Dye Sublimation and a photo - what's that all about?
Ok, to start with we need to separate the processes from the uses. In the first section we will look at the theory of Dye Sublimation and then move on into it's uses in practice to create all manner of products such as a photo mouse mat or a photo mug.
Dye Sublimation - The theory
The theory of dye sublimation is quite simple, Sublimation inks basically transform directly from a solid to a gas when heated to approximately 180-205 degrees centigrade without going back to a liquid stage. Dye sublimation is typically used as a indirect printing process in the promotional and personalised products marketplace.
Note: be aware, you can buy sublimation photo printers. These are for printing out your photo's yourself and no good to you whatsoever if you want to create a personalised or photo mouse mat.
Dye Sublimation inks are specifically formulated for the Dye sublimation process and are completely different to normal ink. Using normal ink in a sublimation process simply doesn't work.
Dye Sublimation- So what can be printed on?
Their is a huge array of products specifically aimed at the personalised product market. The most obvious are things like mouse mats and mugs. and these two examples are representative of the two types of imprintable substrate.
Lets start with the photo mouse mat, the mouse mat has on it's face a fabric covering. The fabric covering like most other fabric imprintables is a 50% cotton and 50% polyester cloth. The key ingredient in the mix is the polyester. If you try to dye sublimation print a piece of 100% cotton the colour simply fades and washes out. As well as mouse mats in the fabric category you will also find T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, tea towels and much more.
The Photo Mug, now that's a different story.. its not fabric, and neither are a huge range of products that can be printed using dye sublimation. What they do have however, is a special coating applied to them that will accept the image being transferred to it.
Note: you cannot dye sublimation print just any mug or product unless it has had the required coating applied to it. It just doesn't work.
Dye Sublimation - The process
Their are 5 key components required to Dye Sublimate a product:
- Dye Sublimation Ink
- Inkjet Printer
- Transfer Paper
- Printing Substrate
- Heat Press
The Ink and Printer
Now that you have spent a small fortune on your dye sublimation ink (typically around £50 per 100ml of one colour of the high quality, brand named inks), you need a printer. The printers of choice in the small business end of personalisation and promotional products are Epson® printers because they have separate print heads from the ink cartridges and therefore there are a good choice of refillable cartridges and CIS (continuous ink supply) systems available. A good entry level printer for dye sublimation has always been an Epson D92 or S20 or similar. My advice is set up with a 4 colour printer first.. the results are still very bloody good and you have less ink to buy initially.
TIP: Regardless of whether your proposed printer is new or not before installing your cartridges with very expensive dye sublimation ink, get a second set of refillable cartridges and fill them with Print head cleaner, install them, then print a run of pictures until their is no image visible on the paper at all. Then install the Dye sublimation ink cartridges and run a couple more prints to bring the dye sub ink through. This will save you a lot of hassle and ruined first attempts due to contaminated ink
The Transfer Paper
The transfer paper is again specific to dye sublimation printing.. It doesn't work with normal copy paper and by trying you risk burning your house/premises down as the temperatures in dye sublimation printing are about 200 degrees centigrade.
In 99% of cases you will need to print your image in reverse. Many printers have a mirror image function in the printer preferences tools these days, if yours doesn't you will need to 'flip' the image in an image editing program such as Photoshop prior to outputting your final design onto the dye sublimation transfer paper.
Note: In case your new to dye sublimation printing, don't be alarmed about the image on the paper being dull and maybe a bit more washed out than you may have been expecting. It's normal and nothing to worry about.
The Imprintables
Now the choice is up to you about what your printing onto, My advice however is practice with a few T-shirts, or mouse mats; they are cheap and easy to source.
The Heat Press
Now this the most expensive part of the system, typically a cheap one will set you back around £300 and range up to a couple of thousand pounds, and you do get what you pay for, so choose carefully and look at the exclusions in the warranties. Many cheaper presses have crucial elements excluded. A good example is some cheap Dye Sublimation Mug Presses which start at around £150 typically have the heating element (which is the single largest, expensive and crucial part) excluded from the warranty... why? the cheaper ones have a service life of a few months and within 12 months could easily have spent more on new elements than you did buying the press in the first place and that I can tell you from personal experience!
Tip: Shop around and ask questions, no matter how awkward they may feel.
Having read all this, if your in the mood to create a dye sublimation photo mouse mat or other product, why not read on here
Related Info Pages
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How to
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