UV (Ultra-Violet) printing is a digital inkjet printing technology similar to sublimation. In the same way as sublimation printing, you can design the graphics without any color limitations. But remember, sublimation Ink will only work on 100% polyester fabrics or hard items like mugs that are coated with a durable clear polyester coating. On the other hand, UV-LED Printing can directly print on almost any material without coating or primer.
One major difference between UV-LED Printing and sublimation is that once the image is printed, the UV-LED light will soon cure it, therefore, the finished product can be used immediately. Whereas in sublimation, the transfer process of the image is complex, and maybe exhausting. Besides heat pressing is needed to cure the inks.
For Sublimation, printing on clear or dark substrates/backgrounds can be quite a challenge. On the contrary, UV-LED printers makes this process easy with its CMYK ink set along with a white and clear ink. The white ink component allows you to print a base coat of white ink underneath the color image. This is needed when you may be printing to a clear or a dark material. The clear ink component in UV Printer allows you to print a clear coat over your graphic; It gives a glossy appearance and more durability.
Sublimation is a single layer printing process. But UV printer can perform multilayer printing at the same time. The layered printing can produce raised images, texts and 3D effects. This creates textured finish that can be developed in several applications, such as printing a duplicate textured oil painting. Furthermore, it can be helpful in creating ADA signage along with printed ADA-compliant Braille signage.
Other advantages to consider with UV-LED Printing such as printing speed. These printers can perform much faster compared to sublimation process.
UV printing can be used to print on a wide variety of substrates of all colors, textures, shapes and sizes. It can also print on cylindrical or rounded objects like bottles. UV printing isn’t a replacement for sublimation or any other process, but a smart quick alternative to perform almost any job.