Review of:
OEM Laser HG Transfer vs. Inkjet Dye Sublimation
written by: Cherie Derrick - Jan. 2006
While the concept of using color laser printers with standard OEM toners to print hard goods is not really a new concept, some of our suppliers are taking things a step further by developing better instructions for more consistent results. This article is prepared specifically to show the difference between an inkjet dye sublimation tile and tiles printed with OEM toners and transfer papers.
| Inkjet Dye Sublimation Transfer | OEM Laser Transfer | ||
| Printer | Epson Stylus Photo1280 (silver) | Xerox Phaser 6100 | Xerox Phaser 6100 |
| Paper | TruPix | Spectra Laser HG | Cactus Equip. HG |
| DPI setting | 1440 | 1200 | 1200 |
| Software used | Corel Draw 11 | Corel Draw 11 | Corel Draw 11 |
| Notes | Printed with (old, pre 2004 change) Artainium UV+ inks, Artainium version 2 profile with Tropical Graphics suggested printer settings | Printed without any special settings except for "mirror image" and "thick paper" | Printed without any special settings except for "mirror image" and "thick paper" |
| Substrate | RN satin coated 4.25" tile coated by Revolution Technologies (no longer in business) for inkjet dye sublimation . Approx. cost for dye sublimation coated tiles from current suppliers run between $1.20 - 1.56/ea. | matte/satin finish tile purchased from Lowe's Home Center. Approx. cost from home center stores is $ .13 - .17/ea. | matte/satin finish tile purchased from Lowe's Home Center. Approx. cost from home center stores is $ .13 - .17/ea. |
| Pressing procedure | 1 layer felt pad transfer face up tile face down 6 minutes 400 degrees light/med pressure (3) |
felt pad folded to make 4 layers of padding transfer face up tile face down Teflon sheet over back of tile 5.5 minutes 380 degrees light/med pressure (3) peel cold |
1 layer felt pad blank paper transfer face up tile face down 1/8" green heat pad 3 minutes 325 degrees med/heavy pressure (6) peel cold |
| Curing | N/A | 375 degrees in oven 10 minutes |
400 degrees in oven 10 minutes |
| Full tile pictures (click thumbnails to see larger image - approx 200KB each) |
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| Small section of tiles above (click thumbnails to see larger image - approx 400KB each) |
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| zoom from small section above (click thumbnails to see larger image approx 200KB each) |
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When figuring costs for OEM tiles you need to figure in the higher cost of the paper and the additional production time for the post curing. On larger runs, a lot of the post curing time can be made up with the speed of the laser printer vs. the desktop inkjet printers. Even just 4 tiles printing at 1440 on a 1280 printer can take upwards of 10-15 minutes while the laser only takes 1-2 minutes.
Scratch resistance
-I was unable to scratch any of the 3 tiles with my
fingernail.
-All 3 tiles scratched if the back of another tile was rubbed across it.
-Using baking soda, water and a bit of elbow grease you can remove the image
from the 2 OEM Laser tiles but you can not remove the image from the dye
sublimated tile. The sublimated tile did show a tiny bit of scratching
from this mixture.