sublimation printing

What is Sublimation Printing? Sublimation is the process of printing a special sublimation ink, onto special sublimation transfer paper, using a special sublimation printer. This is an alternative to traditional inkjet transfers in that sublimation ink actually becomes a part of the substrate you print on, whereas inkjet transfers use a carrier sheet to print the ink on top of the shirt or item. Sublimation printing , also known as dye sublimation printing, is a popular printing method for transferring images onto suitable materials. Typical printing methods involve a step with water, where the solid turns to water before a gaseous state. Sublimation printing does not involve the liquid step but goes right from solid to gas due to a chemical reaction (like dry ice). How it works This typically involves the use of a digital printer to produce images on sublimation transfer paper with sublimation ink. The sublimation paper is then placed into a heat press with the mat...

What Types Of Products Can Be Made by Sublimation? In order to determine whether you can imprint a product with a wash-fast, scratch-resistant, full-color sublimation image, you'll need to check three items: First, is the decoration area polyester-based? Sublimation is reliant on polyester's unique molecular structure (e.g. its ability to bond with the gassed ink dyes). You can not sublimate to cotton, nylon, vinyl, wool, leather, etc. Second, will the product hold up to the optimal temperatures (up to 400° F) and pressure required for the dye sublimation process ? Lastly, is the color of the product light enough to take an image? Because this is a dye technology, the color of a sublimation product's decoration surface can affect the final colors of your graphic. True white works best, but you can still decorate lighter colored products such as t-shirts or sand-colored stone tiles while achieving 70-80% of the printer's available color gamut. There are hundreds o...