Dye-sublimation printer

A dye-sublimation printer is a computer printer which

employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye
onto materials such as a plastic, card, paper, or fabric. The sublimation name was rst applied because
the dye was considered to make the transition between
the solid and gas states without going through a liquid
stage. This understanding of the process was later shown
to be incorrect. Since then, the process is sometimes
known as dye-diusion, though this has not eliminated
the original name.[1] Many consumer and professional
dye-sublimation printers are designed and used for producing photographic prints, ID cards, and so on.

phase.
In sublimation printing, unique sublimation dyes are
transferred to sheets of transfer paper via liquid gel ink
through a piezoelectric print head. The ink is deposited
on these high-release inkjet papers, which are used for the
next step of the sublimation printing process. After the
digital design is printed onto sublimation transfer sheets,
it is placed on a heat press along with the substrate to be
sublimated.[2]
In order to transfer the image from the paper to the substrate, it requires a heat press process that is a combination of time, temperature and pressure. The heat press applies this special combination, which can change depending on the substrate, to transfer the sublimation dyes at
the molecular level into the substrate. The most common
dyes used for sublimation activate at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. However, a range of 380 to 420 degrees Fahrenheit
is normally recommended for optimal color.[3]

These are not to be confused with dye sublimation heat

transfer imprinting printers, which use special inks to create transfers designed to be imprinted on textiles, and in
which the dyes do indeed sublimate.[1]
Some dye-sublimation printers use CMYO (Cyan Magenta Yellow Overcoating) colors, which diers from the
more recognized CMYK colors in that the black is eliminated in favour of a clear overcoating. This overcoating (which has numerous names depending on the manufacturer) is also stored on the ribbon and is eectively
a thin layer which protects the print from discoloration
from UV light and the air, while also rendering the print
water-resistant.

The end result of the sublimation process is a nearly permanent, high resolution, full color print. Because the dyes
are infused into the substrate at the molecular level, rather
than applied at a topical level (such as with screen printing
and direct to garment printing), the prints will not crack,
fade or peel from the substrate under normal conditions.

For ID card printing, text and bar codes are necessary,

and they are printed by means of an additional black
panel on the (YMCKO) ribbon. This extra panel works
by thermal transfer printing instead of dye diusion: a
whole layer, instead of just some of the dye in the layer,
transfers from the ribbon to the substrate at the pixels dened by the thermal head. This overall process is then
sometimes called D2T2 (Dye Diusion Thermal Transfer).

2 Operation
The most common process lays one color at a time, the
dye being stored on a polyester ribbon that has each color
on a separate panel. Each colored panel is the size of the
medium that is being printed on; for example, a 6 by 4
dye sub printer would have four 6 by 4 panels.

During the printing cycle, the printer rollers will move

the medium and one of the colored panels together under
a thermal printing head, which is usually the same width
as the shorter dimension of the print medium. Tiny heat1 Printing technique
ing elements on the head change temperature rapidly, layDye-sublimation printing is a digital printing technology ing dierent amounts of dye depending on the amount of
using full color artwork that works with polyester and heat applied. Some of the dye diuses into the printing
polymer-coated substrates. Also referred to as digital medium.
sublimation, the process is commonly used for decorat- After the printer nishes printing the medium in one
ing apparel, signs and banners, as well as novelty items color, it winds the ribbon on to the next color panel and
such as cell phone covers, plaques, coee mugs, and other partially ejects the medium from the printer to prepare
items with sublimation-friendly surfaces. The process for the next cycle. The entire process is repeated four or
uses the science of sublimation, in which heat and pres- ve times in total: the rst three lay the colors onto the
sure are applied to a solid, turning it into a gas through an medium to form a complete image; there may or may not
endothermic reaction without passing through the liquid then be a black thermal transfer process; while the last
1

4 APPLICATIONS

one lays the laminate over top. This layer protects the use', the cartridge nozzles can become clogged with dried
dyes from UV light and moisture.
ink). Dye-sublimation media packs, (which contain both
ribbon and paper), are rated for an exact number of prints
which yields a xed cost per print. This is in opposition
to inkjet printers where inks are purchased by volume.

Comparison with inkjet printers

For environments that print condential or secret documents, a dye-sublimation printer is a potential security
risk that must be handled carefully. Due to the mechanism of printing, a perfect color-separated negative image of the printed page is created on the supply roll color
panels, and the waste roll of dye panels can be unrolled
to see everything that has been printed with the printer.
For such environments, the waste roll should be shredded
or incinerated onsite rather than simply being discarded
in the trash. 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. Since
the supply roll is plastic, the lifespan of a used roll can
be years or decades long, permitting image recovery long
after disposal.

Traditionally, the advantage of dye-sublimation printing

has been the fact that it is a continuous-tone technology, where each dot can be any color. In contrast, inkjet
printers can vary the location and size of ink droplets,
a process called dithering, but each drop of ink is limited to the colors of the inks installed. Consequently, a
dye-sublimation printer produces true continuous tones
appearing much like a chemical photograph. An inkjet
print is composed of droplets of ink layered and scattered
to simulate continuous tones, but under magnication the
individual droplets can be seen. In the early days of inkjet
printing, the large droplets and low resolution made inkjet
prints signicantly inferior to dye-sublimation, but some
of todays inkjets produce extremely high quality prints
using microscopic droplets and supplementary ink colors, Also, dye-sublimation papers and ribbons are sensitive to
skin oils, which interfere with the dyes ability to subliproducing superior color delity to dye-sublimation.
mate from the ribbon to the paper. They must also be free
Dye sublimation oers some advantages over inkjet printof dust particles, which can lead to small colored blobs
ing. For one, the prints are dry and ready to handle as
appearing on the prints. Most dye-sublimation printers
soon as they exit the printer. Since the thermal head
have lters and/or cleaning rollers to reduce the likelidoesn't have to sweep back and forth over the print media,
hood of this happening, and a speck of dust can only afthere are fewer moving parts that can break down. The
fect one print as it becomes attached to the print during
whole printing cycle is extremely clean as there are no liqthe printing process. Finally, dye-sublimation printers
uid inks to clean up. These factors make dye-sublimation
fall short when producing neutral and toned black-andgenerally a more reliable technology over inkjet printing.
white prints with higher density levels and virtually no
Dye-sublimation printers have some drawbacks com- metamerism or bronzing.
pared to inkjet printers. Each of the colored panels of the
ribbons, and the thermal head itself, must match the size
of the media that is being printed on. Furthermore, only
specially coated paper or specic plastics can accept the 4 Applications
sublimated ink. This means that dye-sublimation printers
cannot match the exibility of inkjet printers in printing
on a wide range of media.
The dyes diuse a small amount before being absorbed
by the paper. Consequently, prints are not razor-sharp.
For photographs, this produces very natural prints, but for
other uses (such as graphic design) this slight blurriness
is a disadvantage.
The amount of wasted dye per page is also very high;
most of the dye in the four panels may be wasted for a
typical print. Once a panel has been used, even to just
print a single dot, the remaining dye on that panel cannot
be reused for another print without leaving a blank spot
where the dye was used previously. Due to the single-roll
design of most printers, four panels of colored dye must
be used for every print, whether or not a panel is needed
for the print. Printing in monochrome saves nothing, and
the three unused color panels for that page cannot be recycled for a dierent single-color print. Inkjet printers
can also suer from 'dye wastage' as the ink cartridges Used dye panels retain a viewable image of the printed document,
are prone to drying up with low usage (without 'heavy and an example of wasted dye that cannot be reused.

3
Previously, the use of dye-sub printing was limited to industrial or high-end commercial printing. Dye-sub photo
printing has been used in medical imaging, graphic arts
proong, security, and broadcast related applications.
But nowadays, it is extremely popular in event photography and photo booths or kiosks that requires high speed,
on-demand printing.

formulated inks. The dye sublimation inks are a disperse

dye suspended in a liquid solvent, like water. The images
are initially printed on coated heat-resistant transfer paper as a reverse image of the nal design, which is then
transferred onto polyester fabric in a heat press operating
at a temperature around 180 to 210 C (375 F). Under high
temperature and pressure, the dye turns into a gas and perAlps Electric produced the rst quality dye-sub print- meates the fabric and then solidies into its bers. The
fabric is permanently dyed so it can be washed without
ers for home consumers in the $500$1,000 price range,
bringing dye-sublimation technology within the reach of damaging the quality of the image.
a wider audience. Now there are many dye-sublimation Advantages of dye-sublimation over other methods of
printers on the market starting from as low as $100 mar- textile printing:[6]
keted by corporations such as Canon, Sagem, HiTi Digital Inc., DNP Fotolusio, Mitsubishi Electric and Kodak
Images are permanent and do not peel or fade.
(among others), especially postcard-sized mobile photo
Dye does not build up on the fabric.
printers.
Colors can be extraordinarily brilliant due to the
The ability to produce instant photo prints inexpensively
bonding of the dye to the transparent bers of the
from a small printer has led to dye sublimation solutions
synthetic fabric.
supplanting traditional instant photos in some applications, such as with ID photography with a card printer.
Truly continuous tones can be achieved that are
Several corporations, including Fujilm, Kodak, Dai
equivalent to photographs, without the use special
Nippon Printing (DNP), and Mitsubishi, market desktechniques such as half-screen printing.
top size units as stand-alone printers and for print kiosk
The image can be printed all over the entire item,
and photo booth applications. Some of these units are
with no diculty in printing all the way to the edges.
based on generic printers produced by manufacturers
such as Sinfonia. Copal and Fujilm among others, oer
software development kits with their printers, suggesting Disadvantages:
that these companies hope to attract system integrators as
The printer speed is low.
a potential market. Some units from manufacturers such
as HiTi Digital Inc. and the now discontinued Sony models incorporate kiosk features such as display screens and
card slots directly into the unit.

Any creases in the apparel during printing leave

blank spots behind.[7]

Desktop size stand-alone dye-sub photo printers are

also being applied by social photographers in event 5 Print speed for Dye Sublimation
photography.[4] The units instant print ability allows phoThermal Printers
tographers to produce and sell lab quality prints immediately during the event they are attending, with a minimal
As dye-sublimation thermal printers utilize heat to transamount of hardware.
fer the dye onto the print media, the printing speed is
Dye-sublimation can also be used as an indirect printing
limited by the speed at which the elements on the therprocess. Standard black and white laser printers are camal head can change temperature. Heating the elements
pable of printing on plain paper using a special transfer
is easy, as a strong electric current can raise the tempertoner containing sublimation dyes which can then be perature of an element very quickly. However, cooling the
manently heat transferred to T-shirts, hats, mugs, metals,
elements down, when changing from a darker to a lighter
puzzles and other surfaces.
color, is harder and usually involves having a fan/heatsink
assembly attached to the print head. The use of multiple
heads can also speed up this process, since one head can
4.1 Textiles
cool down while the another is printing. Although print
times vary among dierent dye-sublimation printers, a
The dye-sublimation printing process is used to print on typical cheap home-use dye-sub printer can print a 6 x 4
polyester or other synthetic fabrics. The latest innovation photo in 45 90 seconds. More heavy-duty printers can
involves the creation of fabric made from recycled water print much faster; for example, a Sinfonia Colorstream
and soda bottles (PET), which is a type of polyester.[5] S2 dye-sublimation printer can print a 6 x 4 photo in
It is used for applications such as T-shirts, banners, table as little as 6.8 seconds, and a Mitsubishi CP-D707DW is
covers, id cards, sportswear and ags. The original print- known to have a faster print of under 6 seconds for simers were an electrostatic technology using toners but now ilar size. In all cases, the nished print is completely dry
are generally large format inkjet printers using specially once it emerges from the printer.

Ink for Piezo Printers

REFERENCES

8 References
[1] Chemical technology in Printing and Imaging Systems,
ed. J A G Drake, 1993, pp 73-85
[2] The Sublimation Process:
watch?v=dhJj5mVJ1yU

http://www.youtube.com/

[3] Digital Sublimation Printing by Vapor Apparel http://

www.vaporapparel.com/sublimation.html
A disassembled dye sublimation cartridge.

[4] http://ignite-images.co.uk/
site-instant-photo-printing-events/

There are two types of dye sublimation inks for piezo dye
sublimation printers available in the market. The most
popular one is aqueous dye sublimation ink for use in both
desktop and large format printers. The other is solvent
dye sublimation ink that can be used in XAAR, Spectra
and some Konica printhead wide format printers.

[5] NPRs Science Friday - Banner Creations. Banner Creations. Retrieved 2015-12-07.

Due to the fast development of digital textile printing, dye

sublimation inks are becoming more and more popular in
digital inkjet printing on fabrics.

[7] Quirks of Sublimation Printing. Starstu Clothing. Retrieved 12 February 2015.

Print speeds for large format piezo printers using aqueous

dye sublimation ink continue to increase. Speeds range
from 18 square meters per hour in a smaller 44 wide
printer to over 3,000 square meters per hour in a high
speed industrial textile printer.

See also
Barcode printer
Card printer
Computer printer
Daisy wheel printer
Dot matrix printer
Heat press
Inkjet printer
Label printer
Label printer applicator
Laser printer
Line matrix printer
Line printer
Thermal transfer printer
ID card printer

[6] Sidles, Constance J. (2001). Graphic Designers Digital

Printing and Prepress Handbook. Rockport Publishers.
pp. 2627. Retrieved 2011-10-05.

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Dye-sublimation printer Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye-sublimation_printer?oldid=714304910 Contributors: Bryan Derksen,

Taral, Itai, Thunderbolt16, Texture, David Gerard, Tooki, Trevor MacInnis, Rich Farmbrough, Lovelac7, Saintswithin, Hadlock, Carioca,
Kay Dekker, Nuno Tavares, Alvis, SKopp, Haunti, Deltabeignet, Mendaliv, Makaristos, Robertcu, Gurch, Wongm, CiaPan, Hall Monitor,
Cirne, YurikBot, Hairy Dude, DMahalko, Grafen, Salmanazar, Abune, Btrujill, AGToth, Eptin, Alin0Steglinski, Alumunum, SmackBot,
C.Fred, Eskimbot, Chris the speller, Thumperward, Rrburke, LtPowers, CoolKoon, Slakr, KittensOnToast, NJA, Ginkgo100, Blehfu,
Lcamtuf, Courcelles, TwelveBaud, FunPika, Tingrin87, Kitten b, ChristTrekker, Rieman 82, Thijs!bot, Barticus88, Laboye, AntiVandalBot, Waerloeg, Dougher, Barek, HarmonicFeather, Trnj2000, Turkishbob, Styrofoam1994, Jheese, Gphoto, Pharaoh of the Wizards,
2help, Action Jackson IV, VolkovBot, Soliloquial, Fullcolornetwork, LeaveSleaves, Maxim, Sue Rangell, Michael Frind, Moonriddengirl,
Parhamr, ClueBot, Nvasi, Brownwicker, Dylanagon, Rsperez1, Auntof6, Mythrilfan, Puceron, SchreiberBike, Thingg, XLinkBot, Stickee, Techstar, Dilbert2000, Mabalu, Addbot, Simon Lirzin, LatitudeBot, Jetcolour, MrOllie, Sjgadsby, Bae gab1978, Teeben, LuK3,
JustinNichol, Yobot, Azylber, AnomieBOT, Michaeldu, ThaddeusB, Jim1138, Unara, Materialscientist, Advancedcolorsolutions, Leopeji,
Kyuubiichigo69, RibotBOT, Surv1v4l1st, Pinkabi, Lotje, Mommapalooza, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Ofem, Karen William, Dannsuk, AvicAWB, Fred455, Kck7051, ClueBot NG, Markamies, Dylan 19981504, BG19bot, QualityBanner, Bobbicoker, Hasleyda, DavidLeighEllis,
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zu dem Elementarwerk von Johann Bernhard Basedow. Mit einem Vorworte von Max von Boehn. Voigtlnder-Tetzner, Frankfurt am
Main 1922. (self scanned from book) Original artist: Daniel Chodowiecki
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