Advantages and disadvantages of dye-sublimation printing on fabric banners

Dye-sublimation printing is, by definition, dye-sublimation on fabric. The way it works is like this. First, a transfer paper is printed on a digital printer that is configured with CMYO dye cartridges instead of typical CMYK inks. CMYK, or four-color process printing (4CP is the abbreviated version of CMYK which stands for cyan-magenta-yellow-black) is used in surface printing of materials, including direct printing on canvas, but does not become part of the cloth. as does dye underprinting.

Dye sublimation uses dyes, as I said, and a set of CMYO dye cartridges that replace black in CMYK printing with an “Overprint Clear”. The inkjet printer that is set up to print dyes (this cannot be done interchangeably without a significant amount of knowledge and expense, so once a printer is set up to print dyes, it is generally not converted back to the standard CMYK inkjet printing) prints a mirror image of whatever you need to print on a treated paper that accepts dye generically known as “transfer paper.”

This paper is now “married” to a piece of polyester or other synthetic fabric (polyester is the most common due to its versatility in appearance and use, from stretch fabrics for trade show booths to garments, outdoor flags and much more) and then fed through heated rollers that combine heat (approximately 375 ° F or 210 ° C) with pressure to expand the cells of the fabric and convert the dye into a gaseous state.

The dye sublimates into the open pores of the polymeric synthetic material and, when cooled again, traps the sublimated dye within the cells of the fabric. Because the dye has turned gaseous, it does not create a dot pattern during the sublimation process as inkjet printing will on fabric or vinyl or other rigid plastic substrates, but instead creates a very similar continuous tone print. how photos are developed and viewed.

So now that I have explained the basic difference between dye-sublimation printing and inkjet printing, I will address the original question of the advantages or disadvantages of both. As you may know, I don’t think there are many downsides to dye-sublimation printing on fabric, but I’ll give you the two that come to mind. First, it is slower than inkjet printing because it has two processes in the heat transfer part of the dye-sublimation, so labor costs are going to be higher to some extent, although now there are printers that have the fabric and paper online and are drawn. on the hot rollers while the printer continues printing.

The second disadvantage is also a production problem that is being solved with the new printer / roller units that were explained in the previous paragraph. In the past, and still in the present, it is not uncommon for the fabric to wrinkle or crease, or the paper, and all of the transfer printing and piece of fabric is suddenly ruined. You would have to start over. Many of those who have been at this for a while and are using older equipment charge higher prices per square foot for wider material, but many of those with newer equipment don’t either.

As for the benefits, I talked about continuous tone printing which creates brighter and smoother color variations and transitions than what you will find with inkjet printing, and a superior overall look, in our opinion. Also, because the dye soaks or sublimates into the fabric, it is permanent and cannot come off as with some types of ink, particularly garment inks used for T-shirts or inks printed on rigid substrates. Therefore, durability and appearance are probably the best examples of the superiority of sublimation printing for fabrics or garments.