Patent ID: 6859221

Claim:
A method of preventing crease formation in a dye transfer area of a dye donor web that can cause a line artifact to be printed on a dye receiver during a dye transfer from the dye transfer area to the dye receiver in a dye transfer printer, said method comprising: heating the dye transfer area of the dye donor web to effect a dye transfer from the dye transfer area to a dye receiver; and heating opposite edge areas of the dye donor web that are alongside the dye transfer area, but with a gradual drop in heat substantially from respective boundaries between the dye transfer area and the edge areas to an outer edge of each edge area that is spaced from the dye transfer area, so that when the heated transfer area and edge areas are subjected to a longitudinal tension a relative resistance to being stretched will steadily increase towards each outer edge to maintain strength at each outer edge, but to avoid a sharp transition at the boundaries in order to prevent crease formation that can cause a line artifact.