#Digital Printing

2020-01-09

Former Xaar CEO Doug Edwards joins EFI as Chief Technology Officer

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. has named veteran print technology executive Dr. Douglas Edwards as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Edwards replaces longtime technology leader Ghilad Dziesietnik, who recently retired after nearly 25 years with EFI – the last 14 as CTO. Edwards, who assumes his new duties today, has had an extensive career as a senior print executive and R&D technologist.

Immediately prior to this appointment, Edwards was CEO of Cambridge, England-based Xaar plc, a leading developer of inkjet print head technologies for industrial printing, and Chairman of Xaar 3D Ltd – the company’s 3D printing joint venture with Stratasys Ltd.

Before joining Xaar in 2015 Edwards was President of Kodak's Digital Printing and Enterprise Business with responsibility for flexo packaging, functional printing, electrophotographic solutions, commercial and consumer inkjet solutions with combined revenues of around $800 million. Prior to this, Edwards ran Kodak's largest graphics business, Prepress Solutions, with revenues of $1.5 billion. Edwards joined Kodak™ from Kodak Polychrome Graphics (KPG), a 50/50 joint venture between Eastman Kodak and Sun Chemical Corporation, where he was Vice President of R&D. He has also held senior R&D leadership roles with International Paper®, Zeneca Specialties (formerly ICI Colors & Fine Chemicals) and Ilford® Photographic Ltd in the U.K.

“Doug possesses one of the best technological backgrounds in our industry, and combines technology with demonstrated business accomplishments,” said EFI Chairman and CEO Jeff Jacobson. “EFI has a history of providing its customers with a competitive advantage by keeping them at the forefront of technology. I had the pleasure of working closely with Doug – when I was the CEO of KPG, as well as when I was the COO of Kodak’s Graphic Communications business – and I cannot think of a better person in our industry to lead EFI’s strategic and technology developments.”

Edwards, who is based in EFI’s Manchester, N.H. facility, has a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a Ph.D. in conducting organic materials – both from London University. He has several patents, scientific papers and books to his credit in topics such as solid-state conductivity and photographic materials. He has also published research in textile dyeing, including work on the aqueous solution behavior of anionic azo dyes for textile fibers.

“EFI was a customer of mine while with Xaar, and I am very aware of the unique opportunity EFI has now to further develop a portfolio that includes many of the world’s leading digital inkjet and print workflow solutions,” said Edwards. “EFI, with its printhead-agnostic approach, is leveraging technology from many different vendors, and I look forward to bringing my inkjet experience to help drive value from this strategy and further enhance EFI’s ‘best of breed’ approach.

“Dating back to my time with Kodak and KPG, I have long appreciated Jeff Jacobson’s approach to innovation and technology development,” he added. “I look forward to working with him and the global EFI team to drive our customers’ success in high-quality print production.”

EFI and Fiery, LLC, reach agreement on Fiery acquisition of Inèdit software

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (EFI™) today announced that it has signed an agreement for Fiery, LLC, to acquire all interests in Inèdit Software, the leading RIP and color management software company serving all brands of digital textile printers worldwide. Inèdit’s software products, including neoStampa, neoTextil and neoCatalog, serve the digital textile and specialty printing markets, and will enable Fiery to broaden its suite of solutions targeted at those markets. EFI Reggiani will continue its strong working relationship with Inèdit as an OEM partner.

Mimaki upgrades TS330 series for vibrant and seamless dye sublimation printing

The TS330 Series now provides users with an extended colour gamut, offering the flexibility to serve different markets profitably from one solution – from fashion to décor to signage – with improved colour vibrancy, fidelity and accuracy. Mimaki also introduces a larger solution to the TS330 Series, the TS330-1800, able to accommodate single-piece, wide textile fabrics, ideal for larger home décor applications.

Mimaki demonstrates versatile, simple TRAPIS textile printing at Heimtextil 2026

Mimaki’s textile pigment transfer printing system, TRAPIS, is able to print on a diverse range of fabrics - unlike traditional processes - including natural fibres and synthetic fabrics. The full solution will be shown on Mimaki’s booth (Hall 3.0 Stand A97), as the company returns to Heimtextil to showcase its advancements in sustainable, high quality and efficient textile printing.

MUNICH FABRIC START: Between Attitude and Sensuality

The future begins where we reimagine it. After seasons of restraint, Spring.Summer 27 marks a conscious counter-trend: optimism, sensuality, and creative freedom are replacing pragmatism and neutrality. Physical presence and individuality are regaining importance – as a response to uncertainty, exhaustion, and algorithmic predictability. The overarching theme of PLEASURE stands for fashion as an emotional space, as an expression of attitude and cultural reflection. Colours, surfaces, and materials become vehicles for self-confidence and joie de vivre.

organIQ seek: smart alternative to potassium permanganate

CHT Group announces new technical findings within its organIQ seek platform that significantly advance the transition toward permanganate-free denim bleaching. Through extensive industrial testing and application research, CHT confirms that organIQ seek can now be used with remarkable effectiveness as a substitute for potassium permanganate in spray bleach, while remaining aligned with sustainability expectations and cost realities in the European market. At the COLOMBIATEX in Medellín as well as at the Exintex in Puebla and the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam the CHT Group will present organIQ seek as an alternative to potassium permanganate.

PERFORMANCE DAYS: Focus topic shifts to the beginning of the value chain

Following the last Focus Topic in October 2025, which placed Textile-to-Textile Recycling at its core, PERFORMANCE DAYS continues to drive the conversation around circularity – this time with an expanded and more upstream perspective. The upcoming Focus Topic, “Textile to Textile: The Role of Collectors and Sorters,” presented during the spring edition on March 18–19, will spotlight one of the most essential yet often overlooked components of a functioning circular textile system: the efficient collection and sorting of post-consumer textiles.

Proven performance, optimised costs – the new RE 6 EL

Nowadays textile companies increasingly need to produce small production runs and respond to market changes with instantaneous pattern changes in order to operate profitably – meaning they require machines that offer maximum flexibility, reliability and cost efficiency. KARL MAYER understands the challenges of the market and is launching its new RE 6 EL. The Raschel machine offers the core strengths of the classic RSE 6 EL and essentially the same performance parameters, but has been further cost-optimised largely due to local production advantages. This makes the newcomer an efficiency champion in production, especially when it comes to frequent pattern changes.