Provided are a combination of a thermal transfer sheet and an intermediate transfer medium which is capable of accurately transferring only a transfer layer of the intermediate transfer medium desired to be transferred onto a transfer receiving article in the production of a print, and a thermal transfer sheet which is used in combination with an intermediate transfer medium. Also provided are a method for producing a print, comprising accurately transferring only a transfer layer of an intermediate transfer medium desired to be transferred onto a transfer receiving article, and a thermal transfer printer which is used in this method for producing a print. In the thermal transfer sheet which is used in combination with an intermediate transfer medium, inhibit layer 2 is disposed on substrate 1, and the inhibit layer 2 contains a carnauba wax.

An illustrative heating section in a dye sublimation apparatus may include one or more individually controllable fans. More specifically, a computer or a controller may control speed and/or orientation of the fans for a convective heat transfer to a printed sheet in the heating section. Furthermore, the speed and/or orientation of the fans may be dynamically adjusted based upon the temperature requirement of different stages of the dye sublimation process. Compared to the conventional systems that rely only upon radiative heat which generally results in non-uniform heat distribution within the heating section, the embodiments disclosed herein generate a uniform or nearly uniform heat distribution and also avoid hot spots within the heating section.

An illustrative heating section in a dye sublimation apparatus may include one or more individually controllable fans. More specifically, a computer or a controller may control speed and/or orientation of the fans for a convective heat transfer to a printed sheet in the heating section. Furthermore, the speed and/or orientation of the fans may be dynamically adjusted based upon the temperature requirement of different stages of the dye sublimation process. Compared to the conventional systems that rely only upon radiative heat which generally results in non-uniform heat distribution within the heating section, the embodiments disclosed herein generate a uniform or nearly uniform heat distribution and also avoid hot spots within the heating section.

A method for manufacturing a wear and tear-indicating product includes mixing an elastomeric material, an ink affinitive material and an ink repulsive material, followed by molding to obtain an ink receiving sheet; disposing a sublimation transfer paper including a sublimation ink on the ink receiving sheet; heat pressing the sublimation transfer paper, so that the sublimation ink is released from the sublimation transfer paper and permeates into the ink receiving sheet, so as to obtain a colored ink receiving sheet formed with multiple color indicating areas that contain the ink affinitive material and sublimation ink permeating thereinto; removing the sublimation transfer paper from the colored ink receiving sheet.

A thermal adhesive paper including a base stock with a thermal ink layer covering at least a portion of the base stock top surface and an activatable adhesive layer covering at least a portion of the base stock bottom surface is described. The thermal adhesive layer can be used in a thermal printer for printing a transaction receipt, with the adhesive being selectively activated during printing. The activatable adhesive may be thermally activated, with a higher temperature needed to activate the adhesive than to activate the thermal ink.

A thermal transfer sheet according to the present disclosure includes a first substrate and a metallic luster layer containing a metal pigment, the metallic luster layer having a 45-degree specular gloss in the range of 30% to 80%.

A thermal transfer sheet according to the present disclosure includes a first substrate and a metallic luster layer containing a metal pigment, the metallic luster layer having a 45-degree specular gloss in the range of 30% to 80%.

A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet of the present disclosure is characterized by including a substrate, a heat-sensitive recess-forming layer, and a receiving layer, in which the heat-sensitive recess-forming layer has a thickness of 40 μm or more, and a recess to be formed by application of an energy of 0.27 mJ/dot from a side of the receiving layer through a film including a 1-μm-thick back layer disposed on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) film having a thickness of 4 μm has a depth of 5 μm or more.

A thermal transfer image-receiving sheet of the present disclosure is characterized by including a substrate, a heat-sensitive recess-forming layer, and a receiving layer, in which the heat-sensitive recess-forming layer has a thickness of 40 μm or more, and a recess to be formed by application of an energy of 0.27 mJ/dot from a side of the receiving layer through a film including a 1-μm-thick back layer disposed on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) film having a thickness of 4 μm has a depth of 5 μm or more.

An illustrative dye sublimation apparatus (also referred to as a dye sublimation machine) may have a pair of conveyor belts to perform continuous sublimation cycles using a continuous feed of printed sheet and substrate. For example, the continuous feed dye sublimation apparatus may receive substrate directly from an extrusion machine, which saves time and effort over traditional methods that require separate preparing and loading steps. The pair of conveyor belts may then apply pressure and heat to the printed sheet and substrate in order to facilitate dye sublimation.