A Few Things about Dye – Sublimation that You Need to Know

Printing has come a long way since the emergence of the press, and with the technology advancing at a rapid pace towards the digital age, print is no longer just for paper. Now, a type of industry paved the way for apparel printing with what was called eco-solvent printers. This is where dye-sublimation printers enter the scene. Here you can read more about comparison of the best sublimation printers for beginners to advance level.

What is Dye-Sublimation?

Printing by means of dye-sublimation requires the process of heat-transferring dye or ink onto material surfaces like plastic or fabric. The dye makes the change from the solid state to gas without passing through the liquid state, hence the term sublimation.

Compared to other printing processes like screen printing, dye-sublimation is more efficient, cost-effective and resource-savvy. It utilizes shorter production runs with better output and results.

With that, if you already have a printing business or are interested in one, read on. We have a few things that you might want to know about this innovative printing process. The venture also opens numerous possibilities that could bring more ideas to life, so let’s get it started.

The Key to Customized Printing

There is a wide array of materials you can print on in this case, and that comes with the fact that you can print anything on it as well. So here’s an idea for anyone’s who’s looking to start a product line or an advertising enterprise.

Printing with dye can yield crisp images with vibrant colors that will be embedded on a surface or substrate permanently, even after multiples washes. Until rubber or plastic heat-transferred prints, dye prints don’t chip, scratch or peel off.

Here are the other materials you can use for dye-sublimation printing:

Rigid substrates

Rigid products

Signages

Fabrics and Apparel

Photo Paper

Ceramic Tiles

Note: These materials should be evaluated as polymer-suitable for the immediate heat-transfer process, and may be subject to pre-printing treatments to ensure durability on the products.

The Need for Specialized Equipment

The possibilities offered by printing with dye may seem endless, but this warrants the use of various machines and equipment.

This is to accommodate the main parts of the process:

The printing of graphics onto special dye/ink transfer sheets with high ink release and excellent ink absorption capacities

Transferring the graphics onto the item through heat-pressing.

As for the things that you will need to do the printing properly, here are the equipment and machines, listed by way of use:

Graphics and RIP software

Cutting Device (rotary blades, hot knives, table cutters or flatbed plotters)

Sewing Device

Heat-press

Heat is the Way to Go

Heat is vital in the image transfer process, so you will need a high-quality heat-press, of which there are four main types:

Format Heat-press

This is utilized for dye-sublimation on smaller items like apparel and clothing.

Calendar Heat-press

This is used for large surfaces like banners and wide soft-signages.

Flatbed Heat-press

This versatile kind of press can do the transfer on a wide array of substrates, from fabric, mats, to aluminum.

3D Vacuum Heat-press

This allows image transfer on materials with organic or irregular shapes.

As you can tell, an innovation that brings ease and convenience to business and trade usually pushes you towards making large investments. Still, it takes away the toll of managing manual labor. Dye-sublimation printing reduces the margin of error and produces more output in a shorter period of time. Thus, these aspects make it an investment that worth your money and time.

We hope this helps you with your business and creative plans as it did us. Good luck!