This study examined the color reproducibility and color fastness of digital textile printing for nylon sublimation transfer. After measuring the temperature and time suited to nylon sublimation transfer, the researchers conducted various tests for comparison and analysis including polyester transfer paper on polyester fabric to check dyeing characteristics, color change, sharpness, and the rubbing fastness of the dyeing samples for nylon sublimation transfer. These tests produced the following results. At 185℃ and 187℃, the sublimation transfer dyeing characteristics of nylon were similar to those of polyester and the researchers even observed superior color development in some colors; at a low temperature of 180℃, the sample that was worked on had the lowest level of color development. The examination of color difference (ΔE), which compared L*a*b* values, showed that the ΔE value of magenta was 10.34, that of yellow was 24.70, and that of black was 15.28. These results highlight the important role of heat treatment temperature and time on color development in nylon sublimation transfer. Concerning sharpness, the samples subjected to higher temperature heat treatment exhibited fewer color spreading phenomena around lines. Thus, dyeing properties and fastness can be enhanced by elongating time at low temperatures and shortening time at high temperatures; however, considering production time constraints as well as the need to produce industrially marketable quantities, the findings of this study suggest that the heat treatment temperature most suitable for nylon sublimation transfer is 187℃ for a duration of 50 seconds.

The application of sublimation transfer printing is widely expanded in the textile industry according to the growth of IT technology. Therefore, its improvement of manufacturing process is strongly needed. In this paper, new manufacturing process of sublimation transfer printing by combining conveyor system and hot plate pressing is developed. New process has improved quality and productivity of sublimation transfer printing. It is shown that the new process has better indices than existing process in the required time, man power, production output and sales. New process is able to cope with mass production and various manufacturing condition actively.