A drive signal may be determined to drive a printhead to a series of target temperatures during respective portions of a print pass by the printhead. Each of the target temperatures may be the greater of a temperature of the printhead caused by printing a quantity of printing fluid to be printed during the respective portion and a predetermined threshold temperature. A drive signal may be provided to warm the printhead to the series of target temperatures during the respective portions of the print pass.

A drive signal may be determined to drive a printhead to a series of target temperatures during respective portions of a print pass by the printhead. Each of the target temperatures may be the greater of a temperature of the printhead caused by printing a quantity of printing fluid to be printed during the respective portion and a predetermined threshold temperature. A drive signal may be provided to warm the printhead to the series of target temperatures during the respective portions of the print pass.

A thermal printer includes: a plurality of heat elements that are to be heated by applying an electrical power; a printing controller that applies a first electrical power to heat elements not to be used for printing, the first electrical power depending on the number of heat elements not to be used for printing among the plurality of heat elements; and a thermal head that prints using the plurality of heat elements.

An illustrative dye sublimation apparatus (also referred to as a dye sublimation machine) may have at least four stations, each station implementing a discrete step of a sublimation cycle. Multiple beds are rotatably mounted such that the beds pass through the stations to perform the corresponding steps. Therefore, the sublimation apparatus may perform multiple sublimation cycles simultaneously with the beds containing printed sheets and substrates at different steps of the multiple sublimation cycles. As the beds are rotatably mounted, the sublimation apparatus may allow for a fixed loading and unloading station proximate to a fixed, dedicated personnel station.

An illustrative dye sublimation apparatus (also referred to as a dye sublimation machine) may have at least four stations, each station implementing a discrete step of a sublimation cycle. Multiple beds are rotatably mounted such that the beds pass through the stations to perform the corresponding steps. Therefore, the sublimation apparatus may perform multiple sublimation cycles simultaneously with the beds containing printed sheets and substrates at different steps of the multiple sublimation cycles. As the beds are rotatably mounted, the sublimation apparatus may allow for a fixed loading and unloading station proximate to a fixed, dedicated personnel station.

A control device includes: a print data acquisition unit configured to acquire print data, which is formed of a plurality of lines and indicates a coloration state of each pixel included in the plurality of lines; a head drive unit configured to supply, to a thermal head formed of a plurality of heating elements each corresponding to the pixel, an electric current for heating the thermal head for each pixel; a motor drive unit configured to supply, to a motor configured to move heat-sensitive paper relative to the thermal head, a drive current for step driving the motor for each line; a speed control unit configured to control, based on the number of colored pixels of a determination subject line among yet-to-be-printed lines of the print data, a relative moving speed of the heat-sensitive paper moved by the motor; and a preheating control unit configured to cause the head drive unit to output, when the determination subject line is a specific line being a line in which the number of colored pixels of the determination subject line exceeds a predetermined value, a preheating current being an electric current for heating the thermal head to such a degree as to prevent coloring of the heat-sensitive paper by a time the specific line is printed.

A control device includes: a print data acquisition unit configured to acquire print data, which is formed of a plurality of lines and indicates a coloration state of each pixel included in the plurality of lines; a head drive unit configured to supply, to a thermal head formed of a plurality of heating elements each corresponding to the pixel, an electric current for heating the thermal head for each pixel; a motor drive unit configured to supply, to a motor configured to move heat-sensitive paper relative to the thermal head, a drive current for step driving the motor for each line; a speed control unit configured to control, based on the number of colored pixels of a determination subject line among yet-to-be-printed lines of the print data, a relative moving speed of the heat-sensitive paper moved by the motor; and a preheating control unit configured to cause the head drive unit to output, when the determination subject line is a specific line being a line in which the number of colored pixels of the determination subject line exceeds a predetermined value, a preheating current being an electric current for heating the thermal head to such a degree as to prevent coloring of the heat-sensitive paper by a time the specific line is printed.