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Sublimation printing is not a cheap process, but has some advantages that most traditional license plate making processes can not offer. Sharper imaging allows beautiful color graphics, including high resolution photographs. Also, with this method the image is embedded into the plate as opposed to laying on the surface of the plate; making it more durable and resistant to damage by scratching. There are those who will argue the merits of screen printing or embossing, but they can't set up a plate that says anything you want it to say and produce a finished product with rich color imaging in fifteen minutes... We can! (The exceptions to this are business advertising plates which take more art time to fit their content.) The speed of this production method allows us to sell plates to you at attractive affordable prices. COLOR CONSIDERATIONS: True colors print beautifully, but exact color matching to your specifications when ordering custom plates is not practical because (a) it takes several hours to do an "exact" color match which would make a single plate production cost prohibitive, and, (b) not all people see color the same way. We do match corporation logo colors very closely because their orders justify the cost. GOLD &: SILVER: Metallic colors are not true colors and therefore cannot be truly printed by any process. The only way to get a true gold or silver look is to apply a plating of gold or chrome to the metal plate blank. Some printing processes can use inks which have microscopic metal flakes embedded in the ink which create a metallic luster which simulates a metallic appearance. This is not possible with the sublimation printing process (explanation appears below). HOW WE PRINT GOLD & SILVER EFFECTS: We use combinations of color shading and varying color depths to create metal color effects, which appear many times on this website... For your convenience, we include the following examples: 
 
 THE PROCESS: We use large format printers (expensive) which can print on paper as large as a real estate sign... The printers are charged with dye sublimation ink (very expensive)... We print the mirrored image on paper which has a coating that provides microscopic vertical cells (also expensive) that hold the dye... Once printed, the image is sandwiched with the plate blank which has a special plastic coating. When we bring this sandwich to 400 degrees, something magical happens... The dyes turn into a gaseous state leaving the paper and embed themselves into and several thousandths of an inch below the plate surface. We follow this by applying a tough clear protective coating which also resists the passage of ultra-violet light. This helps to keep colors bright and fade resistant. We make our plates out of .024" aluminum high quality enamelled and then we apply our special plastic coating... We make other sizes and weights of metal signs for sublimation printing... We also make real estate and traffic signs, and a number of specialty products. And, we are proud to say the we are one of the least expensive providers of high quality sublimation sign and license plate blanks to the industry. Because the sublimation process lends itself well to custom manufacturing, even small businesses can afford the prestige and high visibility that advertising license plates and signs can provide... And, you can afford high quality items that bring a little more happiness into your life! LIMITATIONS: Every imaging process has its limitations. With sublimation printing, it is the requirement to print on white substrates... With license plates and signs this is not a significant factor because the background color can be printed; but it does play a part in the production of t-shirts and mugs which need to be white or a very light color to insure color fidelity. |
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