9 the rug 23 see fig4 is placed on the platform 24 in the loading zone a with carpet pile face 25 facing up from the platform 24 the rug 23 is accurately positioned on the platform 24 by an appropriate indexing system for example in the disclosed embodiment the rug 23 is aligned with indexing marks 32 on the platform to insure proper positioning on the platform the electric motor 35 is activated and the platform 24 and rug 23 are pulled by chains 30 31 from the loading zone a into printing position under the stencil in the printing zone b the platform 24 with the rug 23 accurately positioned on the platform is stopped in the printing zone b at a printing position where the rug is in proper vertical alignment with the stencil 9 since the printing position of the platform 24 is automatically controled as later described and since the stencil 9 moves in a fixed vertical plane the proper vertical alignment between rug 23 and stencil 9 is achieved by accurately placing the indexing marks 32 on the platform relative to the fixed vertical alignment of the stencil over the platform when the platform is in the printing position and then aligning each rug on the indexing marks 32 each time a rug is placed on the platform as the rug 23 enters the printing zone b doctor blade 49 engages the face pile 25 with the extending flange 50 and fluffs up the piles as they pass by and makes them stand vertically so as to facilitate proper positioning of.