Abstract: A dye printing system for multi-color patterning or pile face sheet materials, such as tufted carpet, includes a stencil, in which the pattern elements are formed by divider walls extending perpendicularly to the plane of the sheet material. The stencil is lowered into contact with the pile face of the sheet material and its divider walls penetrate between the face pilings and rest on the base of the material, and isolate neighboring areas of pile face material from one another, so that print paste can be applied to the pilings within a pattern element without bleeding into neighboring pattern elements. Mechanical means raise and lower the stencil on to the pile face sheet material, and a dye liquor drip catching canopy is passed between the sheet material and the stencil whenever the stencil is raised to protect the sheet material from possible drip contamination.