Abstract: The present invention discloses a dye-donor element for use according to dye diffusion thermal transfer printing comprising on one side of a support a heat-resistant layer and on a side of the support opposite thereto a donor layer comprising a dye, a binder and a surfactant, said surfactant being a copolymer corresponding to the general formula (I) ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 each independently represent an alkyl groupR.sup.4 represents an aralkyl groupm and n represent the molar fractions of the respective units in the copolymer and have a value of 0.01 to 0.99 with the provision that the sum of m and n equals 1.