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technique to thermal printing, dye sublimation ensures the colors are as close to the original, an additional advantage of thermal sublimation is that the colors are resistant to strong lights and temperature variations. Dye-sublimation printing diffuses dye into the canvas. This dye comes in the form of a liquid ink which is diffused heat is applied, and is absorbed by a special receiving material which has particular properties - contrado canvas.

A second technique for printing on canvas is using inkjet printers, the name Giclee is used for inkjet printing, inkjet printers add a more realistic touch to the canvas prints, however inkjet colors fade if they are exposed to light and temperature extremes over a long period.

Dye-sublimation differs greatly from inkjet in many ways; most significantly in quality. Contrado Dye-sub is known for its high quality and continuous tone output. It does not have printing dots like that of inkjet printing; therefore, it provides a much higher photo image quality. Ink jet lays down a layer of wet ink that dries on the surface of the substrate. It hardens and forms a dry layer on top of the canvas. The ink jet layer can chip or crack and scuff. It is surprising that ink jet canvas producers call their finished items Stretch Canvas prints. Think about it - if you stretch a dry layer of ink, it weakens it. Cracks and scuffs can appear especially at the weaker corners. Dye sub print does not do this as the image is impregnated deep into the fibers of the material. There is no smudging, running, or blotching. As dye sublimation printers can produce this continuous tone output, there is no need for them to print at much higher resolutions to fool the human eye (unlike inkjet). This means that a 300dpi image on a Dye Sublimation Printer is equal to 4800dpi on an Inkjet Printer. A 400dpi image is equal to 6400dpi on an Inkjet Printer.

In our modern world of new technologies, one of the greatest advantages of photo to canvas prints is with the evolution of printing methods. The results can be spectacular. When properly done, canvas prints carry an heirloom quality. The person that receives the print (whether they have purchased it or received it as a gift) looks at it with much more value. It becomes a piece of art, rather than a simple snapshot and a unique way to preserve familial history at the same turn.

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