Dye Sublimation

Printing to fabric and canvas
Dye sublimation is a remarkable way to print. We have invested in Dye Sublimation print technology to allow us the creativity and versatility to produce a terrific range of products based around printing fabrics and then making our own designer items and interior accessories from them. Our expertise is built from direct experience allowing us to also offer a dye sublimation bureau service and a consultancy and reseller service for providing dye sublimation knowledge, technology and machinery.

Dye sublimation uses a unique and different way of printing to the traditional old ink jet system giving a fantastic finish that will not peel off in time or fade like inkjet printing can.

Dye Sublimation was first developed in 1957 using the transfer style of printing. The process involves fusing inks deeply into the fabric fibres, which gives it very vibrant colours which do not fade over time. Also, because the ink is actually fused to the fibres of the material it can be cleaned and washed easily.

Dye sublimation is a sleek, sharp system with exciting benefits for markets such as interiors, fashion accessories, exhibition signage, advertising, and art on canvas.

The Myth about Resolution
As dye sublimation printers can produce this continuous tone output, there is no need for them to print at much higher resolutions to fool the human eye (unlike inkjet). This means that a 300dpi image on a Dye Sublimation Printer is equal to 4800dpi on an Inkjet Printer. A 400dpi image is equal to 6400dpi on an Inkjet Printer

Continuous tone means that all gradations of colour are used when creating an image. For example, when creating a grey scale, from black to white, a continuous tone printer will show all shades of grey in between the black and the white by actually printing them.

A half-toning device such as an ink-jet printer will use a dithering technique of placing dots close together in order to trick the eye. In other words, ink jet printers use a series of black dots placed close to white dots in order to trick the eye into blending the pixels when viewed. With magnification the difference can be seen where the dye-sub output is clear and sharp, but dots can be seen on ink-jet prints.

If you are interested to hear how we can print for you then use this contact form now.