The print industry is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by demands for speed, sustainability, and limitless creativity. For more than 30 years, Flying Colours, a specialist in artwork and colour separation services for printers worldwide, has been at the forefront of this evolution. Now, partnering with Kornit Digital, the company is demonstrating how decades of screen-printing expertise can unlock the full potential of Mass Digital Production.
“Digital printing is no longer just an alternative, it’s a new standard for quality, speed, and creativity,” says Engin Ibrahim, Flying Colours founder.
Meeting the Demands of Today’s Market
The apparel production market is shifting rapidly under the influence of consumer demand for personalisation, sustainability, and fast fulfilment. Shorter runs, complex designs, reduced waste, and premium quality are no longer optional, they are expected.
Kornit’s Mass Digital Production technology meets these challenges, enabling printers to respond to brand and consumer needs with on-demand, cost-effective, sustainable solutions. Rather than competing with screen printing, Kornit Digital’s systems complement and expand capabilities, opening the door to designs and effects that traditional methods cannot achieve.
Flying Colours, Precision in File Preparation
Artwork and file preparation are at the heart of Flying Colours’ expertise. The company has supported silk-screen printers and merchandising firms in more than 15 countries, specialising in complex colour separations and digital print files.
Now, as Kornit pushes Mass Digital Production technology forward, Flying Colours applies its expertise to maximise efficiency, reduce setup time, and emulate the look of screen printing at digital speed. This includes tasks such as intelligently removing backgrounds to use garment colours, enhancing tonal detail, and preserving subtle gradients.
Why Kornit?
Kornit’s mission is not only to empower printers but to transform the fashion and apparel industry into one that is sustainable and waste-free. By eliminating overproduction, reducing ink and energy use, and enabling local on-demand production, Kornit is pioneering a more responsible future for the industry.
– Apollo: Delivers up to 400 impressions per hour, with a 20” x 20” print area on a non-standard pallet, and supports multiple ink channels (CMYKRG, White, Q-Fix, Intensifier).
– Atlas MAX Plus: Produces up to 150 impressions per hour, featuring a 23.6” x 35.4” print area on a Super (or Grand) Pallet.
The result: output that meets screen-printing standards and goes far beyond. With Kornit, printers can achieve photo-realistic detail, neon effects, textured XDi prints, and endless creative possibilities in a single system.
The Test at Kornit Digital in Germany
Flying Colours recently visited Kornit’s Düsseldorf facility in Germany to create print files demonstrating how closely DTG could emulate screen print quality. The challenge was to produce files that preserved the craft of screen printing while optimising ink usage through Under Colour Removal (UCR) using the garment’s black to replace black ink wherever possible without losing detail.
Jason Beevor, Studio Manager, spent weeks preparing multiple workflows and artwork files before arriving on-site. Over two intensive days he collaborated with Marie Kuehl, Pre-Sales Application Engineer at Kornit Digital, testing different versions of a complex, detail-heavy image.
Day One was dedicated to experimentation and pushing boundaries, perfecting workflows and testing initial approaches. Day Two built on this foundation, focusing on applying all the insights, data and custom Photoshop actions developed the previous day. It was a full day of printing multiple shirts and designs, observing, adjusting, and evaluating outcomes. The goal was clear: to produce DTG prints that matched the original artwork, retained fine detail and captured the look and feel of traditional screen printing. Through rigorous testing and refinement, Flying Colours developed a formula that successfully worked on an overwhelming majority of designs for Kornit.
After the planning phase of the first day, Jason Beevor was satisfied with the formula that Flying Colours had successfully produced and the eventual end-product, stating; “By focusing on one complex image first, we could perfect the workflow then expand it across multiple designs. The prints speak for themselves.”
Flying Colours + Kornit: Innovation in Action
At Kornit’s Düsseldorf facility, Flying Colours tested complex, detail-heavy artworks to prove how closely Kornit’s digital technology could replicate the craft of screen printing, while maximizing efficiency.
Through advanced workflows and intelligent under-colour removal, Flying Colours achieved a 50% reduction in ink usage on photographic designs. This breakthrough not only cuts costs but also supports Kornit’s commitment to sustainability: less ink, less waste, lower environmental impact.
“The real game-changer was the reduction in ink usage,” says Engin. “We sacrificed nothing in order to achieve a more sustainable product. This could change the entire industry.”
The Power of MAX Technology
Kornit’s MAX technology elevates digital production further:
- Wet-on-wet printing for seamless gradients and vibrant saturation.
- Advanced ink formulations with integrated pre-treatment that replace multiple production steps. This chemistry delivers durability, premium hand-feel, wash resistance, and creative effects such as neon colours and XDi 3D textures, all in a single process.
The result: garments that don’t just look great, they last longer, feel better, and unlock new levels of creativity while reducing waste and operational complexity.
A Catalyst for a New Market Space
Over the past decade, digital printing has reshaped print-on-demand, e-commerce, and drop shipping. With Kornit’s Atlas MAX Plus and Apollo systems, digital is no longer confined to short runs. It now defines the mid-volume, mass digital category.
By bridging the gap between one-offs and high-volume screen printing, Kornit is creating and leading a new market space: Mass Digital Production. Together with partners like Flying Colours, Kornit is shaping the future of apparel production: faster, cleaner, and more creative than ever before.
