Provided are a child and environmentally friendly aqueous based heat transfer disperse dye ink compositions suitable for placing an image on an object and processes of their use. The compositions may include a heat transfer disperse dye and a nonsublimable dye or pigment having a hue representative of the hue of the disperse dye when heat transferred onto a substrate, with either or both of the dyes or pigments having a particle size less than 350 nm, and wherein the ink composition may have a viscosity less than 10 cps at room temperature. A process that uses the ink compositions optionally include marking an intermediate substrate, drying the image, optionally heating the intermediate substrate, optionally placing the inked intermediate substrate in contact with a dye receptive surface of a receptive object, and optionally transferring the image to the receptive object by application of sufficient heat and pressure.