A method for manufacturing a papermaker's or industrial fabric requires the application of a polymeric resin material onto preselected locations on a base substrate using an array which deposits the polymeric resin material in droplets having an average diameter of 10μ (10 microns) or more. The preselected locations, for example, may be knuckles formed by the interweaving of the yarns making up the fabric or interstices between the yarns. The purpose of such precise application of the resin is to control functional properties of the fabric, such as permeability and abrasion resistance. The polymeric resin material is set by means appropriate to its composition, and, optionally, may be abraded to provide the polymeric resin material above the surface plane of the base substrate with a uniform thickness.