Direct Print vs Dye Sublimation – What’s the difference?
One of the products we offer is custom digital backdrops – the customer supplies the artwork as a digital file, and we print the artwork onto fabric or mesh and then sew it into a fabulous backdrop.  Yes, sometimes for the tours of major recording artists like Kenny Chesney, but many other times for a school or church production or a special event or…

There are the two primary methods of digital printing – direct print and dye sublimation.  In many cases, customers ask, what is the difference between the two?  What makes one method better than another?

Well, here is a very basic primer on the topic.  With Direct Print, the inks are printed directly onto a coated fabric substrate.  Due to the coating, the backdrop tends to be slightly stiffer.  With Dye Sublimation, a paper transfer process is used to convert the ink solid into a gas, which then “etches” the image into the fabric.  As the fabric substrate is not coated, a dye sublimated backdrop tends to be a little softer and more flexible.

So, which is better?  Depends on the individual project.  Direct print can be printed onto fabric up to 16’ in width, allowing larger seamless backdrops or fewer seams on an extra large backdrop.  Dye sublimation, on the other hand, can only be printed onto fabric up 10’ wide, meaning anything bigger would require seams.  However, the image tends to have better resolution and color vibrancy.