Digital Printing Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Sublimation
Is the process of transition of a substance from the solid phase to the gas phase without passing through an intermediate liquid phase. In the dye sublimation industry, this is the ability of the ink to transfer under heat and pressure.
Cotton Transfer ChromaBlast™ System
The key to the patented Cotton Transfer ChromaBlast™ system is the chemical reaction between the ink and coating. Where they touch, there is a cross-link reaction under heat and pressure that chemically bonds the printed image to the cotton fiber.
Substrate
Is a term used in the dye sublimation industry to describe the base material onto which images will be transferred.
UV Coating
You can coat your sublimated items with UV coating which will ensure your items do not fade if exposed to direct sunlight.
Sublimation Transfer Paper
Is the specialist paper used to transfer your image from the printer to the substrate. Sublimation transfer paper is able to absorb more ink and also dry quickly.
Heat Press
Is used to sublimate your printed transfers on to the chosen substrate. Your heat press should be set to the correct time, temperature and pressure for each substrate.
PowerDriver®
PowerDriver® is the most advanced colour management software available for digital transfer systems. Developed specifically for SubliJet IQ® desktop sublimation, PowerDriver delivers enhanced functionality and a higher level of colour output. Sawgrass offers this free, user-friendly software to SubliJet IQ users to easily achieve accurate, brilliant colour output, print after print.
ColorSure™
The ColorSure™ Palette that resides within the PowerDriver is the best way to achieve spot colour accuracy in sublimation transfers. The palette includes more than 170 colours that, when loaded into your graphic design software, allow you to fill solid portions of artwork with a colour from the palette. By employing colours from the ColorSure Palette, you are able to control how your image will look once transferred. With the help of the ColorSure Palette, you will precisely achieve the correct colours, whether you are matching colours for a custom order or selecting colours for new artwork.
OEM Driver
OEM refers to Original Equipment Manufacturer; the driver is the application that connects the computer to the printer.
Colour Management
Is the controlled conversion between the colour representations on your computers monitor to the colours produced after pressing your image on to a substrate.
ICC Profile
Is a colour management file which is used in the output stage of the graphics software program. This file ensures that the colours which are shown on the screen are correctly delivered on the chosen substrate.
Additive Colours
Additive colours refer to the colours used to produce other colours. The three primary additive colours are Red, Green and Blue. Combining one primary additive colour with another creates a secondary additive colour. The three secondary additive colours which can be created are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. Combining equal amounts of primary additive colours produces white. Combining equal amounts of secondary additive colours produces Black.
Primary Colours
The three primary colours are Red, Green and Blue. These colours can be combined together with different intensities to create a whole spectrum of colours.
CMYK
CMYK is an abbreviation of the four colours, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black.
RGB
RGB is an abbreviation of the three colours, Red, Green and Blue.
Hue
Hue is the term for the pure spectrum colours commonly referred to by the colour names - Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green and Violet - which appear in the hue circle or rainbow.
Colour Balance
Referring to image processing and manipulation, colour balance is the adjustment of the intensities of colours in an image. Changing the intensity of each colour produces the visual results required. The three primary colours used are Red, Green and Blue.
Colour Curves
A colour curve in image editing is a colour correction tool which enables the user to emphasize certain colour channels within an image. Applying a curve through all colour channels can be used to make light parts of image lighter and dark parts of an image darker, to increase the contrast. Applying a curve to individual channels can be used to emphasize that particular colour over the image.
Pixel
A pixel refers to a single dot in a graphic image. All images are made up of millions of pixels.
DPI
DPI is an abbreviation of the words Dots per Inch and refers to the amount of dots or pixels which make up your image.
PPI
PPI is an abbreviation of the words Pixels per Inch and refers to the amount of dots or pixels which make up your image.
Resolution
The resolution of an image refers to the amount of DPI or PPI in an image. The more dots or pixels in an image, the higher the resolution, thus a visually higher quality image.
EPS
EPS is an abbreviation of Encapsulated Post Script and is a standard file format for importing and exporting graphics images. EPS files are widely used as they are compatible with a large range of computer programs.
JPEG
A JPEG is the most commonly used digital image format and is the abbreviation of Joint Photographic Experts Group.
Vector Image
Is a type of graphic made up of points, lines, curves and shapes. In most circumstances, Vector images can be scaled by any amount without losing clarity. Vector images are most suitable for logos and illustrations.
Raster Image
Is a type of graphic made up of a grid of dots or pixels. Most images found on the web are raster images and are commonly compressed into a Jpeg file.
Bitmap Image
Is a type of image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits.
Masking
Image masking is the process of eliminating the background from a selected image, isolating the required selection.
