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What sublimation paper should I use for tumblers?

24, Jun. 2024

What is Sublimation Paper? Which One is Best For Your ...

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Learn which sublimation works best for which projects ' and how it compares to copy paper!

Sublimation paper is a coated specialty paper designed to hold and release dye sublimation ink onto surfaces. There's an extra layer on the paper designed just for holding, rather than absorbing, sublimation ink. This special coating paper is formulated to hold up in the sublimation printer, withstand the high heat of a heat press, and create beautiful, vibrant sublimation transfers to your surfaces.

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Learn all about sublimation paper in this helpful video:

You should know that sublimation transfer paper is NOT the same as that plain copy paper you might already have in your copier or regular inkjet printer, even though it might look the same at first. A good sublimation paper has three things:

1. It holds the sublimation ink well without allowing the micro ink dots from your printer to blur together.
2. It withstands the high heat of your heat press machine.
3. It efficiently releases the dyes into your surface when heated.

Each of these is important for the sublimation process and getting the best results!

There are a lot of different sublimation papers out there, and you may be wondering what's best to use and what's better off avoided in your heat transfer printing projects.

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I have a variety of sublimation papers here in my studio ' I have A-SUB 125G, A-SUB 120G, A-SUB 105G, A-SUB ECO, TruePix paper, DyeMaster-R, and Printers Jack. And there are a LOT more papers out there, too. So what's the difference between them all? Most all of these are general sublimation papers that will work for a variety of surfaces. There are OTHERS that get more specialized, but these SHOULD all work for most sublimation jobs.

Let's take a look at a piece of A-SUB paper. This is the BACK side of A-SUB paper, which as the word 'A-SUB' print on it ' be sure to print on the other side of it. The 'right side' of sublimation paper is the one that is pure white, without any printing on it.

So then how do you decide which is the best sublimation paper to use? One important thing I want you to pay attention to is the paper weight, like how A-SUB comes in a wide range of weights, including 125g, 120g, 105g, and ECO. These numbers refer to the WEIGHT of the paper.

A-SUB 125 g stands for 125 grams per square meter and it's the heaviest sublimation paper. The heavier the paper and the thicker the coating, the better it will hold the ink and saturate your surface ' if you want full color, vibrant designs, go for the heavier weight. This paper is my favorite and the go-to for nearly every project. It works great in my Epson printer, the printed image looks great, and has a true color. It also has a very high transfer rate, meaning that most of the sublimation ink will transfer from the paper to the surface. 125g sublimation paper also has a greater durability than the thinner paper, and it holds up under all the heat presses I've tried.

Tip: I've found the 120 g sublimation paper is just as good as the 125 g paper, and often less expensive!

If you use the 125 or 120 gram paper and get wheel marks, however, you may want a lighter paper, like 105 gsm. This heavier paper can also cause issues with rigid and hard surfaces (hard substrate), as the ink has no where to go and can blur or ghost ' if this happens, again, go with a thinner paper.

A-SUB 105g is the one hundred and five gram paper, and it's the lightest sublimation paper. So now you may be wondering why we'd want lighter paper if heavier gives the best and most saturated color. Well, it turns out that light sublimation paper like holds a little less ink and this is better when you're making seamless designs, like our full-color sublimation doormat or even a sublimation tumbler. The lighter paper is ALSO better for some printers that can get wheel lines or pick up extra ink when going through the printer. For example, when I switched to 105 gram paper on my Epson Workforce, it worked much better. The catch with 105 gram paper is that it is more likely to curl with high temperatures, and it doesn't do as well with heavy ink saturation ' the low weight of the paper is more likely to cause moving, bleeding, and ghosting, And if your surface just looks dull and faded, like a T-shirt, it could also be related to the low weight of the paper ' use the heavier paper to get more ink on it and more ink on your surface.

But what about the ECO paper by A-SUB? It's basically less expensive sublimation paper. So if you're doing a LOT of sublimation printing, you could use this, but it's really only a little less money ' I'm not sure it's worth it, personally, unless you're working in volume. I test out whether this paper is the same as the other papers in my video.

So WEIGHT of sublimation paper is a big factor. Another factor can be the compatibility of the paper with your printer. For example, TruePix paper is optimized to work with Sawgrass sublimation printers. It's 120 grams and works on a variety of surfaces.

DyeMaster-R sublimation paper is optimized to work for Epson and it's 105 grams. I am not sure why it's so thin, but it could be because the Epson Workforce, which is one of the first printers people began converting to sublimation years ago, really needs a thinner paper.

Now, you may have heard of people using regular paper for sublimation, for example laser copy paper. It's possible to use laser copy paper because it's formulated to withstand the high heat of your heat press. The question is if inkjet heat transfer paper can hold and release the ink well enough, however.

So I thought we should do a TEST of six different papers ' three A-SUB papers, TruePix paper, Laser Paper, and a regular Copy Paper, just so you can see what it looks like for each one. Here's what each one looks like pressed onto polyester fabric (I used garden flag sublimation blanks):

The top results are what I think are the best sublimation paper ' A-SUB 125G and A-SUB 105G. It's always a good idea to do a test like this when you're first learning to use your dye sublimation printer or are trying out a new sublimation project or special paper.

Get my Subliflower Design for free!

I also have a group just for sublimation crafting where you can get help and tips from other crafters who love to sublimate, too! Come join us at jennifermaker.com/sublimationgroup to ask questions, share ideas, and get inspired!!

I hope this helps you find the right sublimation paper for your next project. Watch for more sublimation tutorials and please ask any questions you have in our Facebook group or tag me on social media with #jennifermaker.

Love,

Sublimation Paper Comparison

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.

If you want to ensure the brightest, most true-to-life sublimation transfers, your sublimation paper matters! We put three brands of paper to the test, plus tried using regular copy paper and cardstock in this sublimation paper comparison. We figured out which sublimation paper is best'and which you should avoid!

Today I wanted to do a quick test of several different brands of sublimation paper. This is a part of my newest series on sublimation printing. You can check out all of the posts in the series here:

So, let's answer the question, 'what is the best sublimation paper?' I ordered three packs of sublimation paper. All three were a medium weight and work with all sublimation printers:

I also had a request to test plain copy paper, so I added that in, along with a smooth white cardstock, because why not?

I tested all five on a piece of polyester fabric (do not use cotton). Remember that sublimation requires polyester or a poly-coating for the sublimation process to work. You'll also need a light-colored material because sublimation ink is transparent.

I've found having a few yards of polyester fabric is SO helpful when doing sublimation crafting, since what you print is not what you transfer. This gives me the ability to do a test transfer on the fabric before using my more expensive blank/substrate. Highly recommend getting a few yards and using it for practice!

A caveat: I only tested this single color wheel image on a single substrate (polyester fabric) printed with my converted Epson printer. You may have different results with a different image, a different substrate (soft substrates like t-shirts and socks vs. hard substrates like tumblers and cases), or different sublimation printer (I just got a Sawgrass printer so I'm interested in seeing if there's a difference!).

Sublimation printing is one of those crafts that can really change depending on these three factors. I suggest you run this same test yourself if you want to figure out which is the best for your particular set-up.

Join our Sublimation Made Simple Facebook group for tips, tricks, support, and resources!

Sublimation Paper Comparison Set Up

I printed the same exact color wheel image on all five types of paper. I printed them all at the same time. All five were fast-drying and I didn't have to wait long to press.

Copy paper
Smooth cardstock
A-Sub sublimation paper
Hiipoo sublimation paper
TexPrint sublimation paper

Right away, you can see right away that there's a big variance between the printing on these five images. The smooth cardstock fared the worst'it's lightest and the most mottled. The copy paper isn't far behind, though I was kind of surprised it printed a bit better than the cardstock. I think the difference in paper weight between the two might matter here.

Then there are the three high-quality sub papers. I was actually really surprised at the difference between these three. I was honestly expecting them to be the same. But you can definitely see the difference'the TexPrint is much more bright and vivid than the other two. You can really see it when you compare the individual colors, particularly in the reds.

The next brightest is the Hiipoo, and then A-Sub was well behind that. I've had the A-Sub recommended to more than any other paper, so I thought that was a bit interesting. I was definitely interested in seeing how they transferred to the scrap of polyester fabric I had.

Sublimation Paper Comparison Results

Not surprisingly, the transfer of each image mirrored the printed images:

Copy paper
Smooth cardstock
A-Sub sublimation paper
Hiipoo sublimation paper
TexPrint sublimation paper

You can see here that the TextPrint, followed by the Hiipoo, were significantly better than the A-Sub and then the non-sublimation papers.

Here are detailed shots of each, from my favorite to least favorite.

The first is the TexPrint paper. It's nice and even and the tiny writing is the most clear of all of the versions. The color is the brightest and the most vivid, with almost no mottling. Going forward, this will be my go-to sublimation paper:

TexPrint Sublimation Paper Transfer

Next is the Hiipoo sublimation paper. It's bright and even and vivid like the TexPrint, but not quite as saturated in some of the colors. The text is just ever so slightly less easy to read (compare the words 'ANALOGOUS' on both). This is definitely a solid option.

Hiipoo Sublimation Paper Transfer

Next is the A-Sub. I expected this one to be as good (or better, since it's the one that's often recommended) so I was a little disappointed to see that it didn't turn out nearly as vivid as the other two sublimation papers. The color is more mottled and uneven.

A-Sub Sublimation Paper Transfer

Then there's the copy paper. I was a little surprised that this wasn't more terrible. I mean, compared to the others, it's not great, but it's also not as bad as I expected. There's definitely less saturation and less definition between colors. Some of the colors (like in the bottom right) are lighter. Because the paper is thinner, I think it soaked up the sublimation ink a little more so the definition was lost.

Copy Paper Transfer

You also need to be aware that because copy paper is so thin, it really bled onto the butcher paper I was using to protect my press. On the left is the paper I used for all four of the other transfers, and on the right is the copy paper transfer. This is something to definitely be aware of'you don't want that ink getting on your press platen!

And finally is the smooth cardstock. This one was not worth it at all'the colors are the most faded and mottled and the text is the hardest to read. There is not a lot of color definition and overall you're not going to be happy with your transfer.

Smooth Cardstock Transfer

Finally, I washed my piece of fabric with all five transfers just to see if there would be any difference. I didn't think there would be and I was right. The washed transfers were pretty much identical to the pre-washed transfers.

So for me and my set up, I thought the best paper was the TexPrint dye-sublimation paper. I've been using it on many of my projects and it always produces beautiful, vivid results!

Since I originally wrote this post, I have tried two other types of sublimation paper: The Sawgrass TruePix and the PYD Life paper. Both of them did great'I will continue to use both of those as well. There are also other brands like Koala sublimation paper and Printers Jack sublimation paper which I haven't tested. I'd love to know if you've used these and what you think!

Still looking for a printer? Check out my Best Sublimation Printers Comparison!

I hope you found this sublimation paper comparison helpful'let me know if you have any questions in the comments!

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