Updated By TeckWrap On Septemper 5, 2024
How To Print Sublimation Images: A Beginner’s Guide
Table of Contents
- What Is Sublimation Printing?
- Why Sublimation Printing?
- Where Can I Use Sublimation Printing
- What Do You Need To Learn About Sublimation project
- How To Make Sublimation Designs?
- Can Any Printer Be Used For Sublimation Printing?
- What Printers To Use?
- What Is The Difference Between A Sublimation Printer And A Regular Printer?
- Can You Use Cricut Design Space For Sublimation?
- Printing Your Images
- Sublimation Printing Project Supplies
- Print Your Design
- Refine The Edges
- More Tips
- How Does Printing Work?
- TeckWrap Craft’s Sublimation Sheets To The Rescue!
Do you want to sublimate vibrant, long-lasting designs on polyester fabric? You can print sublimation images using a special printer made specially for this process. It has a piezo printhead and is calibrated to work with sublimation inks. In this blog, we have discussed how you can print detailed sublimation images with smooth transitions and gradations.
What Is Sublimation Printing?
Sublimation printing is a method that transfers a design into a transfer sheet, most often fabric, using ink and heat. Heat and pressure are used to transfer at a molecular level.
This is a game changer in clothing because garments can be printed whole, from seam to seam. Aside from fabrics, the sublimation ink can also be infused into shirts, bags, mugs, phone cases, etc. Sublimation enables us to create a seamless design wherever you want it.
Learn how to create sublimated designs using your computer or laptop and then be guided on how to translate these designs to your material, fabric or not, using photo editing tools and software.
Read on, and you will never regret trying sublimation printing!
Why Sublimation Printing?
Why sublimation printing? There have been other methods for converting images into other materials, such as embroidery and screen printing.
Back in the old days, when screen-printing was the best way to do transfer printing, the quality of the designs was also less attractive than they are now.
With sublimation’s superior quality, you may think of many limitations to screen printing.
One of these limitations is that most screen printers are limited in the number of colors and the details of the designs.
Imagine each color needs to be run through a screen. So if you need more than 6 colors, it will be challenging and very time-consuming.
Where Can I Use Sublimation?
You can sublimate a variety of materials provided they are either made of polyester or have a poly coating over them. Polyester's synthetic characteristic allows it to absorb sublimation ink perfectly. The best substrate is a light-colored polyester shirt. Any light fabric with 100% polyester works best for sublimation.
There are also many polyester-coated blanks that you can sublimate on such as:
- Umbrella
- Face mask
- Cup coasters
- Mousepad
- Keychain
- Baby’s bib
- Ceramic plate
- Ballpens
- Backpacks
- ID lanyard
- Mugs and tumblers
- Canvas pillowcase
- Pouch
- Canvas bags
- Caps
And so much more!
What You Need To Learn About A Sublimation Project
- The Layout: You can download, edit, or create your design on the software of your choice.
- Sublimation Design: Your sublimation design should be in high resolution. Don’t forget to double-check margins, size, and other settings. After finalizing, save it in one of the following file formats.
- PNG
- JPEG
- SVG
- PSD
- EPS
- TIFF
- Sublimation Printer: The Sawgrass SG500 and the SG1000 sublimation printers are user-friendly and highly recommended for best results. They are powerful and affordable too. Check our blog to learn more about the best sublimation printer.
- Sublimation Ink: Sublimation inks are the cornerstone of your design and ensure vibrant, lasting prints.
- Sublimation Transfer Paper: Premium-quality sublimation paper is essential for a vivid print. TeckWrap Craft's sublimation paper is highly recommended. It has a 98% transfer rate and the designs come out in bright and sharp colors.
- Heat Press Machine: This is an essential tool for sublimation transfers. The material and sublimation paper are exposed to extreme temperatures, generally between 350-400°F.
- Sublimation Blank: The sublimation blank should be made of 100% polyester or should have a generous poly coating on it.
- Heat Press Temperature: For sublimation, the temperature of the heat press is generally set at 400°F for 60 seconds for most blanks. However, don’t forget to check specific instructions about the material you are designing.
How To Make Sublimation Designs?
It all starts with the sublimation design software. You could have the most beautiful design in mind, but without software that will guide you through the entire process, your finished product will be something you are not expecting.
Like many printed items, the graphic design process and drawing tools do more to reveal the beauty of your designs!
Most software available flaunt their ready-made designs, sometimes at a higher cost, but when you’re resourceful, you may just find one - free of cost.
Paid Design Software
When you want to have a vast array of tools, you’ll need paid software. Create images with no limitations that you can use from website graphics to t-shirt prints and video games. The paid ones have them all!
Software costs, yes, but will help you attain the full color of your business.
- Adobe Illustrator
- Affinity
- CorelDraw
- Cricut DesignSpace
- Photoshop
- Sawgrass
- Sketch
Free Sublimation Program
Canva is one of the widely used graphics designing tools. Who wouldn’t want it? It’s free and easy to use. Plus, many tutorial videos and more tips can be found on YouTube that can help you along the process.
Although the pro account can give you the freedom and the convenient image editing tools, their free account will help you start out your small business of sublimation printing.
Can Any Printer Be Used For Sublimation Printing?
To print your images, you need a sublimation printer. There are printers specially made for sublimation and there aren't those that may be converted.
What Printers To Use?
The printhead type generally determines a printer's capability to print sublimation images. Printers such as Epson, Roland, and Sawgrass have a piezo printhead.
This type of printhead is used for sublimation. Although some brands still have this kind of printhead, they have no sublimation inks.
What Is The Difference Between A Sublimation Printer And A Regular Printer?
Inkjet printers print liquid ink on top of the paper. On the other hand, a sublimation printer spreads the ink on the paper using ink vapors.
The best substrate for this kind of graphic printing is plastic. Hence, a sublimation printer is different from any other kind of printer.
Can You Use Cricut Design Space For Sublimation?
Cricut Designspace can also be used for creating sublimated designs. You may access their online software editor which will allow you to edit your digital and print file.
DesignSpace offers free design and templates. You may use the designs because they are functional and easy to use. You may even layer your designs with multiple fonts.
Printing Your Images
With the tools readily available for designers, printing images is easy.
Sublimation Printing Project Supplies
Before anything else, of course, you need to gather the supplies needed. Each of these supplies serves a purpose in the entire project.
Prepare these supplies before you start with your project:
- Inkjet printer with sublimation ink
- Search for Sublimation sheets from TeckWrap Craft
- Sublimation blank or garment as your transfer material: You can print on many blanks. As for garments, you can print on polyester or garments that contain less than 30% cotton.
- Heat press machine: Remember that heat press machines are available in different forms, and search for the kinds that cater to caps, shirts, or mugs are different, so better think about investing in all.
- Teflon sheet: Teflon sheets are heat-resistant and non-stick sheets that serve as a protective barrier between the machine and the garment.
- Thermal tape on a dispenser: You’ll need thermal tape to keep the paper in place when pressing. You don’t want your print to shift around and scatter its print (or ghost print) while pressing.
- Silicone rubber pad: The silicone rubber pad is the gray-colored mat placed below garments or caps on the machine. You need a silicone pad placed beneath a shirt or cap to ensure the garment is flat and the sublimated design transfers properly. Without a silicone pad, chances are, the garment may look wrinkled and won’t transfer properly.
- Transfer gloves: Use the transfer gloves to handle hot items like freshly pressed paper or merchandise.
- Scissors or cutter: You’ll need scissors or cutter to cut the surrounding white background outside the design.
- Lint Roller: Fabric Fibers may contain dirt or debris that needs to be cleaned before applying sublimation. Doing lint roll will ensure a much higher quality transfer. And a lint roller helps clean this debris from
- Ruler or measuring tape
Print Your Design
As soon as you gather all your supplies, it’s time to set up your workstation and get the printing on!
First of all, you want to print your design. Make sure the image is of the highest quality.
For instance, if you use pixelated designs, it will show on the garment when printed. You can use software like Microsoft Publisher, Adobe, or your cutting machine’s design studio.
Before printing, you need to change several settings on your printer. Here’s what you need to remember:
- Resize the design and ensure the image fits perfectly where you want to print it.
- In the ‘Printer Properties’, change the document size to A4.
- Choose the highest quality print settings, not the ‘Standard’ or ‘Normal’ print settings.
- Choose the highest quality settings and the slowest speed settings. You don’t want the ink to print too fast on your sheet.
- Don’t forget to mirror the image.
- Print on the white side of the sheet.
Refine The Edges
Double-check and refine the edges by cutting and then pressing the material. When using TeckWrap Craft’s sublimation sheet, you may press it right away because it’s fast-drying.
The white blank space surrounding the design needs to be cut for two reasons:
- The placement of the design on the material will be easier.
- The ink may spread onto the unrefined edges when the printer needs head cleaning.
Simply cut the edges using a pair of scissors. You don’t need a paper-perfect cut. The sublimation sheet does not transfer to the material, only the design.
More Tips
- Sublimation requires printing on a flat surface. You need a silicone rubber mat for this. Heatpress machines usually come with a silicone rubber mat.
- You may use some heat-resistant tape or adhesive and some kraft paper to protect your workplace.
- Another must-have when sublimation printing is thermal tape. Use thermal tape to stick the sublimation sheet to the merchandise you want to print. This ensures the design stays in place and won’t keep moving, leading to a ‘ghosting print.’
- A ghost print looks like a shadow of the actual design printed on the merchandise, and you don’t want that! Use thermal tape when applied on shirts, mugs, caps, and all sublimation blanks.
- Now, the most important part is the time and temperature of the machine. As you may have learned by now, there are many sublimation blanks you can print on. This means the temperature and time differ for each.
- How Does Printing Work?
How Does Printing Work?
First, your sublimation printer imprints the design you have laid out onto a sheet of special high-release paper.
Then, using a machine for heating and pressing, transfer the dye design onto your substrate (surface or material). These could be on t-shirts, mugs, banners, plaques, and so much more.
The dye turns from solid to gas without passing into liquid. This is then what we call sublimation. The dye penetrates the material leaving a print that won’t crack or wash out.
It doesn’t work well with natural fibers. If you want vivid and permanent results, use materials with a high polyester mix.
TeckWrap Craft’s Sublimation Sheets To The Rescue!
TeckWrap Craft’s Sublimation Sheets will let you do your sublimation fast and easy. Choosing your kind of sublimation sheets is not a problem.
The package comes in 100 sheets. The sheet size is 8.3”x11.7” (A4 size) sublimation transfer paper. It’s best used in inkjets with sublimation ink. Remember to print on the white side, and mirror the design.
