Dr KN Raja Rao, director, and Dr S Maragatham, dean of Avinashilingam University, inaugurated the workshop and unveiled a pack of designer envelopes made by the final year students of printing technology using Esko Packaging software suite (ArtiosCAD and Artpro).

Dr TKS Lakshmi Priya, head, department of printing technology, Avinashilingam University, said, “The highlight of the workshop was the involvement of the Pranera Textiles. T Sivabalan, managing director, Pranera Textiles, came forward and proposed the idea of sending his general manager-sales to address the participants about the range of materials Pranera manufactures and how they carry out large-format dye-sublimation process. He also welcomed the participants to visit their factory and have hands-on experience."

VT Mohan Singh, general manager, Pranera Textiles, Tirupur, was the keynote speaker at the event. He shared his experiences in printing and print media domains.

 

The afternoon session was led by N Alagusundari, assistant professor of the department, where, she demonstrated dye-sublimation process by printing on fabrics and ceramic mugs.

On the second day, the participants were taken to Pranera Textiles. T Sivabalan guided the students on different stages of the workflow — pre-press, printing and thermal transfer. The team created images with their pictures and printed it on satin cloth using dye-sublimation.

On the third day, V Shyamala, senior supply coordinator, Cambridge University Press, Hyderabad, spoke via videoconferencing and discussed about properties of substrates, print problems and their causes. Shyamala is an alumnus of the department, who graduated in 2011 and completed MTech in quality management.

The workshop also involved hands-on session where the participants designed ceramic mugs and key chains. The designs were later printed and transferred to key chains, ceramic mugs and photo frames, using dye-sublimation. The participants were awarded certificates. They also received the samples they created during the workshop.