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Wow effects in a flash

With the cameo Laser developed by Epilog even the most complex and delicate designs and logos can be realized and a fine branding effect can be created with these devices on velvet, cotton, fleece or softshell

The laser provides a brightened optical effect on jeans – similarly an eye catcher, remarks cameo director Torsten Herbst. He emphasises: “Lasers enrich textiles in an uncomplicated manner and permanently. Even after several washes, the result doesn’t lose its quality”. His marking systems are compatible with all the major graphic programs, he states – another plus also in the decoration of articles with strasses (rhinestones).

Rhinestone application

“Time consuming processes for preparing rhinestone applications are a thing of the past; the work steps have been extremely lightened by the laser in combination with the computer” says cameo employee Christiane Uhde. From the idea to the final product takes just a few minutes.

A motif is designed initially on the screen using the program LaserDraw 8.0. This software is a design and styling software specially developed by cameo Laser for carrying out lettering on textiles, which runs on every commercially available PC, and is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP Sp3, Vista and Win 7 operating systems.

With just one click the graphic pattern is converted into a point pattern model which allows distances between the rhinestones, their sizes and colours to be chosen. In case of multicoloured motifs, one template is created for each colour, which is then cut out of a plastic panel by means of a laser.

After the template has been prepared, the remaining procedure is simple: “The rhinestones are swept across the template and due to their shape, and by the principle of gravity they fall into the cut-out slots almost by themselves. Afterwards, a transfer film is placed over it,” explained Christiane Uhde.

When the film is peeled off, the crystals adhere to it and are applied to the fabric by means of a transfer press in a matter of seconds in the next step. If the motif features multiple colours, this step is repeated for each colour.

The interest shown in the process is very considerable, according to Christiane Uhde.“Textile embellishment with rhinestone applications are the trend today. It’s now quicker and thus also cost-effective to work with lasers.”

Laserflex

The brand cameo contributes another innovation for making work easier: cameo developed Laserflex in collaboration with the company IVM Singtex. The material makes it easier to implement flex lettering on textiles, and it can now also be performed with the utmost precision.

“As opposed to applying a motif by means of foil cutters, Laserflex does not require peeling off, which means that even the most delicate and tiny emblems can be produced using only a few steps,” says Torsten Herbst.

The system is not just suitable for use with textiles, but also materials such as wood, plastics, glass, or metals. Torsten Herbst: “These additional application possibilities open up new fields of operation; also the purchase of such a device pays for itself very quickly.”