Dye-sublimation printing

The sublimation name was first applied because the dye was thought to make the transition between the solid and gas states without going through a liquid stage.

[2][1] Thus, this process is indirect, since the final substrate does not pass through the printer, and the sublimation step occurs separately.

Dye-sub photo printing has been used in medical imaging, graphic arts proofing, security, and broadcast-related applications.

Today, it is extremely popular in event photography and photo booths or kiosks that require high-speed, on-demand printing.

Alps Electric produced the first quality dye-sub printers for home consumers in the $500–$1,000 price range, bringing dye-sublimation technology within the reach of a wider audience.

Several corporations market desktop-size units as stand-alone printers and for print kiosk and photo booth applications.

Some manufacturers, offer software development kits with their printers, suggesting that these companies hope to attract system integrators as a potential market.

The technology allows photographers to produce and sell lab-quality prints immediately during the event they are attending, with a minimal amount of hardware.

However, cooling the elements down, when changing from a darker to a lighter color, is harder and usually involves having a fan/heatsink assembly attached to the print head.

Since the thermal head does not have to sweep back and forth over the print media, there are fewer moving parts that can break down.

For environments that print confidential or secret documents, a dye-sublimation printer is a potential security risk that must be handled carefully.

Also, for home users, the waste roll from a photo printer can be similarly recovered from the garbage and used to see everything that has been printed.

Finally, dye-sublimation printers fall short when producing neutral and toned black-and-white prints with higher density levels and virtually no metamerism or bronzing.

Originally used for printing polyester fabrics, the process is now commonly also used for decorating apparel, signs, and banners, as well as novelty items such as cell phone covers, plaques, coffee mugs, mouse mats, and other items with sublimation-friendly surfaces.

For small-format printing, inkjet has also become the dominant technology, though special dye-sublimation transfer laser printers are also available.

[6] In order to transfer the image from the paper to the substrate, it requires a heat press machine process that is a combination of time, temperature, and pressure.

Advantages of dye-sublimation over other methods of textile printing:[7] images are permanent and do not peel or fade, the dye does not build up on the fabric.

The other is solvent dye sublimation ink that can be used in XAAR, Spectra, and some Konica printhead-wide format printers.

Print speeds for large-format piezo inkjet printers using aqueous dye sublimation ink continue to increase.