With any form of decoration there are challenges that must be overcome, its simply a natural part of the learning process. You didnt jump in the drivers seat of a car and instantly start driving. It took training, time, patience and probably a lot of close calls before you became proficient behind the wheel. (And with todays congested roads, those challenges never really go away, no matter how much experience you have) Thus the same can be said about decoration production, you learn with experience, but thankfully the challenges arent nearly as difficult as learning how to drive a car.
In the case of sublimation there are five common problems you will probably encounter along the road to success. Each can be avoided with the right understanding and approach, but inevitably you will probably end up meeting each one face-to-face at some point. They say you learn far more from your mistakes than your successes.
If you encounter lines of missing ink in your printouts, then you are most having banding issues, the most common cause of which is clogged print head nozzles. Like it or not, ink dries out over time, all ink, not just sublimation ink. If this happens inside the print heads, then obviously the flow of ink will be inhibited, which results in streaks of missing ink on the printout welcome to BANDING.
As long as you are printing on a regular basis at least several times per week the ink will not have an opportunity to dry out. But for long stretches of time with no printer activity, you could have issues.
The simplest way to deal with this is to run a small quantity of ink through the heads on a routine basis, by using the head cleaning function of your printer. In the case of Virtuoso and Ricoh printers, this is done for you automatically, as long as you leave the printer powered up. However, for Epson printers you will need to perform a manual head cleaning every few days, which means pushing a button.
For those of you who have a short term memory, there are some software programs available that will prompt your printer to perform a head cleaning at specified intervals. You set it up and it does the work as long as you leave everything powered up!
Banding has some other causes besides just clogged heads, such as running out of ink. Before you start going crazy with troubleshooting, make sure you still have plenty of ink in your system.
The introduction of moisture into the sublimation process can cause unwanted results. During production with a heat press operating at 400 degrees, that moisture can flash to steam and literally blow away the ink from its intended target. Some of the problems that are attributed to moisture include: color shifting (colors lose accuracy), bleeding of the image, and uneven transfer of solid filled areas.
Under normal circumstances, a small amount of moisture can accumulate in your transfer paper and its usually absorbed directly into the substrate during pressing. However, hard substrates like metal and ceramic are unable to absorb excess moisture. Thus, its important that you take steps to minimize the introduction of moisture into the process.
The first step is to protect the paper from moisture absorption. As a preventative measure, you should store your paper in dry place. Avoid using Zip-Top plastic bags as they can actually trap moisture within.
If you suspect moisture, set the paper on your press for a few seconds. Do not press it. Just expose it to the warmth. The heat radiating from the press should help evaporate most of the moisture.
Another trick is to use newsprint or butcher paper instead of a Teflon sheet. The paper will help absorb moisture from the transfer sheet during pressing (Teflon will not). Be sure to use a fresh sheet of paper on each pressing.
If you are working with garments or fabric, its also possible that the substrate may contain a bit of moisture. Pre-pressing the garment for about 3 seconds, should remove the moisture and any wrinkles as well. Do not overheat the substrate! Applying a sublimated transfer to a hot surface will start the gassing process prematurely, which may lead to ghosting.
In addition, you should focus on your work environment. If there is a high level of humidity present, it may be contributing to the moisture issues. A de-humidifier may be necessary to help control humidity issues. However, reducing it too much can have negative effects on the inks and your equipment. Thus, you should invest in a hygrometer and take some readings. The ideal operating conditions for sublimation are 70o 80o F with 35% - 65% relative humidity (no condensation).
Sublimation requires a tight marriage between the transfer paper and the blank product during pressing. If the paper shifts or is not firmly planted against the substrate, then the result will be ghosting and/or gassing out.
Ghosting is when you end up with a blurry image, typically characterized by a shadow effect along or outside of the edges. Gassing Out is when you end up with a burst of ink outside of the image area.
The key here is a tight fit between the transfer paper and the substrate. Its a good practice to use heat resistant tape to secure the transfer to the product. Use care not to tape across the image area as this can often damage the image quality. In addition, use only a minimal amount of tape, as you will need to be able to easily and quickly remove the transfer after pressing.
When sublimating apparel, you can use repositionable spray adhesive instead of tape. Apply a very light mist on the image side of the transfer paper from about 12-18" away. Do not spray the shirt. Then press the transfer paper to the product. If you position it incorrectly, you can lift it off and reposition it.
Regardless of how you adhere the transfer paper to the product, its important that when you remove it, it doesnt slide along the surface of the substrate, as this may spread sublimation dye into unwanted areas, and cause ghosting. Ideally, with hard substrates, the transfer will be lifted off the surface, quickly and cleanly. With apparel, it may work better to grab one end of the paper and pull it away slowly, while firmly holding the garment down.
If your teflon blowout sheet becomes stained or dirty, it can also cause ghosting. You may want to consider using newsprint or butcher paper instead of teflon. Be sure to use a fresh sheet on every pressing cycle.
Rule Of Thumb Output color is correct, its the input color thats wrong.
The problem of color mis-match is not usually the result of a defective system, rather it comes from the fact that there are multiple pieces of image rendering equipment involved in the process, each having different methods and ranges of color management.
First and foremost, the computer monitor is displaying in RGB mode while the printer is printing in CMYK mode. And with sublimation, what comes out of the printer is not the final color as it will shift again during the pressing. Its kind of like translating French to English to Spanish, you can get the general message across, but rarely is there a direct word-to-word match-up.
It should be noted that a computer screen makes its own interpretation of color, thus what is displayed is probably not the correct color, so spending a lot of time trying to match the output of the printer to what is displayed on the monitor is probably a waste of time. Its far more accurate to generate proofs for the customer to review and making sure that the correct color management settings are being applied to ensure color accuracy for the final product.
If you have purchased a Sawgrass system, you have been provided (free) color management tools. For the Ricoh Printers and certain Epson models, and you are using a PC, you should have downloaded and installed PowerDriver. This includes the printer driver, a color management driver and color-matching tools. If used correctly, the PowerDriver will help ensure that the proper colors are printed each and every time. If you are using a MAC platform, the tools are a little bit different. You will download and install a printer driver, then use the MAC Profiles for color matching.
For those using the Creative Studio system (PC or MAC) you will download and install the Creative Studio Print And Color Manager which has many of the same functions as PowerDriver.
With any device that displays or prints color, there is a limit as to the range of color that can be handled, something referred to as gamut. RGB devices (such as monitors) have a larger gamut than do inks and printers. Thus, there may be colors that can be created on a computer that are outside of the range of the printing system.
Popular graphics programs such as CorelDRAW and PhotoShop, come with a wide assortment of color palettes for creating graphics. However, those systems do not understand the range of color that you can print with your CMYK sublimation system (or any system for that matter).
Many Sawgrass color management systems such as PowerDriver provide color palettes that can be uploaded into these graphics programs. They are specific to the printing capabilities of the ink and printer you are using. This will help improve the imaging process as you will be working from a set of color values that are sublimation friendly rather than just random.
With PowerDriver you can also create reference charts that correlate the final production colors to what you see on the screen. To do this, simply print the color palette that is used by your sublimation printer driver (it includes the RGB codes). Then press it onto a reference substrate such as a coated metal panel. This becomes a visual representation of what the colors will look like in their final form.
Select the colors for your design based on this chart (the output), rather than relying on the screen colors (the input). It may not look correct on the screen, but you will know what it will look like when it comes off the press.
For more advanced color management you might want to invest in a RIP program which provides very precise tools for managing color and controlling production. To learn more about color management options visit: Sawgrass Inc. Software
Transfer lines are where you end up with a faint line in the fabric that corresponds to where the edges of the transfer sheet were located during pressing. They are caused by the shirt fibers melting along the edges of the transfer sheet. If you are an Embroiderer, transfer lines look kind of like hoop marks, except they are permanent!
Your first option for preventing transfer lines on apparel is to experiment with your heat press settings. Consider dropping the temperature down to 385oF and reducing the pressure to a very light setting. You might also cut back the pressing time from 60 seconds to about 35 seconds. Changes should be made gradually, as too much variance from the standard settings could affect image quality.
Many Sublimators use a process that utilizes a sheet of high temperature foam during production to prevent lines from forming. Vapor Apparel produces a turn-key kit complete with instructions and a YouTube video to explain the process. It can be purchased from any of their Distributors.
Teflon pillows are another tool that has been developed for apparel sublimation. Check with your equipment suppliers for more information.
One important thing to remember with apparel, is that different garments may need different settings. Regardless of which approach you use, be sure to document your settings for future reference.
These are some of the most common issues encountered by Sublimators, and each of them is relatively easy to resolve. If you are still having trouble, then make sure you contact your equipment supplier to discuss. Dont let production challenges slow you down or intimidate you. Most issues can be resolved over the ! But first you have to make the call
This post and the photos within it may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
Ever wonder how to get those gorgeous, multi-colored designs on your t-shirts, mugs, and more? Its a process called sublimation printing and is becoming popular in the crafting community. Here is everything you need to know about sublimation crafting!
Crafting trends go in cycles, and right now sublimation is HOT! I let a lot of crafting trends pass me by (hello resin!) but I got hooked on sublimation printing and now its evolved into a full blown hobby for me!
Join our Sublimation Made Simple Facebook group for tips, tricks, support, and resources!
I recently converted an Epson Eco-Tank printer into a sublimation printer I use for all my own designs. Now that Ive done a ton of my own experimenting, I feel ready to answer all of the sublimation questions that come my way. If youre curious about getting started with sublimation printing or perhaps have a few questions, Im sharing everything you need to know to get started today! Then in the upcoming weeks, Ill be sharing tons of tutorials, troubleshooting posts, and more to help you become an amazing sublimation crafter. (See all new posts listed below)
Full disclosure: I do not plan to get super technical in the ways of sublimation technology, large professional printers, specialized heat presses, etc. Im here to help you make an adorable photo mug for grandma or that perfect gift for a friend. You can likely run a small online or craft fair shop using my tips and tricks, however I am not going to be able to help you run a big, professional sublimation shop. There are amazing companies that provide great support if youre looking for that kind of thing. Sublimation Summit is a fantastic resource!
That being said, I hope you find this post helpful and informative. If you have questions you dont see here, feel free to let me know in the comments. Im always happy to help!
You can check out all of the posts in my sublimation printing series here (this list is updated as more posts are added):
Sublimation for Beginners VideoStart by watching my introduction video, then read on for even more details!
With competitive price and timely delivery, Eastsign sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
What is Sublimation Printing?This is the most commonly asked question, and for good reason! Sublimation printing can be confusing and it has its own language and can be quite scientific.
If you want to get scientific (and feel free to skip this section if youre like, OMG Cori, I just want to make a t-shirt), we most often think of matter states in two ways:
But theres also another way. You can go from a solid directly to a gas in a process known as sublimation. (You can also go from gas to a solid, in a process called depositionwhich is how frost forms on your car on a cold morning).
In simplest terms, you print a design using a sublimation printer, and then use high heat (a heat press, which well talk about later) to turn the solid ink into a gas which infuses the design permanently onto your substrate. Ill walk you through your first sublimation printing project in a future post!
If youre on my blog, you may be familiar with Cricut products. Cricut Infusible Ink is sublimation product. Read more about Cricut Infusible Ink. It starts as a solid ink transfer sheet and then is heated to sublimate the ink onto the substrate, like with this mug:
The beauty of sublimation printing is that you can print and transfer nearly anything! You are not limited to the colors of iron on vinyl or Cricut Infusible Ink. Have a photo youd like to turn into a keepsake? You can print and use the sublimation process to transfer it! You can also use your own design programs or download free or paid designs.
Can I Use My Current Inkjet Printer?Unfortunately, no. The inkjet printer youre already using in your home or office will not work for sublimation printing. However, many crafters are converting Epson EcoTank inkjet printers into sublimation printers! Ill be sharing how I converted my Epson Eco-Tank printer to a sublimation printer in an upcoming post (all of these photos were taken before my conversion). (See all new posts listed above).
You will want a NEW printerspecifically an Epson EcoTank printerto do this. While its technically possible to clean an existing EcoTank printer, the process is difficult and results are hit or miss. So my recommendation is a new printer, all the way.
You can also purchase a specialized sublimation printer, however, they cost more and are geared toward those running sublimation businesses. Swing Design has a bunch of Sawgrass printer bundles, if youd like to go the more professional route.
Do I Need a Cricut Machine?No, you actually dont need a Cricut machine! Yes, I know most of my tutorials here are for Cricut crafting, but all you need is a design, a printer, and a heat source, which well talk about in the next section. You can, of course, use your Cricut if youre using Infusible Ink specifically.
What Materials Do I Need for Sublimation Printing?In order to successfully transfer an image from your printed design to substrate (i.e. blank), you need three basic items. Ill review them below and provide you with a few options.
1. A Printer with Sublimation InkAs I mentioned before, you cant print with just any old printer. The most popular option is to purchase an Epson EcoTank printer and convert it to a sublimation printer. You will also need specialized sublimation ink. The inks I use are fairly inexpensive and work well with the converted Epson printer.
That being said, you can purchase a fancy sublimation printer. However, there are more costly and ink typically costs hundreds of dollars to replace. These printers come with their own software and are geared more toward the professional sublimation printer, rather than a hobby printer. Im really focusing here on sublimation printing for crafting.
2. A Heat PressSublimation ink is transferred through high heat. Unfortunately, your household iron wont do the trick. It doesnt get hot enough.
Here are a few that I have used:
There are other options as well, like using mug wraps in a convection oven or SubliShrink and a heat gun. Depending on interest, I can do posts on those things as well!
3. Sublimation PaperYou need a special type of paper for your sublimation printer. Regular printer paper just wont do the trick. Sublimation paper is meant to withstand high temperatures and release the ink during the transfer process. I will compare different brands in a future post, but Ive been using Hiipoo and have good results.
How is Sublimation Different than Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV / Iron-On) or Printable HTV?Heat transfer vinyl simply sits on top of your shirt or blank item, while the sublimation printing process actually infuses the ink into the fibers/surface of your item. That is what makes it permanent. If youd like to see a project using both, check out this Summer T-Shirt.
While you can print directly on printable HTV and then use your Cricut to cut out the design, it acts the same way plain HTV does, being iron onto the substrate instead of into the substrate. While this may be a cheaper alternative to sublimation printing, after a while your design may start to crack or peeleven if you do everything right.
If you want a multi-colored, permanent image transferred into a shirt (or any sublimation-ready substrate), then sublimation printing will be your best bet!
How is Sublimation Different than Cricut Infusible Ink?Like I mentioned above, Cricut Infusible Ink is a sublimation product. Both sublimation prints and Cricut Infusible Ink need heat to turn the ink into a gas and infuse the product.
Cricut Infusible Ink is a bit more limited, though. You can use either sheets of solid/patterned infusible ink, which you need to cut with a Cricut machine, or Infusible Ink markers to draw/color and image. For example, I made these Summer Coasters using four different Cricut Infusible Ink transfer sheets. I created the design but the colors were not editablethese are the colors of the actual sheets.
While you can make beautiful products with both, sublimation printing is limitless. You can print nearly any color and pattern with detail you just cant achieve with transfer sheets or markers alone.
What Kind of Substrates Can I Sublimate?There are sublimation blanks available for almost anything, from t-shirts, to keychains, to tumblers, and more. For an item to work with sublimation ink, it needs to be primarily polyester or have a special poly-coating. For example, your standard household mug wont work because it doesnt have the special poly-coating. Ive compiled a list of the most popular sublimation blanks, which Ill be sharing in an upcoming post. (See all new posts listed above).
Typically for clothing and apparel items, you want at least 75% polyester. You can go down to 50% but any lower than that and your ink may fade over time. The lower the polyester makeup, the more vintage and less bright your final design will appear.
Sublimation blanks are often referred to as substrates. You may see me use the word interchangeably throughout this blog post and future ones.
Can I Sublimate a Cotton Shirt or Regular Coffee Mug?As mentioned above, in order to sublimate, the material needs to be mostly polyester or poly-coated. A standard coffee mug wont work. It does not have the coating, which allows the ink to be directly infused into the mug. A poly-coated mug looks just like a regular one, though! So be careful not to mix them up.
Cotton shirts cannot be sublimated on directly. However, you can purchase a sublimation coating spray for use on shirts. This coating allows you to sublimate on materials you wouldnt normally be able to. I have a test of a few different brands to share soon as well!
How Much Does Sublimation Printing Cost?Costs can vary, however, the largest cost will always be your printer and ink. The printer is, of course, a one-time cost, but you will need to replace ink over time. An Epson Eco-Tank printer and Printers Jack ink for example, will cost you a few hundred dollars. A professional grade sublimation printer and ink, however, can cost thousands of dollars. It honestly depends on what brands you choose.
Then your other costs are substrates, which range from super inexpensive to quite pricey. My favorite place to purchase is Heat Transfer Warehouse, though Ive found a lot of good blanks on Amazon as well. If youre going to be be sublimating a lot of the substrate, make sure to buy in bulk to save money.
As mentioned before, I am a hobby sublimation printer, so I dont need anything super fancy. I plan to stick to the basics and try to share products I believe are reasonable for crafters!
I hope you found this sublimation overview helpful! Stay tuned for more sublimation posts in the upcoming days, including how to convert that Epson EcoTank printer so you can get started on your sublimation crafting journey too! (See all new posts listed above).
Are you interested in learning more about Dye Sublimation Consumables? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!