What is a Heat-Transferred Print?

Thermal transfer is an emerging printing process that has been introduced from abroad for less than 10 years. The printing method of this process is divided into two parts: transfer film printing and transfer processing. The transfer film printing uses dot printing (resolution 300dpi). The pattern is printed on the surface of the film in advance. The printed pattern is rich in layers, bright and colorful. , The color difference is small, the reproducibility is good, can meet the requirements of the designer, and it is suitable for mass production.

Thermal transfer

Thermal transfer is an emerging printing process that has been introduced from abroad for less than 10 years. The printing method of this process is divided into two parts: transfer film printing and transfer processing. The transfer film printing uses dot printing (resolution 300dpi). The pattern is printed on the surface of the film in advance. The printed pattern is rich in layers, bright and colorful. , The color difference is small, the reproducibility is good, can meet the requirements of the designer, and it is suitable for mass production.

Transfer processing The exquisite pattern on the transfer film is transferred to the surface of the product by one-time processing (heating and pressing) using a thermal transfer machine. After molding, the ink layer is integrated with the product surface, which is realistic and beautiful, which greatly improves the grade of the product. However, due to the high technological content of this process, many materials need to be imported.

Chinese name

Thermal transfer

Scope of application

printing art

Attributes

An emerging printing process

Function

Greatly improve the grade of the product

Thermal transfer is divided into billion and thermal transfer (suitable for a large number of printing methods) and digital thermal transfer (suitable for a small amount of products with their own characteristics)

The difference between the two:

Thermal transfer production process:

Step 1. Make high-resolution pictures;

The second step is to make a dot-type gravure electric engraving plate according to the picture size;

The third step is to install the gravure on a printing machine and print it on a PET polyester film to print a thermal transfer flower film. It can print thousands of finished patterns in one hour.

The fourth step is to install the thermal transfer printing film on a thermal transfer hot stamping machine for printing. The operation is simple, the pattern is formed at one time, and no color registration is required.

A thermal transfer hot stamping machine can print tens of thousands of products in 8 working hours a day.

Can be applied to ABS, PE, PP, EVA, leather, stainless steel, glass, wood, coated metal.

Digital thermal transfer production process:

The first step is to produce high-resolution pictures;

The second step is to print the pattern on thermal transfer paper through a thermal transfer printer for hundreds of meters an hour;

The third step. The pattern can be printed on the goods with ordinary machines such as hot stamping machines. The operation is simple, the pattern is formed at one time, and no color registration is required;

A machine can print thousands of products in 8 working hours a day.

Suitable for ABS, PP, leather, ceramic coated cups

Why choose thermal transfer for large quantities? How to choose digital thermal transfer if the quantity is small?

Because thermal transfer requires electric engraving, digital thermal transfer does not require electric engraving. In comparison, the cost of thermal transfer is relatively high, but why do people choose thermal transfer when the quantity is large? In addition to quality issues, the most important thing is productivity. Thermal transfer can print thousands of products in one hour However, digital thermal transfer can only print about one hundred products in one hour. So if it is just to make some commemorative gifts, people will choose digital thermal transfer, but if the manufacturer needs printing, they will choose thermal transfer.

Overview

1. The picture is exquisite, and it can be completed by ordinary hot stamping machine and heat transfer machine.

It was all expected to be able to get such strong market feedback, because the machine has the following advantages:

Professional thermal transfer equipment is required. For ceramics, metals and other items, a thermal transfer coating is required on the surface.

First, the pattern feels a bit hard to the touch and has poor breathability. It will become softer after washing, but the breathability is still relatively poor.

Second, the pattern will have tiny cracks corresponding to the fabric fibers when the thermal transfer T-shirt is pulled horizontally. This is caused by the characteristics of thermal transfer itself and cannot be avoided.

Third, the color of T-shirts will change after hot pressing, such as white will turn yellow. This is caused by the evaporation of the water in the T-shirt

Fourth, the thermal transfer uses thermal sublimation ink to print the picture on the transfer paper, and then transfer it to the surface of the medium. There are several indeterminable problems: color deviation and positioning deviation. The finished picture is also easier to scratch off and firm. Poor performance, generally need to spray another layer of protective film. In addition, the transfer of special media also requires flexographic printing.

Fifth, skilled printing technicians with many years of experience are required.

As long as a computer, a printer equipped with thermal transfer ink and a heat press machine can print images on any solid object and any curved surface, the pattern is clear, the color is bright, the effect is realistic, and the adhesion is super Strong and other characteristics. Can accept a variety of personalized customization, live production, a wide range of applications, everything!

1. Personalized daily necessities: big and small, all aspects, fashion personality transformed!

Individual patterns can be printed on cups, blank T-shirts, mobile phone cases, mirrors, keychains, pens, pen holders, calendar holders, photo frames, rackets, cosmetic cases, etc.

2, fashion bedroom supplies: lightly printed, become a fashion home!

Individual patterns can be printed on sofas, coffee tables, kitchen cabinets, chandeliers, ashtrays, vase decorations, lithographs, glass paintings, pots and pans, etc.

3, business, home and other indoor building materials: highlight the extraordinary fashion choices!

Individual patterns can be printed on doors, windows, floors, handles, wall boards, business card boxes, etc.

4, all kinds of electronic products: personality claims, everywhere!

Personalized patterns can be printed on telephones, video recorders, DVDs, TVs, air conditioners, speakers, remote controls, mice, clocks, etc.

5, automotive supplies: the difference is fashion!

Individual patterns can be printed on the dashboard, tissue box, tea cup holder, tape holder, rear view frame, handle, car lock, etc.

defect

More colors will change the color, such as thin lines become thicker, color leakage, etc. In addition, problems such as blue dots and red dots will appear in the printing process. Depending on the color of the product, different colors will affect the difficulty of the process. Defective printing equipment in China, thermal transfer is difficult to print so clearly on paper, because the material itself has texture. And the traditional screen printing technology is more expensive than when printing in large quantities.

There are many types of clothing thermal transfer. There are two main types of common thermal transfer methods:
(1) Sublimation thermal transfer (2) Thermal transfer heat transfer

Sublimation thermal transfer is simply that the disperse dye (or sublimation ink) is printed (or printed) on a specific paper by a machine in advance, and then the pattern on the paper is transferred to the paper that needs to be printed by high temperature and high pressure through this paper. The fabric goes up to complete the thermal transfer printing process.

However, with the development of science and technology, the industry has made some refinements to make transfer printing methods endless. The most prominent is that paper is also used as a transfer printing carrier, but the printing method uses gravure printing machines to disperse dyes as the mainstream.
In terms of transfer printing market demand, the printing methods with the most uses are in order:

(1) The gravure printing machine prints disperse dyes. The advantages are: low cost of printing paper, delicate pattern expression, strong layering, and full pattern. Suitable for mass transfer printing production. The disadvantages are: the cost of plate making is high, and the competitiveness of small batches of personalized products is insufficient.

(2) The offset printing machine prints the offset printing sublimation ink, prints the sublimation ink with a printer, and after drying naturally, transfers this flower paper to the fabric to be printed. Advantages: Because it uses ps printing, the printing fee is low, and the printing cost is also low. It is suitable for small batch printing. Disadvantages: It is difficult to control the color depth after printing. If you want to do thermal transfer of clothing, you have to think about it. For any piece of clothing, at least two pieces of cloth are also made. Think about it: before and after the clothing How can this dress be sold in the case of large differences in film colors? How to wear

(3) Digital thermal transfer, advantages: the pattern expression is more delicate than any transfer printing, the layering is very strong, the pattern is abnormally full, and because of non-plate printing, the color registration caused by other printing methods is completely excluded Or the ills of plugging. Disadvantages: Although there is no edition fee, the cost of printing ink and paper is high. So far, it is only suitable for small batches of personalized products for transfer printing.

(4) Silk-screen sublimation ink. This transfer printing method has low platemaking cost and is not expensive. However, because the printing plate is a silk screen, pattern edges generate burrs, which is not suitable for delicate patterns such as figures and landscapes. print.

Thermal transfer heat transfer is different from sublimation thermal transfer printing. The printing material does not have the sublimation effect (vaporization) like the sublimation dye. The printing material does not print high temperature and high pressure, which causes the slurry to penetrate into the fabric fibers, although it can also be used. The transfer machine is hot, but what is "printed" on the surface of the clothing is like a layer of "plaster" attached to the surface of the clothing.

Its main feature is that most of the substrates used are pet sheets. After printing various color patterns on pet sheets, hot-melt adhesive is also coated on the back of the pattern. It is this hot-melt adhesive that combines the pattern with The clothes are firmly combined together, and the pet waste film is peeled off to complete the thermal transfer process.
Advantages of heat transfer heat transfer: low plate making cost, full pattern level, beautiful color. Disadvantages: The breathability is poor after transferring to clothing, and the feel is not as soft as the sublimation thermal transfer.