Dedicated photo printers are different from all-purpose printers since they are made only to print images, not text or graphical documents. The majority of them are small and lightweight, and some even include batteries that enable you print without access to an outlet. While some photo printers use inkjet technology, the majority of photo printers, including dye-sublimation (or dye-sub) printers, are constructed around a thermal dye engine.

Dye-sublimation printers have long been specialized tools used in demanding photography and graphic arts applications. With the rise of digital photography, this technology became more widely used and served as the foundation for many of the standalone, portable photo printers that appeared in the second half of the 1990s.

Instead of using inks or toner, the technique employed solid dyes, which are what the word "dye" in the name alludes to. The technique of turning solids (in this example, colors) into their gaseous state without first passing through a liquid phase is known scientifically as "sublimation."

True dye-sublimation printers use a different printing method than inkjet printers. In contrast to inkjet printers, dye-sublimation printers use a dye from a plastic film to transfer a color to a page.
Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dyes are stacked on top of one another using a three-pass technique that uses solid dyes in the form of tape on a ribbon or a roll. A dye-sub printer's print head employs small heaters to vaporize the dye, which penetrates the glossy paper surface. The print is given a transparent layer to shield it from ultraviolet rays. Although this approach may provide good results, it is not at all cost-effective. Even when none of the pigments are required for a given picture, that ribbon section is still used. For this reason, packets of dye-sub printer compatible paper often come with a transfer film that can generate the same number of prints. Additionally, a paper that enables the ink to stay on the paper's surface is required for dye sublimation inks.

Today's market is filled with inkjet printers that can use dye-sublimation processes. Such printers use cartridges that spray ink onto the paper one strip at a time. With the help of a heating element that can reach temperatures of up to 500° C, the print head warms the inks to create a gas (higher than the average dye sublimation printer). Because the dyes are given to the paper in gas form, they do not create clear dots with a hard edge like inkjet printers, which makes a significant difference in the outcomes. Instead, the edges are softer and more readily merge together. A better color-fast image is produced by injecting the gaseous dye into the paper.