Sublimation....But not as we know It!!

[inscriptio]

For the past 12 or so years alongside Inkjet sublimation I have also used laser sublimation. I am not aware of anyone else In the UK using this (although there may be a few) By the way laser sublimation Is true sublimation not transfer.

 

Laser sublimation has many advantages over Inkjet:

 

It's cheap. (I got my latest printer on ebay for 30 quid A3 and works great)

 

It's fast (seconds to press)

 

you never have Issues with nozzle blockage.

 

also you can swap sublimation toner with regular toner and with no messing about just print your stationary etc straight away.

 

Also the black Is the blackest black you could ever Imagine

you only need to use cheap regular copy paper

 

Now for the downside.

 

Not all printers are suitable.

 

The laser toner has to be Imported from the USA. (still cheap per print about £200Ish for cartridge and carriage.

 

The laser toner starts to degenerate after 18 months - 2 years. (you should have made your money long before that)

 

There Is a very fine backgrounding difficult to describe, realy only a problem on white metal. If say you printed out a 2" square and cut It out as a 2" square you would probably not notice It at all but if you cut the same Image as a 3" square you would then notice the 1" border (I hope that makes sense)

 

There Is a clean up Involved although that Is totaly negated by printing directly through the protective cover (Yes you leave the protective cover on) and the paper sticks to the cover and the whole lot peels off when finished pressing

 

It Is only realy suitable for metals & high pollyester content T-shirt/ Polo shirts either white or pastel colours.

 

Bit more Info:

 

Although you use a black and white printer you can get colours that you just swap over so you would print part of the Image In say black and then run the same sheet through with a different part of the Image In say red.

 

Although you can get full colour sublimation printers they are not very good at printing photos but superb on graphics.

 

I'm sure there's lots more. Fire away If you have any questions.

[kobblers]

I looked into the laser method when I did Sublimation but I wasn't impressed.

 

There was a distinct lack of depth and gloss in the colours on the finished products.

 

We got rid of our stuff because we probably wasted more ink through constantly having to clean the clogged nozzles on our inkjet. It didn't matter what printer or inks we used

 

Rick.

[inscriptio]

I looked into the laser method when I did Sublimation but I wasn't impressed.

 

There was a distinct lack of depth and gloss in the colours on the finished products.

 

We got rid of our stuff because we probably wasted more ink through constantly having to clean the clogged nozzles on our inkjet. It didn't matter what printer or inks we used

 

Rick.

 

Rick you suprise me The lack of colour and depth you mention Is typical of Inkjet sublimation but It simply Is not the case with laser sublimation. The colours are as good as any other printing process better than most. The colours are like gloss paint and done properly will blow you away. Did you actualy use the laser process or was It just Inkjet??

 

You also mention that you had problems with cleanings and blocked nozzles which Is typical of Inkjet however The process I am talking about never needs cleaning never suffers from blockages & the last thing you would consider would be to get rid of the setup.

 

If I seem defensive It Is because nothing & I mean nothing blows away my customers more than Laser Sublimation.

 

Unfortunately my system Is In storage while I am opening a new shop but when I am set up I wil send anyone on the forum that Is Interested a sample.

[Craig Gardner]

I looked into the laser method when I did Sublimation but I wasn't impressed.

 

There was a distinct lack of depth and gloss in the colours on the finished products.

 

We got rid of our stuff because we probably wasted more ink through constantly having to clean the clogged nozzles on our inkjet. It didn't matter what printer or inks we used

 

Rick.

 

Rick you suprise me The lack of colour and depth you mention Is typical of Inkjet sublimation but It simply Is not the case with laser sublimation. The colours are as good as any other printing process better than most. The colours are like gloss paint and done properly will blow you away. Did you actualy use the laser process or was It just Inkjet??

 

You also mention that you had problems with cleanings and blocked nozzles which Is typical of Inkjet however The process I am talking about never needs cleaning never suffers from blockages & the last thing you would consider would be to get rid of the setup.

 

If I seem defensive It Is because nothing & I mean nothing blows away my customers more than Laser Sublimation.

 

Unfortunately my system Is In storage while I am opening a new shop but when I am set up I wil send anyone on the forum that Is Interested a sample.

 

 

over the years i done subli i hated the inkjet syatem always clogging i tried the laser not to keen the best solution i found was the ricoch gell never dries out and lasts ages.

unfortunataly space no longer allows it to be in my shop so i have a full set up for sale if anyone interested mug machine mug press flat press ricoch printer paper and loads of items

 

craig

[inscriptio]

Craig you say you tried Laser not too keen.

 

Was this true laser sublimation available from only a few USA companys or some other laser process ie TMT?

 

What were you not too keen on?

[kobblers]

The laser sublimation I was shown was demoed to me by the folk from Magic Touch if I recall correctly. it was at the Trophex in NEC. I pointed out to them how flat the colours seemed and the guy who I spoke to agreed. He said the same as you about the no clogging and the speed in which you could print but offered no satisfactory answer as to why the colours seemed flat.

 

This was about 5 years ago, maybe the toners have improved since then

 

I can honestly say that the inkjet method (when it was successful) produced amazingly vivid colours on most items, especially metal and porcelain/pot.

 

Rick.

[inscriptio]

Ok now I understand. TMT use Laser transfer not laser sublimation. The sublimation cartridges are re manufactured as standard cartridges do not work and as I have mentioned earlier although they give a 12 months guarantee with them they do seem to degenerate after 18 months to 2 years 1st sign Is large areas of block colour start to become blotchy although Its generally fine on smaller text/graphics.

 

I think It would not be viable for UK companys

 

A. Because they would not sell enough to keep fresh stock

 

B. Because you need to use non current printers so they would not be able to profit selling the printers.

 

£50 quid for a printer (that you can use for stationary)

 

copy paper for a few Quid

 

£200 for a laser toner cartridge (that lasts for ages)

 

Of course you will need a heat press but many will have them already

 

Sublimation aluminium sheet about a third of the cost of trophy sheet.

 

Delighted customers that In many cases prefer It to engraving due to the contrasting color & are happy to pay.

 

Massive time savings over engraving I can do 100 plates 10mil x 30mil In less than 10 min's easy (as long as I remembered to switch the press on)

 

I think some members of this forum especially ones involved with trophys are missing a trick... I'm glad I'm not.

 

By the way I do not own a laser sublimation toner manufacturing company just a happy costomer of one who does.

[kobblers]

Thanks for the info inscriptio. Wish we'd known about the laser sublimation when we did it.

 

I never knew there was an actual difference between sublimating and transferring. I learned summat!

 

Rick.