What is Dye Sublimation

Note - If you already know how sublimation works, you can skip this information and continue your guided tour by clicking the link at the bottom.

Dye sublimation is a process that uses a special heat sensitive dye to print graphics and text onto paper. This is called a transfer. The paper is then placed on a sublimatable item and both are placed into a heat press for about 30 seconds at 350-400 degrees.

When the cycle (sublimation) is completed, the image on the paper has transferred to the item and has actually become a part of the surface. If you run your finger across the surface of a sublimated plate you will feel nothing.

The reason for this is that sublimation is always done on a polyester, polymer, or polymer coated item. At high temperatures, the solid dye converts into a gas without ever becoming a liquid. The same high temperature opens the pores of the polymer and allows the gas to enter. When the temperature drops, the pores close and the gas reverts to a solid state. It has now become a part of the polymer.

For this reason, true dye sublimation cannot be done on natural materials, like 100% cotton. Natural fibers and non-coated materials have no "pores" to open.

Inkjet printers (like the Epson 3000) use a liquid filled inkjet cartridge that has a suspension of the dye in it and requires transfers to be printed on special coated inkjet paper. The printer should be dedicated to sublimation, as the cartridges cannot be easily or cheaply switched with regular cartridges, for regular document printing.

Monochrome (single color) laser printers (like the HP III, 4 and 5) use a regular cartridge that has been re-engineered to deliver the special (powder) sublimation toner dye correctly. Like regular laser printer cartridges, dye sublimation cartridges only need ordinary copier paper for transfer printing.

Because a dye sublimation cartridge is completely self-contained, there is no problem in using the same printer, with a regular cartridge, to print documents.

95% of the work done in most sign shops is producing black print on gold-tone plates. Because of this, most shops use a laser printer. Click here to see examples.

Not only does a laser printer produce faster and cheaper transfers than an inkjet, the images produced are a much deeper black. A good black image from a sublimation cartridge will compare to screen-printing.

Full color inkjets can produce nice colors, but it must be on whites or very light colors. This is because the dye goes on much thinner with inks than with laser sublimation cartridges. This allows the gold color of a plate to "bleed" through the ink colors and produces a faded look. Even a silver color bleeds through ink colors (even black).

This makes inkjets a good tool for full-color, personalized or short-run T-shirts, mousepads, etc. If that is your interest you should investigate inkjets further, because single color laser printer sublimation toner is too powerful for "whites".

However, most sign shops doing sublimation are interested in producing small wall and desk signs, nameplates, badges, ID and legend plates and other items that are very profitable, but too small to weed. Another reason is because those items more logically fit what they are already doing, especially in the customer's mind.

The profit margin on these items is equal to (and in some cases higher than) vinyl signs.

This makes laser printer sublimation ideal for vinyl sign shops. Every item listed above, that displays black print on a gold, silver or bronze plate has probably been sublimated. Of course it could be screen-printed, but that is not very time or cost effective.

To learn just how profitable sublimation is
and how it will profit you, click here.