# Time between print and press



## SSJ (Aug 22, 2006)

Hi. Haven't been able to find anything on this. Hoping someone with more experience can guide me here:

Is there a limit on how long you can wait between printing the image and pressing it onto the blank?

Is it better to press immediately after printing? Or can you get away with printing everything for the job at once and then pressing it all later... like maybe even over the next day or two?

Thanks!


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

I've never heard anything to suggest waiting is a problem, but I've hardly ever done any dye sublimation. I think you'd need to wait a lot more than 2 days to get any problems from it, but hopefully one of the dye sublimation printers here will have more experience to share with you.


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## cprvh (Jan 23, 2006)

Generally you can let the transfers set around for a while. It really depends on the transfer paper you have printed on. Magenta will tend to bleed on many of the high release papers after a month or so. It's the coating on the paper, not the ink that will cause bleeding. I have some transfers printed on Accuplot over a year ago that are still perfectly fine.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

We have transfers that sat around for over a month and still printed fine. There was some bleading on one but for the most part they were fine. We place the transfers in a stiff folder and use a blank paper to separate them.


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

Hi SSG and welcome!

It's better to wait till the ink is dry to avoid smudging. Drying time will depend on your printing settings and paper. 

If you are planning to press in a few days/weeks - make sure to keep your transfers protected from dust.


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## SSJ (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks everyone for the advice. It'll help us manage our workflow a bit better now.

I thought we had to press soon after printing, so it was always print-press-print-press-print-press. Now we can do print-print-print-press-press-press.


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## Twinge (Apr 26, 2005)

With regular heat transfers, the main worry is humidity from what I've heard -- so you may consider keeping stored transfers in a large ziploc or such (though I can't say for sure if this applies for dye sub as well).


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