Digital Sublimation Printer
Digital printers are for short runs. There is little setup time but they are very slow. Paper & ink are expensive.
Litho Sublimation Press
Litho presses are used for printing long runs. They print very fast and can print good quality. They are limited by print size and a high setup cost.
How it works.
The sublimation process is a process in
which paper is imaged using
clothing dyes instead of regular printing ink. The dyes on the printed
paper are then transferred to another substrate using heat and pressure.
The sublimation inks contain dye. The dye
printed paper is placed against the synthetic material. When heat
and pressure is applied to the sandwiched paper&material the dyes within the
sublimation ink turn into a gas and chemically bond with the synthetic
material. When the dye printed paper and synthetic material are
separated the material ends up with a reverse image of the
dye printed paper. The dye printed paper can only be used once.
The
dye printed paper (sub transfers) are usually imaged using the offset, silk screen
or ink jet processes.
The final substrate is usually a synthetic material. Most organic
materials such as cotton don't work well.
Sublimation Products