A dye-sublimation printer (or dye-sub printer) is a printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transport dye to a medium such as a plastic card, paper or canvas. The process is generally to lay one color at a time using a ribbon that has color panels. Dye-sub printers are intended primarily for high-class color applications, including color photography; and are less well-suited for text. While once the area of high-end print shops, dye-sublimation printers are now increasingly used as dedicated customer photo printers.