Sublimation paper is a carrier in the process of sublimation printing. Its process is to use a sublimation printer to print portraits, landscapes, text and other design graphics onto the top of the sublimation paper, and then heat to make the heat transfer ink sublimation penetrate the substrate, to transfer some of the patterns to porcelain plates, textiles, metals and other materials.
Sublimation transfer relative to the traditional printing and dyeing operation is convenient, no solid color, soap washing, washing and other dyes and wastewater generation process, is a green printing and dyeing process. At the same time, the transfer image is colorful, has rich layers, is durable, and is very suitable for personalized printing market demand.
As sublimation printing technology has matured, some sublimation paper brands have hit the low-price strategy to attract consumers in the face of fierce competition in the market. However, behind the low price often hides a huge hidden danger in quality. It should be noted that low price is not equal to affordable, we should pay more attention to the quality and performance of the product while pursuing the price advantage.
To maximize profits, some unscrupulous merchants use low-quality recycled paper, newsprint, kraft paper, etc. as the paper base to make sublimation paper, which seems to be "inexpensive" products, but in fact, it may bring great damage to the users.
Undoubtedly, newsprint, kraft paper and other paper bases are not suitable for sublimation paper. Because these paper-based materials have a variety of defects, such as short fibers, low strength, impurities, etc., their ink absorption, ductility and transfer performance simply can not meet the needs of high-quality printing.
Some brands promote low-cost recycled paper-based sublimation paper with "sustainable" and "environmentally friendly" marketing topics. However, as far as current technology is concerned, the quality of recycled paper is not yet able to meet the demand for high-quality sublimation printing.
Recycled paper as a result of the fibers in the waste paper being compounded many times, "aging" resulting in its physical properties, such as tensile strength, breaking length, paper flatness, and so on being weakened, so it is usually used in packaging paper and other low-end products. If it is used in sublimation printing, it will be easy to produce wrinkles, ink bleed, low transfer rate and other problems.
In addition, due to the quality of recycled paper, the service life is relatively short and may be subject to brief air humidity, and moisture intervention and lead to paper bending damage, so recycled paper is relatively difficult to store for a longer period.
Admittedly, there's no question about the purpose of being environmentally friendly and sustainable. This is the direction in which the printing industry is heading. However, it is not wise to compromise production quality by choosing low-quality printing consumables as a result.
By choosing sublimation papers with relevant environmental certifications such as FSC or PEFC, we can equally guarantee the sustainability of the paper source. These certifications assess the biodegradability and recyclability of the paper, ensuring that the environmental impact of the paper is minimized after use. And utilizing recycled paper correctly and to greater value is the true way to achieve sustainability.
The quality of the sublimation paper largely determines the quality of the printed pattern. Before purchasing a sublimation paper, we should do sufficient tests to identify the quality of the sublimation paper to ensure that it meets our production needs and quality standards.
We can judge from the following aspects:
1. Appearance check
Compared with the sublimation paper with virgin paper base, the recycled paper base will appear grayish-white or yellowish, and some surfaces may have spots (impurity spots). This is because recycled paper is made from recycled waste paper, and the bleaching treatment will make it have some color difference problems. Excessive speckles can seriously affect the printing effect, especially for solid color printing.
2. Ink compatibility
Good sublimation paper can adapt to various brands of sublimation ink. Because the quality of the sublimation coating on a variety of sublimation ink has the appropriate compatibility, the ink pattern in the transfer paper can be an exquisite embodiment but not penetrate the coating to the bottom of the paper, while ensuring a good transfer rate.
3. Whether the printing will wrinkle
Inkjet-type transfer paper requires the paper surface wrinkles the smaller the better if the print wrinkles are serious and likely to sassafras to the nozzle. Recycled paper's long fiber strength is not enough, and easy to break, resulting in part of the sublimation of the ink is easier to penetrate and diffuse, affecting the quality of the transfer. High-quality virgin paper can avoid this situation.
4. Warping degree and warping time
Sublimation paper is a kind of coated paper, the coated layer and the base paper in the drying and high temperature of the expansion rate is not consistent will cause a one-sided warpage. When the sublimation paper is warped, it will cause the following operation inconvenience:
A. Inconvenience for the printer to feed the paper.
B. Before thermal transfer, the transfer paper failed due to warping and inaccurate alignment with the fabric.
C. When pressing and transferring, the transfer paper will warp and roll up, which will cause transfer misalignment and cause transfer failure.
High-quality sublimation transfer paper needs to have a certain degree of resistance to warp and reduce the warping of the production of adverse effects.
5. Drying speed
Fast-drying sublimation paper can effectively cope with continuous high-speed sublimation printing, accelerate production efficiency, and improve delivery speed. At the same time it can also reduce the printing quality problems caused by the ink is not dry.
6. Transfer rate
Transfer rate is a basic performance of sublimation transfer paper, but also the most important performance. The transfer rate mainly reflects the sublimation of sublimation ink after transfer. A high transfer rate means that most of the sublimation ink on the transfer paper is sublimated effectively. A good transfer rate can make the color of the substrate more brilliant while saving ink.
7. Quality Stability
The surface quality of the transfer paper is closely related to the user's ink, print data settings and parameter settings of the transfer machine. If the surface quality of the sublimation paper fluctuations or constant change will force the end user to follow the adjustment, such as the original color calibration needs to be redone, the original has been provided to the customer's printing samples can not be reproduced and can only be redone and so on.
While selecting qualified sublimation paper, we also need to choose our suppliers more carefully. Some small sublimation paper supply companies produce unstable batches and have no sound after-sales service. If we choose these companies' products carelessly, we will face serious losses.
Therefore, we should fully understand the credibility and reputation of the suppliers before purchasing and choose those companies with qualifications, certification and good after-sales service. At the same time, we can also refer to the evaluation and feedback of other users to understand the actual effect of using the products.
Hanrun Paper sublimation paper series products have been widely praised by users all over the world for their excellent quality. All Hanrun Paper sublimation papers are FSC-certified. We strive to minimize our impact on the environment while improving the quality of our products through continuous improvement of our manufacturing processes and technology.
As a sublimation paper manufacturer, Hanrun Paper has been certified to ISO 9001 quality management standards. We are committed to providing our customers with a stable supply of high-quality products. From raw paper to coating formulation and production process, all of which are strictly defined and controlled, we guarantee high-quality sublimation paper to enhance the production efficiency of our customers.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
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