What Technology is used for printing on these cases?

[hammah]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to the 3D sublimation world and I'm wondering if someone know what technology is used in the two cases that I attached photos of them.

The blueish/purplish floral case on the right has a soft feel into it (coating?), flowers are raised/embossed a bit and it's luminescent as well!

The black case on the left is flat without any embossed parts and is not luminescent but the logo is printed inside the case. The original blank is black which makes me wonder is this a sublimation at all?

[Justin]

Yes, 3D sublimation, we use these tech to print cases. Often if the case has raised design elements it will have been printed on a UV machine but the latter won't print over the edges.

[hammah]

Thanks Justin, your answer leads to more questions!

1- Is it true that the base for sublimation printing has to be in white color and that's why phone sublimation blanks are only in white? If yes, the black case in my opinion cannot be a sublimation. The case is broken and the black color is not printed on white blank. The blank itself is black.

2- As I tried to explain, the case on the right has a soft (rubber-ish?) feeling to it which has a little bit of friction. I have seen matte and glossy blanks but none feels the same. Could it be a special coating?

3- I was in FESPA Hamburg this year and showed the raised case to a Mimaki technician. Like you said, he said that there is no UV machine that can print over the edges this far (their latest technology can print 0.5cm over the edges) but this phone case is raised even on the edges. Is there a technique in sublimation to print raised designs?

[malkram]

Hello hammah

1 - No idea lol
2 - You can find several matte cases, it depends on suppliers. For example, matte cases from Sunfly have coating (giving a special feeling when you touch it), making them different from regular matte cases (from Sunmeta for example).
3 - Only UV printing can make embossed designs