Colour management basics to know
When it comes to product customisation, colour is as much art as science. When you imagine the design to put on your product, that is art. During the printing and pressing process, science takes over.
Understanding how colour works in the world of textile personalisation is essential to mastering the personalisation process from start to finish.
The science of colour can be complex. However, with these basic concepts, you can achieve deep, bright colours and be successful!
What is the purpose of color management?
The colours you see on the screen never exactly match the colours that come out on the paper when you print.
This difference is due to the fact that the colours on the screen are generated from a combination of three hues, namely red, green and blue (RGB).
This is not the case with dye sublimation or digital printers, which use between four and eight colours of ink to reproduce the image created on the screen, and in particular the CMYK colours (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), which are the standard for four-colour digital printing.
Computer monitors emit colours in the form of RGB light. Although all the colours of the visible spectrum can be reproduced by merging red, green and blue light, monitors are only capable of displaying a limited range (colour range) of the visible spectrum: RGB.
Furthermore, while displays emit light, printed products absorb or reflect specific wavelengths of light. Cyan, magenta and yellow pigments or dyes thus act as filters, subtracting varying degrees of red, green and blue from white light to produce a selective range of spectral colours.
As you can see, there is a marked difference between these two types of colour generation, RGB being additive, while CMYK is subtractive. In product customisation, the designer first works in an additive environment. The printer and software then convert these colours into a subtractive environment. Colour management, or colour correction, refers to the process of adapting the transformation of these colours to produce the best possible result on your media.
Sublimation chromatic challenges
Sublimation has another element of the colour control process that needs to be considered. When a sublimation transfer sheet is applied to a substrate, the ink goes into a gaseous state, creating bonds with the polymers of the substrate.
Indeed, under the action of the heat of the heat press, the ink in its gaseous state penetrates the textile fibre and resolidifies inside the textile mesh.
When the ink goes into a gaseous state, this alters the properties of the colours. This variation in colour properties can be quite significant (e.g. some blues can appear green on paper) and it is therefore impossible to know in advance whether the colours printed on the final substrate will be correct or not. This is why it is essential to use the Smart Print Manager software, which will generate the correct sublimated colour. Colour correction is essential to achieve the best possible result.
You may also notice a large difference between the colours printed on the sublimation paper and the final image created when heat and pressure are applied. This difference is quite normal and should not be relied upon to show up on the sublimation sheet at the time of printing. The colour that you see on the screen will be reproduced on the substrate when the heat press is applied.
The software will also allow you to adjust the quantity of ink according to the chosen support, polyester, ceramic, wood, plastic...
The SPM software now means that you no longer have to go back to using ICC profiles to manage.
Color Management Fundamentals
Now that you know why color management is essential for dye-sublimation printing, let's take a closer look at how to apply it.
Choose RGB or CMYK mode?
As a decorator of digital products, there are several things you can do to ensure you get the sublimated colors you expect:
Systematic design in RGB: Most design software allows you to specify the colour mode of the design space; the options offered are generally RGB and CMYK. Their selection has a name: colour space definition. For dye sublimation applications, you need to enable a specific RGB profile to produce accurate colours, unless you are working with a RIP, which uses the CMYK space.
Many graphic designers, for example, use CMYK because it is the best option for printing visuals. But because sublimation requires RGB colours, these files must be converted when imported into the design software. This is because sublimation profiles are created to convert RGB colours to CMYK output, and are not designed to perform CMYK to CMYK conversions (unless you are using a RIP). Therefore, if you attempt to print a file created in CMYK space, the conversion will not work properly and the colours will be outside the expected range.
Tip "Creating a colour chart We suggest that you create a colour chart by printing and sublimating the entire palette on a perfect white background. You will then have a visual reference to which you can relate and which you can show to your clients.
The printed chart reproduces the exact colors created through the dye-sublimation process (in addition to the RGB settings), providing you and your customers with an accurate reference when choosing the appropriate colors for the created image. So, even if the colors displayed on the screen are not identical to the colors produced on the final media, by choosing the right colors from the color chart, you can be confident that the output will always look exactly as you intended, regardless of what appears on the computer screen.
Consistency is the key word: any change in any of the variables in the design, printing and pressing process will affect your final output. Media, sublimation paper, time, temperature or pressure, and colour management techniques used are all factors to be considered. It is therefore necessary to carry out various tests until you achieve the desired results. Then establish a set of standards to refer to, bearing in mind that a change in these standards can change the appearance and quality of the final product!
As a complement to this article, we invite you to consult our table on the conditions of pressing in sublimation in the heading supports / training / pressing conditions sheet. From this table, you will be able to create your own reference table according to your own materials!
Need more information on sublimation? We offer free online training (webinars) on this topic:
- Dye Sublimation
- SG500 / SG1000 Dye Sublimation Printers
- Dye Sublimation: Maintenance and Tips
- Creative Studio Software
- SPM Software
- Sublime ChromaLuxe
- Customize your Dark Textiles with Dye Sublimation
- EasySubli Paper
- Liberty Subli
- Liberty Patch
- Liberty Patch Satin Effect
Find all the dates of our fomartions and register by clicking on this link
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See you soon,
The Team Créadhésif