The Dye sublimation printing technology came out in the year 1957; here’s more to the history of Dye sublimation printing technology, as well as its in-depth technical details.
Dye Sublimation Printing
In this latest printing technology, the print heads get heated up while passing through the film; this forces the solid dyes to get vaporized and diffused on the glossy surface of the printing media, which in turn creates a gentle gradation for each pixel at their edges.
The ribbon consists of three colored panels (cyan, magenta, and yellow) and one empty panel to hold the lamination material that is used as over-coating.
The whole printing cycle is repeated for four times where the first three cycles lay the colors onto the media to form a complete image, while the last one to give a laminated top. This is to prevent dye from re-sublimating when exposed to warm conditions.
Inks Used in Dye Sublimation Printing
The inks used for this sublimation dye printing are aqueous dye sublimation ink and solvent dye sublimation ink. The speed of the printer is decided by the rate at which, the temperature changes in the heating elements. Usually heating the elements is easy by using electric current for heating.
But, cooling them to change from a darker color to a lighter color consumes more time. So, this requires a fan or heatsink as an attachment with the printer.
The speed can be increased by using multiple heads so that one head will be cooling while the other one is working. The printers eject the finished copy only when it is all dried.
Where is Dye Sublimation Printing Used?
Dye sublimation printing is used in medical imaging, polyster fabric printing, and graphic proofing. The printed fabric is washable since it won’t affect the quality of the image. Photographers use these printers to print instant images with laminated finishing.
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