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DLUBAK POWDER COATING AND DESIGN: 3D SUBLIMATION SUCCESS
Friday 05. September 2014 - Dlubak Powder Coating and Design's unique process of dye sublimation accomodates for oversized substrates in any shape to be sublimated, allowing them to create garage doors, ceiling panels, specialized artwork, and 3D design elements. With Wastach SoftRIP's color management tools, Dlubak achieves consistent and reliable results with every print in their dye sublimation process.
Using large ovens, including an oven that is 24 feet long, Dlubak can sublimate onto various sizable substrates. Artwork is printed on a dye sublimation film and placed on a powdered-coated substrate. The substrate and film are then put through an oversized oven on a vacuumed sealed table that keeps the film in place. The end results are one-of-a-kind 3D sublimated substrates.
Three-dimensional substrates are popular among architects that want natural looking finishes for wall facades, light posts, or skylights with the durability of a powder-coated dye sublimated material. Artists choose this method to create pieces in different shapes and textures, including on glass, which give their art memorable attributes. Creating unique shapes when sublimating has its challenges so Frank Dlubak, President, utilizes SoftRIP’s tiling tools to produce multi-panels prints with a small tile overlap to eliminate errors when placing the prints on the substrate.
Color Consistency
Frank chose SoftRIP because
“it simply has the best ripping capabilities” so taking on a large project isn’t a concern for him. Dlubak recently finished a project working with Art Metro, a department of Los Angeles Metro, to create artwork showcasing four independent artists. Each artist has four different pieces in their series which is displayed at the El Monte Station, the largest bus facility west of Chicago. The four artwork panels for each artist are eight-by-eight feet and sublimated onto a thick metal panel. Art Metro chose this method of displaying the artwork because of the durability against harsh environmental elements. With SoftRIP’s 16-bit rendering, Dlubak is able to achieve premium color output with smooth gradients and color that is truly faithful to its original file, which was vital for this project. “I know when I click ‘Print’ in SoftRIP the file will reproduce accurately with color consistency throughout,” states Frank.
Sublimation Success
In addition to the premium color output and color consistency with every print, Frank appreciates SoftRIP’s ease-of-use. “SoftRIP has all the tools necessary for my worklfow,” comments Frank. “Opening a file in the Layout screen, choosing an imaging configuration, and setting up the print unit is straightforward.” SoftRIP has features specifically designed for dye sublimation including a mirror option in the Print Setup window that automatically mirrors all images. Plus, SoftRIP’s Queues Manager maintain all of Frank’s ripped and printed jobs, making it easy if a job needs to be reprinted. SoftRIP has the workflow tools that give Frank complete control of his production.
About Dlubak Powder
Coating and Design
Frank Dlubak has a passion for art and started his career as a stained glass artist. He has worked on over 500 churches creating and restoring stained glass. He was introduced to powder coating and realized quickly that a lot could be done with this technology so owning a business that allowed him to continue creating art only made sense. Frank, president of the company but insists on being called a worker, has grown his business to have one of the largest dye sublimation capabilities in the United States. Dlubak’s powder coating creates a hard surface that can withstand harsh environments and is more durable than conventional paint, which is a perfect match for the durability of dye sublimation. Plus, the process is completely environmentally friendly.