Image forming method and image forming system

1 . An image forming method comprising:

applying a pretreatment liquid, which is an aqueous solution, to a cloth material;

heating the applied pretreatment liquid; and

applying an ink onto the cloth material, after heating, to form an image on the cloth material by an ink jet method,

wherein after heating, the cloth material comprises the pretreatment liquid and an amount of the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth material is 4 mg/cm 2 or more and less than 30 mg/cm 2 , and

wherein the ink comprises a white ink comprising titanium oxide particles having an average particle diameter of more than 10 nm and 200 nm or less.

2 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein heating comprises compressing the cloth material.

3 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein after heating, the cloth material comprises the pretreatment liquid in an amount of 22 mg/cm 2 or less per unit area of the cloth material.

4 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein after heating, the cloth material comprises the pretreatment liquid in an amount of 4 mg/cm 2 to 16 mg/cm 2 per unit area of the cloth material.

5 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the pretreatment liquid comprises a polyvalent metal salt.

6 . The image forming method according to claim 5 ,

wherein the polyvalent metal salt is a calcium salt and/or a magnesium salt, and

wherein, after heating, a total amount of calcium ions and magnesium ions contained in the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth material is 0.05 mg/cm 2 to 1 mg/cm 2 .

7 . The image forming method according to claim 6 ,

wherein applying the pretreatment liquid comprises applying such that an application amount per unit area of the cloth material is 5 mg/cm 2 to 50 mg/cm 2 ,

wherein heating comprises: compressing the cloth material under a compression pressure of 5 psi to 50 psi; and heating the pretreatment liquid at a temperature of 100° C. to 180° C.

8 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the titanium oxide particles have an average particle diameter of 150 nm or less.

9 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the titanium oxide particles have an average particle diameter of 120 nm or less.

10 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the titanium oxide particles have an average particle diameter of 50 nm to 120 nm.

11 . The image forming method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the pretreatment liquid comprises a thickening agent.

12 . The image forming method according to claim 11 ,

wherein after heating, a viscosity of the pretreatment liquid is 1000 mPa·s or more.

13 . The image forming method according to claim 11 ,

wherein after heating, the cloth material comprises the thickening agent in an amount of 0.6 mg/cm 2 or less per unit area of the cloth material.

14 . An image forming system, comprising:

a pretreatment liquid application unit configured to apply a pretreatment liquid, which is an aqueous solution, to a cloth material;

a heating unit configured to heat the applied pretreatment liquid; and

an image forming unit configured to apply an ink onto the cloth material to form an image on the cloth material by an ink jet method,

wherein the ink comprises a white ink comprising titanium oxide particles having an average particle diameter of 10 nm or more and 200 nm or less, and

wherein the heating unit is configured to heat the pretreatment liquid such that the cloth material comprises the pretreatment liquid and an amount of the pretreatment liquid per unit area of the cloth material is 4 mg/cm 2 or more and less than 30 mg/cm 2 , after the heating unit heats the pretreatment liquid.

15 . A cloth material having an image formed thereon by the image forming method according to claim 1 .