What is the difference between 8 and 4 color sublimation printing?

8-color sublimation printers use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Light Magenta, Light Cyan, Light Black, & Light- Light Black while 4 color printers only use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The enhanced color pallet offered by 8-color sublimation printing produces up to 659,327 colors compared to 4-color printing that allows a maximum of only 16,000 colors. The expanded gamut of colors created with 8-color printing allows us to achieve smoother gradients and shading for skin tones, capture rich pastels, as well as a gamut of vibrant blacks and whites - all of which are crucial to producing high-end aluminum prints.

Why is no one else offering 8-color printing?

The primary reason is cost. 8-color printing is twice as expensive. Most printing companies are oriented towards consumers, and to the average consumer, the large size of a metal print, combined with its shiny finish, is impressive enough. Printers lack the incentive to enhance images beyond this point. Mytography stands out as the only printing company dedicated to addressing the unique requirements of professional photographers, and 8-color printing is one of the ways we meet these needs.

Why do I need to prepare RGB images if they are being printed in CMYK?

Sublimation printers convert RGB colors to CMYK during the printing process. Converting from RGB to CMYK is where color management and/or ICC profiles become important. These ICC color profiles allow us to produce a larger color pallet than CMYK can produce on its own. Despite having more color possibilities, RGB files are usually smaller than CMYK files.