There is provided a thermal transfer sheet capable of being identified by a thermal transfer printing apparatus, as well as being capable of preventing color property changes in high-resolution printing and reducing production cost. The thermal transfer sheet 5 of an embodiment includes a dye layer 52 and a protective layer 54 on one surface of a substrate 50. The protective layer 54 contains an invisible light absorbing material and is provided with an identification mark 55 having at least one of a recessed portion and a protruding portion.

A transfer paper used for a transfer printing method using sublimation textile ink, comprising a base paper and one or more coating layer(s) provided on at least one side of the base paper, wherein an outermost coating layer positioned on the outermost side with respect to the base paper contains at least a pigment, a binder, a polyacrylic acid salt and an acetylene glycol derivative, has image deterioration resistance, good color development property and excellent adhesion property.

A thermal transfer ribbon including a substrate, the substrate has a surface provided with dye layer parts and transferable protective layer parts repeatedly formed thereon, and the transferrable protective layer parts include first layer parts formed on the substrate, and second layer parts formed on the respective first layer parts. The first layer parts contain a charge control agent, and the second layer parts contain an antistatic agent and a lubricant.

A thermal transfer ribbon comprising a dye layer and a transferable protective layer repeatedly formed on one surface of a substrate, the transferable protective layer having a first layer formed on the substrate, and a second layer formed on the first layer. The first layer comprises an acrylic resin (X) containing methyl methacrylate, an acrylic resin (Y) containing a styrene resin, and a polyester resin (Z). X has a weight average molecular weight of 120000 or more, the mass ratio of X and Y is within the range of 1:9 to 9:1, and the mass of Z is 1% or more and 3% or less of the total mass of X and Y.

A receipt and label roll comprises a core and a web having a longitudinally-extending axis and wound on the core along the axis. The web includes (i) a substrate having a front side and a back side opposite the front side, (ii) a thermally-sensitive coating disposed on the front side of the substrate, (iii) adhesive disposed on a portion of the back side of the substrate along the web axis, and (iv) a release coating disposed on the front side of the substrate along the web axis to prevent the adhesive from sticking to the front side of the substrate when the web is wound on the core. The web further includes (v) a longitudinal weakened structure extending along a direction parallel to the web axis and dividing the web into a first web portion on which the adhesive is disposed and a second web portion which is substantially devoid of adhesive.

To provide a thermal transfer sheet capable of inhibiting residues derived from a back face layer from adhering to a thermal head, also capable of inhibiting occurrence of a kick, and having a shorter time period until the back face layer is stabilized. A thermal transfer sheet comprising; a colorant layer located on one surface of a substrate and a back face layer located on the other surface of the substrate, wherein the back face layer comprises a binder resin and inorganic particles, and the binder resin comprises a product obtained by reacting a polyisocyanate having an isocyanurate structure with a resin having hydroxyl groups at an equivalent ratio of isocyanate groups in the polyisocyanate having an isocyanurate structure to hydroxyl groups in the resin having hydroxyl groups (NCO/OH) of 0.05 or more and 0.15 or less.

An example of an imaging medium includes an image-receiving substrate, a donor ribbon attached to the image-receiving substrate, and a registration mark. The donor ribbon includes a donor ribbon substrate, a release layer disposed on the donor ribbon substrate, and a color layer disposed on the release layer. The color layer includes a repeated pattern. A repeat of the pattern includes at least adjacent color stripes including a cyan stripe, a magenta stripe, and a yellow stripe, or a grid of four color sections including i) a colored section selected from the group consisting of black, cyan, light cyan, yellow, magenta, and light magenta, ii) a cyan section, iii) a magenta section, and iv) a yellow section. The color layer is in contact with the image-receiving substrate.

[Object] An object is to provide a thermal transfer sheet which allows for forming an image favorable to any of transfer objects having a poor smoothness and a high smoothness.

[Solution] The thermal transfer sheet according to the present invention comprising: a substrate; and a transfer layer comprising a release layer, a colorant layer and an adhesive layer, wherein the release layer includes a polyethylene glycol having a number average molecular weight of 8000 or more and 23000 or less and the colorant layer includes one or both of a polyester and a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, and a colorant.

A method and apparatus for laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) processing including a dynamic release mirror structure (DRMS) for desorbing delicate materials from a first surface and depositing a resultant formation of a portion of the materials on a second surface without damaging the material or coating the material with contaminants. The DRMS includes a lower-situated absorbing polymer layer on a transparent substrate. The lower-situated absorbing polymer layer is coated with a metal layer to reflect light of a laser pulse. The metal layer is topped by an upper-situated polymer cap layer. The 3-part layering of the metal layer sandwiched between the upper and lower polymer layers is variable in terms of materials and thickness to tune DRMS operational characteristics.

An example of an imaging medium includes a substrate, a color-forming layer on the substrate, and a registration mark. The color-forming layer includes a repeated pattern. A repeat of the pattern includes four adjacent color-forming stripes including a black-forming stripe, a cyan-forming stripe, a magenta-forming stripe, and a yellow-forming stripe, or a grid of four color-forming sections including i) a color-forming section selected from the group consisting of black-forming, cyan-forming, light cyan-forming, yellow-forming, magenta-forming, and light magenta-forming, ii) a cyan-forming section, iii) a magenta-forming section, and iv) a yellow-forming section.