NEW RANGE - Technology Supplies

1 NEW RANGELOWER PRICESS ublimation printing is a relatively new but fast growing system being adopted in schools. It allows you to reproduce four colour images on the surface of various different Materials Can Be sublimation Printed?Suitable materials are man-made polymers such as Polyester and PVC. These can be hard such as a polyester coated sheet of aluminium or ceramic tiles or soft such as polycotton textiles. During the heat press stage the pores of these polymers open to allow sublimation ink (now in a gaseous state) to enter. As the temperature drops the pores close leaving the now solid ink image as part of the education, printable materials fall into two categories: sublimation Sheet MaterialsThese are varied but include polymer coated aluminium; PVC sheets; coated plywood, plastic sheets, polymer coated magnetic materials, fibreglass and polycarbonates.

2 sublimation Materials Already On-Site At SchoolFoamex board, PVC and other plastics for vacuum forming, textiles containing more than 50% INTRODUCTION TO SUBLIMATIONWhat is sublimation Printing? sublimation is defined as turning a solid into a gas and back into a solid without any liquid stage. This allows the application of sublimation inks into a materials surface using a heat Press to provide the required combination of heat , time and pressure. This combination causes the inks to be converted from a solid to a gaseous state enabling them to penetrate the surface so that a permanent, full colour image is formed.

3 The colour penetrates the material giving a result which is long lasting, colourful and resistant to scratching. sublimation should not be confused with other dry laser processes that transfer the images to the surface of materials making them easy to scratch off. True sublimation uses wet ink Are sublimation Inks? sublimation Inks are in essence a formulation of special coloured dyes suspended in liquids that can be passed through a digital ink jet Materials Cannot Be sublimation Printed?As sublimation is always performed on a polyester, polymer or polymer coated item, materials such 100% cotton are not suitable as the natural fibres have no pores to open to accept the image.

4 Cotton can be sublimated but the image will fade with a few washes making a 50% polyester 50% cotton weave a required TechnologiesSublimation printing can be used in conjunction with other manufacturing processes. For example; clear or white PVC sheets can be sublimated and then allowed to cool in the flat. The printed plastic can then be vacuum formed. Another example of sublimation printing and thermo-forming is with foam board. This can be printed and when it is still warm from the press formed into shapes using a simple press forming Equipment Is Needed For sublimation Printing?

5 PrintersVirtuoso is now the chosen printer for sublimation . The special high capacity inks mean no bulk feed ink system is needed . The Virtuoso printers have very high print speeds, a self-cleaning print head and high ink dispersion rates to prevent ink blockages. They use print head Technology with virtually no heat being generated which means the ink does not sublimate in the printer. sublimation PaperIf you use normal photo copy paper too much of the ink would absorb into the paper itself and not enough would be Sublimated into the material. sublimation paper has a coating on the surface which effectively means the ink sits on the paper without ever thoroughly drying.

6 We have a specially formulated paper which is quick drying but provides excellent colour saturation everytime. Customers printing very soft plastics should use the sublimation Special paper which will not stick to heated soft InksSubliJet-HD is a unique high viscosity gel ink formulated specifically for the Ricoh printer. There printer at fast speed, high efficiency with low maintenance. SubliJet-HD allow you to create fast, vibrant, permanent images on a wide variety of printables. SubliJet-HD inks are packaged in closed cartridges for maximum reliability and extended uninterrupted PressHigh quality heat presses are the key to successful sublimation printing.

7 No matter how good a printed image is, to achieve good results, you need a press that delivers constant even pressure and heat . That heat also needs to be accurately controlled over the whole heated PressThe mug press is a specialty press; exclusively for pressing mugs. The press is a full wrap-around, handle to handle, top-to-bottom printing mug PaperPSublimation Ink CartridgesPHeat Press For Flat MaterialPMug Press3 PPrinter PrintablesPWho Is Using sublimation ?In Schools and Colleges sublimation is suitable for use in a wide RANGE of areas, such as:n Graphic Productsn Engineeringn Product Designn Food Technologyn Art and Designn Textiles and Enterprise123456 HOW TO PRINT4 Step By Step GuideThe sublimation process is easy.

8 From selecting or designing your image to holding your finished output takes only 6 simple 1-2 First select or create your colour image on a computer. Any picture from any software package will do - as long as it will print on a piece of paper it will be fine! Depending on your printer and software, you might need to flip or mirror your image. The image should be sized so that it is slightly larger than the selected material so it can bleed over the edge leaving no white showing. Step 3 Lay your printed image onto the sublimation material and secure with a little heat tape.

9 Step 4 Place the two into a heat press for the suggested time and temperature. Steps 5-6 Remove the sublimation paper to reveal a bright vibrant scratch resistant coloured ENTERPRISETESTIMONIAL"When the huge crate arrived containing our dye sublimation equipment it was very exciting but also a bit daunting it all looked so technical! But we were amazed at just how easy it was to use. We thought it would take us a while to get the hang of it, but the first item we printed looked stunning, indeed the quality is excellent. So we got stuck in! We now run a print session after school every half term, so that parents and pupils can order birthday presents, etc.

10 We give pupils a deadline of two weeks before, for completed artwork and orders to be submitted. We set up in the hall and the children come along to see their products being made. The mug press is just brilliant it s portable and easy to store and mugs are definitely our best-seller. We charge 4 per mug, including a presentation box, this gives us good profit per mug. We also sell bookmarks for 2, jigsaws for 3 and coasters for 2. One thing we were particularly impressed with is that children s hand prints can be reproduced at actual size, not scaled down, which makes a great keepsake.