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Encarna Luque, senior product manager for inks and textiles at Roland DG EMEA, takes a look at how dye sublimation has changed how we print and what we can print.
One of the main challenges in the print industry today is that industry demands are constantly changing. We as an industry have to keep up with trends and constantly find solutions to print on a broader array of objects and fabrics.
Printing on a wide variety of materials, particularly technical fabrics, used to be a huge industry challenge, but thankfully, textiles and printing technology solutions and inks have improved significantly over the years to cater to industry demand.
Innovation
We owe much of this innovation and improvement to dye sublimation printing. The heat-transfer method, which changes the sublimation ink from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid in-between and allows the ink to permeate the layers of the fabric and sets the ink in super-quick times has completely revolutionised how we print, and what we can print.
As well as producing superb image quality, product durability and enabling large print capacity, dye sub paper gives print businesses unparalleled versatility. While it works best with polyester shirts, it also opens up endless possibilities: with a special polymer coating, almost anything can be printed on, from mugs to frisbees, jewellery to sportswear. Paired with a good accompanying RIP software which includes tools for ‘colour management accuracy’, ‘nesting’ and ‘step and repeat’, this opens up a world of application options for print businesses.
Customer example
One such example of a customer who pushed the limits with dye sub printing is Peak UK. Peak UK is a company with humble origins in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales that specialises in canoeing and kayaking equipment – and it’s responsible for the garments that helped to win nine medals in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Throughout the company’s history, they’ve provided slalom garments for top athletes, but when the Olympics came to London in 2012, they wanted to push themselves further and produce something special and different from what was already on the market. That’s when they invested in dye sublimation printing to create custom uniforms for national teams in whatever designs and colours they wanted.
The team heard about dye sub’s use for printing onto cycling uniforms, but the challenge was far greater than simply printing onto polyester as with cycling wear. Kayaking and canoeing uniforms need to be waterproof, breathable and are made up of multiple layers that are then laminated together, featuring a variety of straps, buoyancy aids and more.
Initially, the company was told it simply wasn’t possible to produce fabrics for that environment. But through sheer determination and the help of dye sub technology, they ended up producing vibrant, cutting-edge garments, so successful in their design that they were worn by gold medal winners at Olympics.
The example of Peak UK demonstrates the true innovation which can be unlocked using dye sub technology.
Keep on innovating
But print businesses need to remember that it’s not just about having the technology. Our challenge as an industry is to keep innovating and bringing products to the market that consumers want – but also push the boundaries.
This not only encourages further technological development, but also allows businesses to adapt to demands quicker, and to establish their own niche within the market.
As Peak UK has shown, with dye sub technology, and a little imagination, you too can strike gold.
