Archives: Courses

Copy of TCST Level 6 Colour Physics

Posted on June 29, 2026 by -

This course will cover some of the basic principles of colour as a revision before introducing new concepts important in the field of Colour Physics.

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

In the following lectures, commercial names are provided. This does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as an example. Similarly, whilst aspects relating to application procedures are presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical printing.

 

As part of every course we might make use of external links, such as YouTube or Wikipedia. Please note that the SDC is not responsible for the content of any external web link.

TCST Level 6 Sustainable Innovation in the Coloration Industry

Posted on July 31, 2025 by -

This course will provide you with background information and a knowledge base relating to state of the art and innovative/disruptive, sustainable technology for the coloration of textile fibres. It will cover process methodology, including traditional aqueous based techniques for processing fibres and fabrics – by both batch and continuous machinery – as well as an introduction to some of the disruptive technology and processes that are either commercialised, or close to commercial launch. The content is by no means all-encompassing, since the field of textile processing and coloration is far too big to be covered. Instead, it is hoped that the course will provide the learner with the necessary introduction and desire to research and read further into this fascinating and ever advancing area of technology and processing.

This course contains scientific content and is prepared and delivered by the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Valuable technical discussion and collaboration with leading coloration and industry experts is greatly appreciated, including Stephen Westland, Professor of Colour Science and Technology, from the University of Leeds and Jinsong Shen, Professor of Textile Chemistry and Biotechnology, from De Montfort University. From industry, special thanks for support from Howarth Scouring, Pincroft Dyeing and Printing, Baldwin Technology, Colorifix, Imogo, Weko Rotaspray.

It is important for you to understand the different fibre types available (natural and synthetic) and use the lessons and topics that you learn here to understand the different requirements associated with the coloration of these fibres.

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

As part of every course we might make use of external links, such as YouTube or Wikipedia, and Espacenet as source for all patent references. Please note that the SDC is not responsible for the content of any external web link.

In the following lectures, commercial names are provided. This does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as an example. Similarly, whilst aspects relating to application procedures are presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical printing.

 

Some of the slides used in lessons and topics include copyrighted materials used under UK educational exceptions for illustration for instruction.  You must not share or distribute any material, contained within lessons and topics, outside this course.

 

TCST Level 6 Textile Printing

Posted on September 23, 2020 by -

 

This course will provide you with background and knowledge relating to textile printing. It will cover process methodology, including traditional mechanical techniques, as well as digital ink jet technology.

This course contains scientific content and is prepared and delivered by Antony Morton on behalf of the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Valuable technical discussion and collaboration with leading experts from within the textile printing industry and from the University of Leeds – Stephen Westland (Professor of Colour Science and Technology), Muriel Rigout (Associate Professor of Textile Printing and Design), Samantha Pugh (Associate Professor in STEM Education, department of Physics) – is kindly acknowledged.

It is important for you to understand the different fibre types available (natural and synthetic) and use the lessons and topics that you learn here to understand the different requirements associated with the printing of these fibres.

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

In the following lectures, commercial names are provided. This does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as an example. Similarly, whilst aspects relating to application procedures are presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical printing.

 

As part of every course we might make use of external links, such as YouTube or Wikipedia. Please note that the SDC is not responsible for the content of any external web link.

TCST Level 6 Dyeing Theory

Posted on August 14, 2019 by -

This module is part of the suite of modules that make up the TCST (level 6) ASDC by examination. This module is also available as a stand-alone module as part of the SDC Certificate of Higher Education.

This course will cover some of the more important fundamental aspects of physical chemistry in relation to the Theory of Dyeing

The start of this course is the Welcome which will guide you through the development of the Learning Outcomes and the various ways in which you can enhance your learning by navigating the site, how you can manage your time and how to best revise and prepare for examinations.

This course contains scientific content prepared by experts within their specific field and is developed and delivered by Antony Morton for the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Contact  antonym@sdc.org.uk

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material when you are studying the dyeing of natural fibres.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

You will see that some of the reading is under the heading “essential” and some of the reading is under the heading “recommended”, or “additional” or “further”.  The book chapter excerpts and academic papers that appear under the title “essential” include content that may form at least part of a question(s) within the exam. 

In the following lectures, commercial names of dyes, fibres, auxiliaries etc are provided; this does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as a guide. Similarly while aspects relating to application procedures is presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical dyeing.

TCST Level 6 Dyeing of Synthetic Fibres

Posted on January 11, 2019 by -

 

This course will provide you with knowledge of fibre structure, its interaction with water and the importance of this in the coloration process. It will cover coloration processes and dye classes for the more important synthetic fibres.

This course contains scientific content prepared by experts within their specific field and is delivered by Antony Morton on behalf of the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Contact  antonym@sdc.org.uk

It is important for you to understand the different fibres within these classification and use the techniques learnt here to understand the differences in the required dyeing of these fibres.

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material when you are studying the dyeing of natural fibres.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

In the following lectures, commercial names of dyes, fibres, auxiliaries etc are provided; this does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as a guide. Similarly while aspects relating to application procedures is presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical dyeing.

TCST Level 6 Dyeing of Natural Fibres

Posted on June 25, 2018 by -

This module is part of the suite of modules that make up the TCST (level 6) ASDC by examination. This module is also available as a stand-alone module as part of the SDC Certificate of Higher Education.

This course will provide you with knowledge of fibre structure, its interaction with water and the importance of this in the coloration process. It will then cover the main coloration processes and dye classes for two significant natural fibres, cotton and wool.

This course will cover the protein fibre wool and the cellulosic fibre cotton as these are the two most important fibres within these classifications. It is important for you to understand the different fibres within these classification and use the techniques learnt here to understand the differences in the required dyeing of these fibres.

Two publications are available to you to help with terms and definitions

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”
  2. A short version of definitions that also exist within the scripts for the course but provided here in a handy format.

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents will also be useful when you study dyeing of synthetic fibres.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

This course covers the dyeing of Wool and Cellulosics. We estimate that the split in the time required for each fibre type is Wool 35% : Cellulosics 65%.

You will see that some of the reading is under the heading “essential” and some of the reading is under the heading “recommended”, or “additional” or “further”.  The book chapter excerpts and academic papers that appear under the title “essential” include content that may form at least part of a question(s) within the exam. 

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

In the following lectures, commercial names of dyes, fibres, auxiliaries etc are provided; this does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as a guide. Similarly while aspects relating to application procedures is presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical dyeing.

TCST Level 6 Chemistry of Colourants

Posted on June 22, 2018 by -

This lesson will cover some of the basic principles of colour as a revision before introducing new concepts important in the field of the Chemistry of Colorants.

The start of this course is the Welcome which will guide you through the various ways in which you can enhance your learning by navigating the site, how you can manage your time and how to best revise and prepare for examinations.

The outcomes from this course will allow you to identify key features and compare key features between different classifications of colorants.

To be able to do this you have to recognise and understand the classification systems used in the industry. The first lessons are therefore an introduction to the Colour Index. You will have been given a username and password to the Colour Index. It is important that you use the content within the web site to further your knowledge about the classification systems.

A list of Chemistry of Colorants keys terms and definitions is available by clicking the link that highlights the term Chemistry of Colorants key terms and definitions. Throughout the lessons and topics you will see such hyperlinks to transcripts of the lessons and further reading and useful information to improve your knowledge. This will include exerts from key publications and may also include links to external sites that can offer further insights into the topics that are being covered.

Where possible it will be useful to download all available documents and create a folder for yourself. The documents will always be available within the course but for quick reference the creation of a portfolio is a good idea.

Throughout the course you will find references to books and we will indicate which it would be useful to buy for this course and where they are available from.

 

TCST Level 6 Colour Physics

Posted on May 9, 2017 by -

This course will cover some of the basic principles of colour as a revision before introducing new concepts important in the field of Colour Physics.

The following publication is available to you to help with some of the specific terms and definitions encountered within coloration industries.

  1. The SDC publication “Colour terms and definitions”

To fully appreciate the coloration of all textile fibres there is a need to understand the physical, chemical, thermal and optical properties of fibres in general. The following 4 documents provide this background information that you should refer to during your study. These documents are also useful reference material.

  1. General Physical and Mechanical properties of Fibres
  2. Mechanical properties of Fibres
  3. Thermal properties of Fibres
  4. Optical properties of Fibres

Extracts from some of the recommended texts as well as articles from Coloration Technology are made available to students in the lessons.

In the following lectures, commercial names are provided. This does not imply superiority of commercial products but is intended to serve only as an example. Similarly, whilst aspects relating to application procedures are presented, these are intended as being representative of typical application conditions only and are not intended to be employed for practical printing.

 

As part of every course we might make use of external links, such as YouTube or Wikipedia. Please note that the SDC is not responsible for the content of any external web link.