A design applied to a textile’s surface, rather than formed by weaving the pattern into the cloth.
Printing applies one or more colours to selected areas of a fabric in a design. In direct printing, the colours go straight onto white or dyed cloth. In discharge printing, a dyed cloth is printed with a paste that destroys the dye, leaving white or, if the paste carries another colour, replacing it. In resist printing, a resist agent goes on first, so those areas stay undyed when the cloth is dyed. The tools vary: a flat screen through which print paste is forced, a rotary screen that applies colour continuously from inside a perforated cylinder, engraved rollers, heat transfer, or digital ink-jet heads that place very small drops precisely.
The usual confusion is with a woven pattern. A print is added to cloth already made; a jacquard figure is formed by the yarns as the cloth is woven, in colour, texture or both.
In job listings
In job copy, this word has many senses, including print advertising and printed materials. In textile design and fabric development, it means a surface design, and a role may involve briefing artwork or checking colour on the cloth. Search local jobs for “textile print”.
