Dye-Sublimation Printers: Say What?
Dye-sublimation printers are a new technology whose price tag has recently rendered it within the reach of us mere mortals. It harnesses a completely new way of putting ink to print medium–making it one of the best ways to reproduce digital photos since…well, photographs.
What is Dye-sublimation, and where can I get one? Read on, brave bloggers, read on.
New Kid on the Block: Dye-sublimation Printers
Even though inkjet printers are available with extremely high-resolution capabilities, these printers still have their limits. Except for the highest-end printer models, the ink points of inkjet printers can still be detected from a close distance. This can detract from the vibrancy and realism of a digital print, photograph, or other image. Unlike inkjet printing, Dye-sublimation printing does not lay color down on paper or print media as individual dots.
Want to know everything there is to know about Dye-sublimation technology, but don’t like to read? Check out our helpful tutorial! Much technology, few words; it’s win-win!
Instead of a toner or ink cartridges, a Dye-sub printer contains a transparent film that resembles cellophane. This film is actually four different transparencies, attached together at either end to form a single ribbon. These four films are each a separate primary color: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and black. These four colors combine in differing quantities to make up the millions of colors a printer is capable of producing. This film is imbued with inks that correspond to these four colors.
Heating Up the Printing Industry
To print from this cellophane-like sheet, dye-sublimation printers utilize heat. The printer head warms up as it is passed over the film. This proximity to a heat source causes the imbedded dyes to vaporize. They then permeate the surface of the paper before cooling again to solid form. Instead of the obvious border at the edge of each ink dot laid down by inkjet printers, these vaporized colors create a gentle gradation at the edges of each pixel. Also, because the colors infuse the paper, the image is not nearly a likely to distort or fade over time.
This advantage over inkjets has made dye-sublimation printers invaluable to digital photography fans. From expert users to those simply wanting to produce photo-lab quality prints at home, dye-sub printers are becoming a must-have. The price of these remarkable machines has recently begun to drop as well, placing small snapshot-producing printers well within the budget of average consumers.
A Perfect Example: The Canon SELPHY CP740 Photo Printer
Now this is a printer the whole family can use! The SELPHY CP740 makes printing at home fun and affordable. With a range of different photograph print sizes, you can get the exact results you want, right away. No more waiting for the photolab!
The best part is, you can print without using a PC (although if you do, don’t worry–it’s super easy!) by connecting your digital camera right to the CP740. You can also insert memory cards into this versatile Canon Dye-sub printer. This is because it’s compatible with all PictBridge and Canon Direct Print devices. An optional bluetooth adapter allows you to print directly from most mobile phones.
This printer produces borderless postcard prints in approximately 58 seconds. Easy-to-replace Ink and Paper Packs come in a range of print sizes including postcard, credit card, wide and mini-stickers. 
The 2-inch full-color LCD offers easy operation with an icon-based interface. View memory card images. Select print settings. The full-screen display lets you see your photos in sharp detail before you print!
Want One? Of course you do! Get the Canon SELPHY CP740 Compact Photo Printer right here at TigerDirect.com!
information is good.
Dear Arno:
Dear Arno:
The Canon Selphy CP740 dye-sublimation printer looks like a good choice. However, I have a few questions. If you do not use the printer for any length of time will the printer head foul? In addition, would you have to clean it for the next print job? My Epson 785EPX requires a cleaning process every time I print.
Also will the Canon printer produce better 4×6 prints than my Epson at 2800 dpi?
Regards,
Bob