Today, we are glad to present you a great project, a new way to print on fabric using Sunlight! The Lumi Process.
What is the Lumi Process?
The Lumi Process is a revolutionary photographic print process for textiles and natural materials. The process is based on Inkodye, mixable, dilutable, water-based dyes, which develop their color in sunlight. Currently available in three colors: red, orange and blue.
Inkodye can bind to any vegetal or animal fiber, such as cotton, wool, silk, suede and wood. Once fixed, the color becomes permanent and can go through repeated machine washes without fading.
Inkodye’s light-sensitive properties open new possibilities for artistic and commercial uses:
True photographic prints that show a range of tonality rather than half-tone patterns.
Printing on delicate materials such as silk, suede and wool which are not capable of going through pH or heat-setting stages.
Printing on rough materials such as burlap, jute and sewn garments, into recesses that typical screen-printing could not reach.
Printing with sunlight, without the need for electricity or high-end equipment.
The System
Starter Kit
The starter kit includes 4 ounces of each color (118ml), instructions, a vignette-shaped stencil and a negative that you can cut out and start playing with.
This kit will allow you to print between 12 sq ft. and 48 sq ft. (3.6 to 14.6 m2) depending on how absorbent your material is, and whether or not you dilute the dye.
Transparent Film
The film provided in our Full System Kit is 11×17″ (equivalent to A3 paper) specially coated for laser printing. It absorbs more toner than typical transparencies allowing you to print dense negatives. This will ensure that the whites in your image stay white. Each transparency is connected to a carrier sheet of paper which makes it run through typical copiers more effectively.
If you prefer to use your own transparency, there are a few ways to get dark negatives. The easiest we’ve found is to print two negatives on your home inkjet printer and double them up.
Textile Detergent
To make sure your prints don’t continue developing, you’ll have to wash out the unexposed dye in hot water with a strong textile detergent. The one we provide is specifically made to clear residual dye. However, it is possible to use regular laundry detergent, but you may need to run your print through the washing machine twice.
How can I use the Lumi Process?
What’s the app for?
Lumityper is a simple iPhone utility that helps you create negatives from your iPhone pictures. It also gives you mobile access to printing instructions and troubleshooting guides.
Once you’ve turned your image into a negative, you can save it or email it to yourself. The file can then be printed directly on a copier such as the ones found at Kinkos/FedEx.
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