The Recycler Issue 317

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WIDE FORMAT COLUMN Dye-sub becomes even more versatile Instead of liquid ink, dye-sublimation uses a gas-conversion process. The printing process is becoming easier with machines capable of direct printing to media and becoming more attractive for various businesses. Neal McChristy Sublimation is the process of converting a solid, such as ink, to gas, then back to solid on the media. The ink is converted to a gas that disperses onto the printed surface using solvent, oil or water-based inks, differing with the carrier for pigment in the ink. Printers can be over five feet (1.524 metres) wide and usually have piezo print heads. Admittedly, many of the machines are expensive and in the $30,000 (€26,388) range, but some are in the $7,000 (€6,158) range and some even lower-priced. The media is almost endless, including performance apparel, soft signage, banners, interior décor, exhibit graphics, backlit fabrics, interior décor and fashion textiles. But mouse pads, cellphone covers and even coffee cups, too. In fact, about any surface can be used, as long as the media has a polyester coating. Photography has used the process for decades, since dye-sub prints have brilliant colours unmatched with other printing methods. Much of the attraction is to have more colour “pop,” a wide range of media for prints and a diverse amount of media for projects. Most ink sets used in the machines vary from the CMYK inks, with CMYO being the standard. The “O” stands for overcoating. But in addition to CMYK or CMYO, other colours from neon yellow to turquoise are available in some printers. Process from 1950’s The dye-sublimation process started in 1957, when Noel de Plasse, who worked for Lainiére de Roubaix, a French company, founded a process 40 for dye-sublimation printing. Wes Hoekstra, formerly of the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Pasadena, California, USA, invented the computer-output sublimation printing process using dot-matrix impact printers. It wasn’t long after electrostatic printing began that sublimation solids in toner cartridges were being marketed. In the 1990s, the advent of ink jet printers inaugurated the use of transfers with special ink that competed with screen printing. Later, Alps Electric, Tokyo, and other Japanese companies worked to develop the first dye-sublimation printer for home use. JVC, Yokohama, Japan, released a thermal head heatcontrolled dye-sub printer in 1989 and JVC marketed re-transfer printing machines in 1997. Direct-to-fabric newer technique In dye-sublimation printing, transfers are often used. That involves printing an image on a special, coated dyesublimation paper, which transfers the image to the polyester- material. Then the media is run through a device called a calendar that fixes the image into the material using heat and pressure. But now new processes are eliminating transfer paper and the heat-transfer devices in the process, such as for fabric. Printers using directto-garment printing are becoming more numerous in the Wide-Format field. Flags and soft-sign applications are among the capability of this type of printing, but making custom garment The Epson SureColour F6200 dye-sub printer is one of the more affordable Wide-Format dye-sub printers, designed for direct-to-garment printing (Photo courtesy Epson) THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019
WIDE FORMAT COLUMN The Mutoh RJ-900X Dye Sublimation Printer fabric is an option. The material is still coated with polyester, and smoother materials, such as Poplin, a woven fabric, work better than knit. Used Wide-Format dye-sub printers within reach While new Wide-Format dyesublimation printers are pricey in terms of dollars, pounds or Euros, some highly-regarded machines from Epson are available used or refurbished at a reasonable price. For example, for $14,00-17,000 (€12,314-14,953), online is a Epson SureColour F7200 Dye Sublimation Printer that prints up to 64 inches at 634 square feet (59 square metres) per hour. The four-colour printer has a Wide-Format news in brief THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019 resolution up to 1440 x 720 dpi. The piezo print head is a one-inch wide print head (2.54 cm) with 720 nozzles per colour. For about $7,000- $8,500 (€ 6,157- 7,476), an Epson SureColour F6200 44” Dye Sublimation printer is available. Its fourcolour speed is 634 square feet per hour (59 square metres per hour) or 119 square feet/hour (11.05 square metres/hour) for high-quality printing (1440 x 720 dpi). It was designed exclusively for direct-to-garment printing. The Mutoh RJ-900X Dye Sublimation Printer, at about $8,000 (€7,037), is a reasonably-priced printer for a small businessman wanting to venture into this area. The 44-inch (112 cm) printer can create point-of-purchase signs, banners, decals, apparel, flags, trade show graphics, fine art reproduction and outdoor and indoor signage, too. It has four colours with 360 nozzles per colour, enabling a high-resolution printing at 2880 dpi. The speed for 360 dpi printing is 676 square feet per hour (62.8 square metres per hour). R 3D printing helps bring past to life Stratasys and Google Arts and Culture are teaming up to recreate historical artifacts to share as files available for download worldwide. The J750 3D Printer from Stratasys, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA, is used because of broad colour ranges that yield realistic models – over half a million colours and materials. Google Arts and Culture, formerly the Google Art Project, releases high-resolution images of artwork online and is capitalizing on Stratasys technology for this Open Heritage Project. The project designs and creates historical pieces with multi-material and multi-colour 3D printed prototypes. 3D printing allows these remains to be preserved and shared more effectively through sharing files worldwide. “The project was to explore physically making these artifacts in an effort to get people hooked and excited about seeing pieces in a museum or research context. That’s when we turned to 3D printing,” said Bryan Allen, Design Technologist at Google, in a Stratasys news release. “With the new wave of 3D Printed materials now available, we’re able to deliver better colours, higher finish, and more robust mechanical properties – getting much closer to realistic prototypes and final products right off the machines.” Parts distributor and solutions provider laser & copier remanufacturing industry. The Component Engineers For Kyocera® and OKI® As well as Adler®, Brother®, Canon®, Dell®, Epson®, Lexmark®, Minolta®, Olivetti®, QMS®, Samsung®, Tally®, Triump® UTAX® & Xerox® Contact us now for your solutions info@citbv.com call +31-514581400 www.citbv.com 41
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