Printing and finishing processes Real eye-catchers through transfer printing
Despite its name, transfer printing is actually not a printing process in the conventional sense, but rather a combination of different techniques.
How does the transfer printing process work?
In the first step of this finishing process, a transfer foil is printed mirror-inverted with special water-insoluble dyes using screen or digital printing. This film can then be evaporated into the desired substrate by transfer printing at high temperatures (170 – 230 degrees). Since the transfer foils function as a carrier material, it is quite possible to produce and store them in advance in order to carry out the sublimation at a later point in time – this flexibility in the printing process is unique and allows the print motifs to be used quickly as required. Furthermore, transfer printing guarantees extremely precise printing results, washable textiles and highly opaque colours, even in photo quality.
The high precision, however, has its price: For each desired colour, a separate foil must be produced in advance so that transfer printing is a more expensive variant among the finishing processes. In addition, the multi-stage process is time-consuming and is usually used for very high-quality custom-made products. Products finished by transfer printing such as T-shirts, sweaters or jackets, as well as products made of aluminium, ceramics, glass or wood are suitable as high-quality promotional gifts and real eye-catchers.
