Thermal transfer is an emerging printing process, which has been introduced from abroad for more than 10 years. The process printing method is divided into two parts: transfer film printing and transfer processing. The transfer film printing adopts dot printing (resolution up to 300dpi), and the pattern is printed on the surface of the film in advance. The printed pattern has rich layers, bright colors and ever-changing , The color difference is small, the reproducibility is good, and it can meet the requirements of the designer, and it is suitable for mass production.
The transfer process transfers the exquisite patterns on the transfer film to the surface of the product through a heat transfer machine (heat and pressure). After the forming, the ink layer and the product surface are integrated, which is vivid and beautiful, which greatly improves the quality of the product. However, due to the high technical content of this process, many materials need to be imported.
What is thermal transfer? Thermal transfer is a new method of printing patterns on commodities with various materials, and is especially suitable for producing a small number of personalized and customized commodities, and printing patterns containing full-color images or photos. The principle is to print the digital pattern on a special transfer paper with a special transfer ink through a printer, and then use a special transfer machine to accurately transfer the pattern to the surface of the product at high temperature and high pressure to complete the product printing.
A digital printing machine that can print on any relatively flat materials such as leather, textile fabrics, plexiglass, metal, plastic, crystal, wood products, copperplate paper, etc., one-time multi-color, arbitrary complex color, and transitional color printing. It does not require plate making , Chromatography and complex exposure procedures will not cause damage to the material. Since the product went on the market, it has been highly praised by people in various industries, and the number of factory customers for secondary purchases has increased.
Thermal transfer technology can also use a variety of different transfer materials to achieve different printing effects, the most important ones are film transfer and sublimation transfer.
Film transfer
The transfer paper transferred by the glue film contains glue, and then the glue pattern is printed on the surface of the product by means of high temperature and high pressure. Imported transfer paper and ink, the printed glue patterns are very thin, breathable, non-sticky, non-cracking, washable and non-shedding; unlike many domestic transfer papers, the printed glue patterns are thicker and often There are shortcomings of stickiness and cracking. 100% cotton clothes are printed using film transfer technology.
Sublimation transfer
Sublimation transfer is a new generation of technology, using special sublimation ink and sublimation transfer paper. The pattern printed on the product will not produce glue. If it is transferred to the clothes, the ink is directly sublimated into the clothes fiber, the durability is the same as that of cloth dyeing, and the color is sharp, which is more suitable for colorful patterns. For example, quick-wicking shirts and physical comfort shirts use sublimation transfer technology.
Products that can be thermally transferred
Not all products can be printed with thermal transfer, which involves factors such as the heat resistance and smoothness of the product. Due to the continuous advancement of technology, products that have been maturely developed using thermal transfer technology include: clothes, cloth bags, hats, pillows, mugs, tiles, watches, mouse pads, coasters, calendars, medals, pennants, etc. Hundreds of commodities.
Textile transfer
Common textile transfer technology is film transfer and sublimation transfer. (1) Sublimation transfer: The technology is mainly only applicable to clothes with polyester surface layer, such as quick-wicking shirts and physical comfort shirts, and white clothes are best (the position of the printed pattern is white, but the position of the clothes is white. Other parts can be other colors, such as color sleeves). After the colored clothes are digitally sublimated, the ink and colored fibers will be fused, which will make the color of the pattern different from the original, so it is not recommended. (2) Film transfer: The technology is mainly used for clothes with extremely high cotton content. Adhesive film transfer can be used in various colors, but dark clothes need to use higher-priced “dark clothes special transfer paper”, which has heavier glue and unstable quality.
Ceramic transfer
Ceramic products use sublimation transfer printing. The ink is sublimated to the product at a high temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius. The color is sharp and the pattern is reliable. However, ordinary mugs cannot be directly transferred, and the pattern can be transferred only after a special treatment of a coating (coating).
Post time: Dec-07-2021