Photo Gifts - how do you do that?

Fabulous Photo Gifts isn't the 'fast-food' of personalised gifts - we tend to leave that stuff to others.

When someone buys a personalised gift from us, we want that gift to last. Quite frankly, there's nothing worse than a mug where the 'transfer' starts rubbing off after a couple of uses is there?

So much of our personalised gifts - wooden jigsaws, mugs, mousemats, placemats, t-shirts, chopping boards, clocks and photo blocks are printed using a process known as dye-sublimation printing.

What's that? Dye-sublimation?

In a nutshell, your photo is optimised for printing, scaled etc for the gift you've chosen and then printed using these special dye-sublimation inks onto a special transferring medium.

The printed sheet is then placed over the item to be personalised and pressed in a special heat press at incredibly high temperatures- for some items as along as 15 minutes.

The press is then lifted and the very hot item removed. Some items like jigsaws and placemats require pressing until cool before they can be packed.

Why use this dye-sublimation method?

Ready for the science bit? Dye sublimation uses special inks that when heated, convert the ink to a gas - this gas 'fires' itself onto the item to be printed, impregnating the special receptive coating previously applied to the blank.

So you get very vibrant colours and a print that will last a considerable time. Our mugs (excludes wow mug) are dishwasher safe and our placemats can withstand hot tableware (naturally) and be wiped clean.

And that's why we're not 'fast food'. If it's possible to turn around a gift in double quick time, we don't mind you calling us first and we'll always try to be as helpful as possible. Depending on when you call and what you wanted to order, it is possible to get an item shipped for next day delivery in the UK (we recommend you call us before 10am). After all, that's what we're here for.

Here's a reminder of our phone number - 0845 003 4118 - that's a 'local call rate number' from within the UK and not a premium line. If you're calling from a mobile, check with your provider if you're unsure on how your network treats 0845 calls.