We’re going to now move into the world of sublimation….everyone thinks this is a gift to fix all. Don’t be so sure!
Sublimation is the process of an ink turning into a gas, penetrating the fibers in the garment when heated, becoming a permanent part of that item and then sealing into the fibers of that item once it’s completely cooled. Sublimation was originally thought to be a process to apply images onto hard surface items only, such as ceramics, metals, certain plastics, and hardboard materials but it’s become very popular with large format users who are doing customized garments. Anything from jerseys, t-shirts, swimsuits, towels, blankets, floor mats/car mats and tote bags are just some examples of the growing industry.
Small desktop printers range from 8.5” x 14” systems up to 13” x 19” with optional bypass trays that are available. Epson and Ricoh are the main brands of sublimation printers (see all of our small format sublimation-compatible printers HERE). Epson printers are equipped with a Piezo print head technology. Micro Piezo print heads feature microscopic piezoelectric actuators that are built behind the print nozzles. When an electrical charge is applied to them, the piezoelectric elements bend backward, drawing precise amounts of ink from the ink chamber into the firing chamber. When the electrical pulse is reversed, the piezoelectric elements bend the opposite way very rapidly, propelling the ink out of the nozzles at high speed. This helps with clogging issues since sublimation ink is a little thicker than regular OEM inks. A handful of Epson printers are also able to be equipped with bulk refill systems, which use bags of ink instead of cartridges. This will drastically cut down your cost per print as we all know how small some inkjet printer cartridges can be!
Ricoh printers aren’t equipped with these types of print heads, but the sublimation ink used in Ricoh printers is gel-based. The ink flows more smoothly, therefore you’ll experience less clogging (if any). Although there are no bulk hookups for these printers, they are able to house a much larger cartridge size over its Epson friends.
There are also floor models on the market that are still considered smaller format (under 24”) and can run rolls of paper. Then you get into the wide format equipment, which is a whole other blog in its own. Heck, maybe we will see a wide format blog in the upcoming future!
Some CONS are, sublimation is a bad idea if you need to do dark garments! The only way to get a sublimation image onto a colored garment is if the image (ink you’re laying down) is darker than the color of the shirt. For instance, you can do black images or prints on red garments, orange, yellow, pink, blue… (make sense?)
Another downside is if you’re wanting to use a cheap ole’ shirt – nix that idea. Sublimation requires 100% polyester to get the best image and the best washability possible!
The PRO about sublimation is that it is a permanent image on your substrate! What can get better than this? No washing away, fading or cracking to worry about!
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hello, i use a laser printer, and i saw a package for starters on cosalbusniess that they give you sublimation transfers papers with a laser printer so im wondering whats bc it looks like u say sublimation printer type. just need a lil clearifying of that. im also looking to do a black shirt with white ink and i dont know if its just me but im having a hard time to get the printer to print white ink on a transfer paper itjust leave it the color of the paper instead of printing white ink so when u press it , it shows the color of the shirt in a blanck instead of having white ink there. can you please inform me on what i need or i am doing wrong. im just starting out and dont really know who to ask. sincerely jessica
The laser printer package we have available on our website is for the Go UNO laser printer, which has been designed specifically for use with heat transfer papers. This printer can NOT be used for sublimation. We do offer a sample of laser transfer paper – you can find it here.
Very few printers can actually print white ink, which is probably why you’re having an issue with it transferring. Even though you may have white in your image, if the printer you’re using does not use white ink/toner, you will not be able to transfer white to the garment. You do have a few options – ImageClip Koncert Ts transfers ONLY white onto dark garments. Or, you can use any of our opaque transfers (transfer for dark garments) and simply trim around your image before transferring. Since the opaque backing is already white, you won’t need to print any white. Both of these types of paper are available for laser printers.
hi does any one know which inks are sublimation for mug transfer using epson dx5000 the ink im using is t0715 but when im printing on to the mug its coming out yellow
thank you
If the image on your mug is coming out yellow, it means you’re using regular inkjet inks, not sublimation inks. I haven’t heard of sublimation inks that are compatible with the printer you mentioned, so you may want to look into working with one of our smaller format Epson or Ricoh printers that can be used with sublimation ink.