment for wide format were introduced in 2000 and were followed by the launch of two textile printers: the ​DuPont Ink Jet 3210 and the Artistri 2020.​ The Artistri 2020 achieved 50 installations during the first years after its launch.

The digital textile segment was growing when DuPont launched the first acid, reactive, and direct disperse textile ink sets for roll-to-roll (RTR)​ in 2004. In the following year, the first direct-to-garment (DTG) ink set was introduced, allowing apparel printers to print not only on white T-shirts, but also on black, with the Artistri white DTG inks.

In 2010, the Ivory technology, a proprietary crosslinking technology, was launched. This marked another important innovation in dispersions as it provided greater stability for a wide range of inks vehicles, reports the company​.

A new ink set dedicated to commercial paper was launched after a few years as digital printing started growing. On the textile side, DuPont launched its first dye-sublimation inks for textile printing​ in 2015.

Following the growth trend of the digital printing for packaging and the need for food-compliant products, Artistri introduced the first dispersions for packaging printing applications in 2018. And as the packaging industry seeks for safer inks in food packaging, the use of water-based inks become more popular in this segment.

By 2020, a new white dispersion mill processing line was launched, delivering a new generation of white pigment inks for DTG. This second generation of inks delivered better opacity, stability, and less settling, which are key for white inks, DuPont says.

In 2022, DuPont announced the expansion of its production capacity at the Fort Madison plant, a response to the continuous growth of the Artistri digital inks business. The expansion allowed the business to increase the manufacturing of water-based pigment inkjet inks and dispersions and respond faster to demand.

The latest Artistri launch was introduced in 2023, the first direct-to-film (DTF) digital ink set offering. DuPont brought a differentiated technology that addressed the need of printers looking for consistency, bright colors, and productivity in DTF printing, it says.

On the Horizon

“For more than 35 years, our team of passionate digital inks experts has worked tirelessly to bring technological advances to the digital printing industry, offering inks that deliver consistency, high quality as well as reliability,” said Norton. “On top of that, DuPont water-based pigment inks also deliver a lower environmental footprint, addressing the need for more sustainable solutions in printing. This is the reason why we continue to heavily invest in the water-based pigment inkjet offerings, as we believe that this is the future for printing.”

With shorter runs, more customization, and the need for faster time to market, more companies are adopting digital printing to complement their current technologies. And the advances in the latest digital printing developments are enabling this technology to gain more share. With this exciting future ahead, DuPont Artistri reaffirms its commitment to this industry bringing new innovations in digital inkjet inks in textile, commercial and packaging printing applications to address printers’ challenges.

The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with Apparelist. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Apparelist.