1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a transfer medium manufacturing method for manufacturing a transfer medium by applying a foil forming recording material, containing metallic particles capable of being transferred onto a target, to a base material, a transfer method that uses a transfer medium manufactured through the stated transfer medium manufacturing method, a transfer medium manufacturing apparatus, and a transfer apparatus.
2. Related Art
Thermal transfer apparatuses are widely known as a type of transfer apparatus that transfers a recording material from a transfer medium onto a target (for example, see JP-A-2008-188865). The thermal transfer apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2008-188865 includes a printing unit that forms an image by ejecting ink (a foil forming recording material) onto an intermediate transfer recording medium (a transfer medium) and a transfer section that heat-transfers the image formed by the printing unit from the intermediate transfer recording medium onto a transfer target medium (a target). According to this thermal transfer apparatus, first, the printing unit forms an ink-based image pattern upon the intermediate transfer recording medium by ejecting ink onto the intermediate transfer recording medium. Next, the transfer section heat-transfers the ink-based image pattern from the intermediate transfer recording medium to the transfer target medium by applying heat to the intermediate transfer recording medium in a state in which the intermediate transfer recording medium and the transfer target medium are superposed.
Incidentally, techniques have recently been proposed whereby in, for example, a thermal transfer apparatus such as that disclosed in JP-A-2008-188865, metallic inks containing metallic particles are employed as the inks ejected by the printing unit onto the intermediate transfer recording medium, and metallic ink-based metallic foils are transferred from the intermediate transfer recording medium to the transfer target medium.
However, there may be situations where, when the printing unit ejects a metallic ink onto the intermediate transfer recording medium, the metallic ink hardens upon the surface of the intermediate transfer recording medium in a bumpy state. Note that the surface on which such bumps are formed by the metallic ink is the contact surface where the metallic ink makes contact with the transfer target medium when the metallic ink is transferred onto the transfer target medium. There has thus been the risk that if the metallic ink is transferred onto the transfer target medium in a state in which the contact surface has poor planarity relative to the transfer target medium, the metallic foil formed upon the transfer target medium by the metallic ink will have insufficient glossiness when viewed over the transfer target medium.