The appeal of dye sublimation
Indeed, even while latex printers from HP and other manufacturers—such as Mimaki—have grown by leaps and bounds, so has the appeal of dye sublimation to sign shops.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing market segments,” says Mark Maynard, raster image processor (RIP) software developer Onyx Graphics’ general manager (GM) for the Americas. “The equipment—especially the roll-fed heat presses for finishing—used to be cost-prohibitive and took up too much space for many sign shops, but that was also the case when the first wide-format printers became available and needed to be paired with laminators. We see a lot of signmakers investing in their first dye sublimation printer with a smaller heat press, so they can start off with smaller-format images on mouse pads, jerseys, socks, etc. Then, once they get that business going and realize it’s not much more expensive or difficult than printing and laminating vinyl, they scale up to a bigger heat press and produce large-format output.”
As such, dye sublimation has come to represent a significant opportunity for sign shops to expand upon their existing business. While it has proven a highly profitable method for producing trade show displays and other types of signage that mostly use fabrics today, it also supports diversification into everything from customized socks to coffee mugs to mobile phone covers to wallets.
“I’ve seen snowboards dye-sublimated in Western Canada,” says Maynard, “and some hotels that use latex printing for wallpaper are complementing it with dye-sublimated fabrics that serve as sound-bending pieces of art. In all of these cases, the ability to cost-effectively customize one-off applications is driving the market. It’s not just retailers that are always changing out their textile graphics—in an on-demand society, you also see one-off pillows printed to match drapes in the home décor market.”
In another example, echoing Sapwater, Maynard cites benefits for the photographic industry, where dye-sublimated prints on coated aluminum, let alone fabrics, are more durable and earn a higher price markup than traditional photo papers. Again, changes in market demand and technology are making dye sublimation—which is not new—increasingly attractive for sign shops’ production departments.
Entry-level dye sublimation printers are now being made available as turnkey systems, bundled with inks and software for producing flags, banners and other soft signage.
“Dye sublimation is already very big in Europe, Asia and Latin America,” he says. “Brazil is a huge market, for example, because the cost to import clothing there is high, so local businesses use dye sublimation in the manufacturing of garments. It’s still in the early stages in North America, but it’s starting to take off.”
“A lot of our customers are curious about dye sublimation,” says Lily Hunter, printer/cutter vendor Roland DGA’s product manager for textiles and consumables. “They ask about the capabilities of printers in this respect, as well as where to get a heat press, blanks and all of the other equipment they’ll need to create soft signage. We have entry-level dye-sub printers that can be paired with a variety of rotary heat presses to get them started. A lot more of the technology is now available as a turnkey system.”
Roland, for its part, bundles special inks, firmware, waveforms, generic profiles and RIP software with its dye-sub printers, to meet the needs of small to mid-size shops that produce soft signage, such as banners and flags. Sign supply distributors, meanwhile, are going further by offering complete dye-sub packages that combine printers, heat presses, consumables and, perhaps most helpfully, finishing equipment.
“The biggest challenge with textiles is finishing,” says Aurora’s Shaneyfelt. “Some fabrics cut easily, while others need to be hot-knifed to seal their edges.”
It’s not all on the signmaker’s shoulders, however. As both Hunter and Shaneyfelt point out, many sign shops outsource the sewing of fabric graphics to other, more specialized businesses, allowing them to focus on their strengths in image production.
“Even if you’re not equipped to handle every step of the process, that shouldn’t stop you from getting started,” says Hunter.
With files from DIA, FESPA, SGIA, Aurora Specialty Textiles Group, HP Canada, the Imaging Insider, Coveris Advanced Coatings, Onyx Graphics and Roland DGA. For more information, visit
www.digitalimagingassoc.ca, www.fespa.com, www.sgia.org, www.auroratextile.com, www.hp.ca, www.imaginginsider.com, www.magicinkjet.com, www.onyxgfx.com and www.rolanddga.com.
