Sublimation ink

Sublimation

— sublimation inks are inks intended for thermal printing by sublimation — transfer, in which the ink evaporates and then settles on the media. Such thermal printing is used to create photorealistic images on clothes, cups, souvenirs and other similar items. It can be direct, when the image is applied to the desired surface directly by the printer; however, such a procedure requires complex and expensive equipment, and also has severe limitations in terms of the shape and size of suitable media. Therefore, indirect thermal printing is used much more often, when the image is first applied to a special film or paper, and then transferred to the desired media using a thermal press. Ordinary inkjet printers can be used to print on intermediate media; however, the compatibility of a particular printer with sublimation ink needs to be specified separately.