ZIMMER AUSTRIA, one of the global suppliers of digital carpet and textile printing systems, presents a comparison between its two flagship technologies: CHROMOJET and COLARIS. As carpet printing continues to evolve with manufacturers demanding higher efficiency, broader design capabilities, and reduced environmental impact, both systems serve distinct market needs and are recognized in the industry for their performance and reliability.
Digital carpet printing: Technology that drives design
Carpet printing blends creativity with advanced engineering. From luxury hospitality spaces to public transportation flooring and high-traffic commercial installations, printed carpets must deliver on aesthetics, durability, and production efficiency. Digital printing has become a benchmark technology, offering the flexibility to produce bespoke designs on an industrial scale.
ZIMMER AUSTRIA’s CHROMOJET and COLARIS platforms represent two established technological approaches—valve jet printing and piezo inkjet printing—each with specific strengths.
CHROMOJET: High-speed valve jet printing for deep penetration
CHROMOJET is based on electromagnetic valve jet technology, using high-precision HSV400 or HSV800 valves that inject pressurized dyes deep into the carpet pile. This makes CHROMOJET particularly suitable for high-pile substrates, loop constructions, and large-scale production.
CHROMOJET is available in two configurations: CHR.400 – optimized for spot color printing and CHR.800 – supporting both spot and process colors for a broader color gamut. Among its key features is the use of pre-mixed spot or process colors. The system requires a dedicated color kitchen and delivers deep dye penetration for enhanced durability.
Configurable to customer-specific color setups, the technology offers deep penetration suitable for high-pile carpets and high production capacity for industrial-scale manufacturing. However, it has limited color mixing flexibility and requires cleaning when colors are changed between runs, which may increase water usage. The dedicated color kitchen with mixing and storage tanks also requires regular cleaning.
COLARIS: High-resolution piezo inkjet printing for design flexibility
COLARIS represents ZIMMER AUSTRIA’s piezo inkjet carpet printing technology, using ultra-fine nozzles and high-definition CMYK/BRYK ink systems. The technology enables high-resolution designs, smooth gradients, and an extended color gamut.
COLARIS utilizes pre-formulated CMYK or BRYK inks and offers high resolution (up to 800/3200 dpi), with optional expanded colors such as Carmine, Orange, and Green. Inline substrate pre-treatment and the absence of color changeovers support rapid design switching.
It offers advantages such as broad color variability and smooth transitions, reduced waste and lower water consumption, rapid design changes with no setup time, and suitability for continuous 24/7 production.
Among its limitations are higher ink costs compared to valve jet systems, the requirement of an additional pre-treatment step, and relatively less penetration into very high-pile structures compared to CHROMOJET.
Which technology suits which application?
Both technologies perform within their respective domains:
CHROMOJET is suited for deep penetration in high-pile or structured carpets, high-volume production, and applications requiring durable prints.
COLARIS is suited for fine detail reproduction, design flexibility, rapid job changes, and reduced operational waste.
For event carpets, promotional flooring, and intricate decorative designs, COLARIS offers significant design versatility. For industrial wall-to-wall production requiring deep color penetration, CHROMOJET remains a widely adopted solution.
CHROMOJET and COLARIS provide complementary technological approaches, enabling carpet manufacturers to select solutions aligned with their production priorities. Depending on whether the focus is durability, design flexibility, speed, or sustainability, manufacturers can determine the most suitable system for their operational requirements.