Ok….. we never said that this would be interesting….but for all the geeks out there (yes that includes us), here is a bit more about the history of dye sublimation….. all and more than you will ever need to know…
Dye Sublimation is greatly misunderstood. A quick search on the Internet using the word ‘Sublimation’ will return 1000’s of pages, which normally relate to high quality Dye Sub proofing printers. These do not constitute dye sublimation printing.
To begin to understand the term ‘Dye Sublimation’, we first need to understand three words:
- Dye: To impregnate colour into a material.
- Sublimation: A change directly from a solid to gaseous state without becoming liquid.
- Polymer: Consisting of large molecules made up of a linked series of repeated simple molecules.
The term Dye Sublimation can be simply defined by the sentence, ‘Solid dye particles being changed into gas using heat and pressure, which then bond with any Polymers present, and then change back into a solid’.
In English, this equates to putting sublimation ink on paper and applying heat and pressure. Today, you will find the term increasingly used in the digital arena primarily referring to Inkjet printing, although historically other more traditional processes have been used.
Turn back the clock
Transfer printing was discovered in 1957 by a man called NOËL DE PLASSE, who worked for the company LAINIÈRE DE ROUBAIX in the North of France. He understood that dyes could pass directly from a solid to a gaseous state when brought to a temperature above 190°C (370°F). This change was termed Sublimation and is the basis of transfer printing, which is also known as dry printing.
The process of Sublimation has its roots primarily in printing processes such as Screen, Lithographic and Flexographic printing. The popularity grew in the late sixties and early seventies, which led, in the early eighties to the development of Electrostatic sublimation. All these processes involved a considerable investment in equipment and required large print runs to be cost effective. In recent years the prolific development of Inkjet technology has seen sublimation evolve to be a sleeker, sharper process with the added benefits of reliable print results.
Wow – it really is impressive what we do!!