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