The photograph below is of a 20" by 14" piece of Dupont Glasier White Corian that was dye-sublimated with a black and white photo called "Peek-A-Boo". The process involves a special ink that will transfer into the Corian approximately 2 to 3 thousandths of an inch deep. Basically the print is placed in contact with the Corian and placed in a heat press, the ink then transfers after a suitable soak time.
This process is applicable to signs and photographs, color works extremely well also. A Corian dye-sublimated product can withstand up to 30 years of exterior service expoesed to UV without fading and is impervious to hot and cold weather, rain sleet and snow.
After dye-sublimating several small projects I found a company that sells wider paper by the roll. This allows me to press larger projects up to the limits of my printer and heat press. After the photo was dye-sublimated the Corian blank was cut to size on a table saw and the edges routed with a roman ogee bit on my router table.
I wish you could see this plaque in person, the detail is just incredible. The plaque photo was taken with a Canon 10D and just the camera flash, the plaque is sitting on my ShopBot . Photo credit - Jamie Hayes of Hayes Fisk-Taylor Photography in Richmond, Virginia. This photo was a Kodak Elite Award Winner. (Photo duplicated with permission) The original photograph was a 25 megabyte digital file.
Special thanks to SMC Member Ken Dolph for all the help and guidence he gave me while I was learning to dye-sub Corian. Ken is SawMill Creek's resident expert on the subject and was really nice to take his time and share his knowledge.
Click on the thumbnail pic for larger view.