Principle of thermal transfer

Principle of thermal transfer

1. Principle of thermal transfer

Speaking of the principle of thermal transfer, I felt at a loss when I first came into contact with it.

Why?

Because the thermal transfer industry is a very special industry, even the packaging and printing industry calls it the "special printing industry".

2. What is the principle of thermal transfer

If you also feel that thermal transfer is complicated and difficult to understand, then please come with me to understand the principle of thermal transfer.

1. First of all, let's start with the origin of the domestic thermal transfer industry.
The thermal transfer industry has been introduced into my country since the 1990s, from 0 to 1, and then through research and imitation, it has been continuously developed and updated in such a process, and many thermal transfer manufacturers have been derived.

Thermal transfer is deeply loved by manufacturers for its many excellent characteristics such as realistic patterns, rich layers, bright colors, accurate color registration, small color difference, high gloss, and good reproducibility. It has caused a strong impact on printing processes such as self-adhesive stickers, screen printing, and offset printing.

Schematic diagram of thermal transfer principle

2. Secondly, to understand the principle of thermal transfer, we need to understand the entire process of thermal transfer.
1) Thermal transfer principle 1 - artwork design
Any printing process requires typesetting first to determine the printed pattern. The pattern design of thermal transfer needs to use computer editing software to arrange the layered vector transfer pattern according to the shape, size, and even material of the substrate. Commonly used image formats include PSD, AI, JPG, etc.

2) Thermal transfer principle 2 - thermal transfer platemaking
According to the thermal transfer typesetting, the gravure electric engraving plate is made by the electric engraving plate manufacturer.

3) Thermal transfer principle 3 - thermal transfer film printing
The thermal transfer film is generally composed of 4 layers, namely the base layer, the release layer, the printing layer, and the adhesive layer.

The process of forming the thermal transfer film by the printing machine requires 6 processes. They are: ① base film coating process; ② base film release process; ③ pattern printing process; ④ adhesive glue coating process. Finally, after re-inspection, striping, and packaging, the thermal transfer film is printed.

4) Thermal transfer principle 4 - thermal transfer processing
The thermal transfer processing of the substrate is to transfer the pattern on the thermal transfer film to the surface of the product through a one-time processing (heating and pressurizing) of the thermal transfer machine, so as to achieve the purpose of melting the thermal transfer ink layer and the product surface into one.

In this process. It is necessary to first customize the thermal transfer mold for the substrate to ensure the transfer effect. It is also necessary to select a suitable thermal transfer machine model according to the product shape.

3. My opinion on the principle of thermal transfer

The reason why the editor feels at a loss about the principle of thermal transfer.

Because in the entire process of thermal transfer, many complicated process technologies will be generated according to different substrates. It can be said that the completion of thermal transfer of each substrate is "unique".

For the sake of simplicity, the editor summarizes the principle of thermal transfer in one sentence.

The principle of thermal transfer is to carry out thermal transfer film printing and thermal transfer processing with different processes according to different substrates.