Imitating South Indian handkerchiefs wasn't easy. European textile manufacturers were unfamiliar with South Indian materials and processes, and had to invent new technologies to compete. Machines were built to produce cotton cloth as strong and fine as South Indian hand-spun and woven fabric; industrial chemicals were used to create colours as bright as the shades created by South Indian dyers with natural dye plants; and printing presses were used to create designs similar to those made South Indian weavers on handlooms.