If you want to print on textiles for soft signage or décor, most options run out after you get to around 3.3m wide. Big enough, you say? But what if you need to wrap a building, make a stage backdrop, or dress a two-storey tradeshow stand? Here you might find a machine that can output a roll of 5m width or more, though previously you wouldn’t have been spoilt for choice in this segment. Aiming to broaden the field – in all senses – is the most recent addition from the Durst stable, the P5 500 TEX iSUB, which was launched at FESPA 2025 in Berlin. Breaking down the alphanumeric naming, ‘P5’ tells us it’s built on the P5 platform that Durst introduced in 2018, initially for its hybrid line of UV printers, while the 500 represents the approximate roll width in centimetres (it’s actually a 5.2m machine). TEX is obviously for textile and iSUB relates to Durst’s internal dye sublimation fixing technology that means you don’t need a separate calender if you’re printing directly to the polyester-based fabric. Can We Fix It? Apart from the printer’s size, the iSUB system is one of the top features of the P5 500 TEX iSUB. Introduced in 2021 with the original 3.3m P5 TEX iSUB, this technology uses Durst’s Sublifix inks to print directly to fabric for internal fixing using a novel and probably unique non-contact fixing process, while also being able to print to thermal transfer paper for conventional calendering onto stretchy or non-pretreated fabrics. Durst is coy about how iSUB works in terms of technical details but says the advantages of its approach are multiple, avoiding ink bleed, dust contamination, or fabric discolouration, resulting in improved colour consistency and sharp reproduction of text or other fine graphic details, even on thin fabrics or ‘difficult’ materials like blackback, backlit, and flag fabrics. It’s also claimed to maintain the soft-touch feel of fabric. Carrying out the fixing process inside the same machine saves both time, thanks to not needing a subsequent process, and space, as a separate calender isn’t needed for most applications. As well as reducing handling and potential marking or damage, Durst has produced its biggest, fastest dye-sublimation roll printer yet, able to print and fix internally, or print to transfer paper, to tackle the biggest jobs. Michael Walker draws back the curtain Uncovering the Durst P5 500 TEX iSUB Michael Walker is a trade journalist, technical writer, and editor with over 37 years’ experience in the print, prepress, photography, and digital imaging sectors, with a particular interest in the digital transformation of processes. In addition to editing Desktop Publishing Today and Digital Printer magazines, he is co-author with Neil Barstow of Getting Colour Right (Ilex Press, 2004) and Practical Colour Management for Photographers and Digital Image Makers (2009, self-published e-book) and winner of a Communicators in Business Gold Award. Durst is coy about how iSUB works in terms of technical details but says the advantages of its approach are multiple, avoiding ink bleed, dust contamination, or fabric discolouration 26 email: editor@signlink.co.uk Issue 261 - October / November 2025 UNDER THE HOOD | THE DURST P5 500 TEX ISUB
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