Also referred to as “digital sublimation”, Full Color Sublimation is commonly used for decorating signs and banners, adding color to professional items such as nametags and plaques, and embellishing personal objects and gifts such as commemorative plates, ceramic tiles, and other items with sublimation-friendly surfaces.
Full Color Sublimation is a digital printing technology using the science of sublimation, in which heat and pressure are applied to a solid, turning it into a gas without passing through the liquid phase. In sublimation printing, unique dyes are deposited on sheets of “transfer” high-release inkjet papers. After the digital image is printed onto sublimation transfer sheets as a reverse of the final design, it is placed on a heat press along with the substrate (chosen materials) to be sublimated.
The end result of the printing processes 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), the prints will not crack, fade or peel from the chosen material under normal conditions.
UV Printing is a form of digital printing that uses ultra-violet lights to dry or cure ink as it is printed. As the printer distributes ink on the surface of a material, specially designed UV lights follow close behind, instantly curing - or drying - the ink. Because the UV lights cure any printed ink immediately, the dots of wet ink do not get a chance to spread out once printed, resulting in much finer detail. In addition, UV cured inks are weather-resistant and offer increased resistance to fading. This curing process is more environmentally friendly as it produces few VOC’s, odor, and heat.
Products that Naples Awards recommends for Full Color Sublimation or UV Printing: Products