Printing digital art on jewelry

I am a digital artist very much interested in making my own jewelry
by imprinting my art on it. I am open to either purchasing equipment
myself, or outsourcing it. I have been told that there is a process,
baked-on epoxy colors, that may be able to achieve what I have been
dreaming about. Any help, guidance, advice, would be giddily and
gratefully appreciated. I thank you for your time.

Warmly,
Mindy Sommers
www.dreamingincolor.us

Dear Mindy,

A process you might want to look for is called sublimation. The
metal pieces will have a special coating on them and you will have to
print your image on a special paper and apply to the metal with a
heat press. Good luck…

Andrea Ludden

A process you might want to look for is called sublimation. The
metal pieces will have a special coating on them and you will have
to print your image on a special paper and apply to the metal with
a heat press. Good luck... 

The special coating is polyester in liquid form, you usually dip or
spraycoat the item.

You’ll need a special paper but also a special ink for your printer.
To top it off, I always recommend a second printer for the
sublimation ink because it will create less problems and maintain a
good economy. (Switching cartridges entails intensive cleaning of
the heads.)

As for a heat press - in the T-shirt business it’s callerd
transferpress (at least in Europe) - it should not press hard like
you would with textiles but heat evenly which could become a problem
if you aim to do irregular forms. In a production situation there
are ways to solve this.

Please ask if you have any questions.

michaela

Dye sublimation printing should work well for jewelry purposes, as
it highly resistant to fading from sunlight. High quality photos are
often printed with dye sub methods because it offers a broader color
spectrum, and better blending of shades. Inkjet printers print one
color per pixel, whereas dye sub printing can vary in shade from one
side of a pixel to the other side, when necessary. Dye sub printing
is used extensively in making printed coffe cups, novelties, t
shirts, hats, etc… Sony makes a line of dye sub printers, as well
as Alpine, which is one of the very few printers that uses white ink
for accurate color blending.

Ed in Kokomo

hi

I am fimiliar with the sublimation process but what is this
polyseter in liquid form and where can you get it form I spoke to one
dealer today and he said he does not have a gloss finish polyseter he
has semi gloss I have ordered a sample lets see how it works

Gary

Hi Gary,

I am fimiliar with the sublimation process but what is this
polyseter in liquid form and where can you get it form I spoke to
one dealer today and he said he does not have a gloss finish
polyseter he has semi gloss I have ordered a sample lets see how it
works 

When you buy coffee cups, ceramic tiles and similar products to use
for sublimation transfer, they are pre-treated. Sub transfers on
t-shirts work fine provided there’s a polyester content. It is only
when you’re using your own item you have to think about it. Glossy
or not doesn’t matter technically.

michaela