Looking for sublimation or hot-stamping or...

[Barb Macdonald]

Hi Guys, it's been a while.
Still greatly enjoying this forum, usually find any answers to my questions with one or two clicks.


Have a customer looking for chrome lamicoid NameTags, with a blue/gold logo imprinted. I can laser the chrome, no problem.
We "could" silk-screen the Logo, but I wonder about durability. Also, I bet the Logo is super-tiny (waiting on a sample), and our silk-screen process isn't really set up for teensy-tiny.

Any suppliers y'all know of, in the Toronto area? I've tried my suppliers, they're telling me that hot-stamping/sublimating is a disappearing art.


Thanks in advance for any help!

[Gary Hair]

I don't do dye sub any longer but could easily do that with my DCS UV inkjet printer.

[Mike Null]

I doubt that you can dye sub lamacoid. Hot stamping should hold up but I think screening would as well.

[Mark Sipes]

I hope sublimation is not a dying art... almot 50% of my business. nametags and plaques is heat pressed.. I also support 3 other business that don't want to deal with the inks.. Hot stamping on the other hand, except for ribbon manufacturing is.....well dead.

[Gary Hair]

I hope sublimation is not a dying art...

I don't think it's anywhere near dead but with the prices of uv inkjet coming down it won't be long. I can print on substrates that I couldn't have thought of with dye sub and it's faster than dye sub. The equipment is not cheap at $30K++, but the savings of time and substrate costs will make that up pretty quickly. When sub inks for my Epson 1800 no longer were available it made me even happier that I bought my DCS when I did.

[AL Ursich]

I too don't think Sublimation is dead but my R1800 is..... Just burned through the last of the ink doing cleanings so a new Gel Printer is sooner rather than later... I also saw a new UV-LED printer by Roland a LEF-20 that increases the bed side from the 12 and has a white ink recirculation system. I think I was the last R1800 holdout...