Sublimation

The scientific explanation of sublimation is the process of a substance or material changing from a solid state to a gaseous state or vapor without becoming a liquid in between (think of “Dry Ice”). Dye sublimation uses this process to embed dye or ink into a polyester surface causing the image to become a permanent part of the polyester material.

Dye sublimation technology has been around since the 1930's or 1940's and can be found on many common items from shower curtains to clothing, coffee mugs, name tags, anything with an image that seems to be part of the item. With the advent of digital technology, such as digital cameras, scanners, and computer generated graphics, the type and size of images that can be applied in all sizes and shapes is almost limitless.

Dye sublimation has many advantages over other types of imaging technologies such as silk screening , but the primary advantage is cost. Since there are no screens to be made or camera costs, as in a silk screen process, dye sublimated objects cost about the same whether you require one or one thousand. The images are printed on special paper with special inks, in full color, and then applied to the object with a heat transfer process in a single step. The whole process takes about a minute. Contrast that to silk screened images that require at least four separate screens for a full color image with drying time between each color, and you can quickly see the cost advantage of dye sublimation!

In addition to being very cost effective, dye sublimated items are also incredibly durable! Unlike silk screened items, the image has a very smooth “feel”, cannot be scratched, and will not crack, peel or fade over time, even in a dishwasher or wash machine. The images and colors stay as bright and vibrant as the first day they were applied!

Click Below to See Large Samples of our Work