In this article, I’m going to explain what dye sublimation printing is, how it works, and when should use this printing method, so basically everything there is to know about dye sublimation printing.
What is dye sublimation printing? Dye-sublimation printing is a digital printing technology that produces vibrant prints because the ink penetrates the surface of the substrate (fabric, rigid materials, floor mats, etc.), forming a bond rather than just being printed as another layer of the substrate or fabric.
Dye-sublimation printing is a type of heat transfer printing, where sublimation transfer paper printed with sublimation ink is being used to transfer the design on a t-shirt and other products with the help of a heat press.
At present, dye sublimation printing is not only being utilized for fabrics but for these materials as well:
- Rigid substrates (aluminum, brass, glass, fiberglass, acrylic, plastic and hardboard sheet)
- Rigid products (mouse pads, key chains, smartphone cases, pet bowls, light switch plates, etc)
- Fabrics (100% polyester fabrics)
- Sports and fashion apparel (t-shirts, cycling jerseys, handbags, and baseball caps)
- Photo printing (magnets, photo apparel, and photo backdrops)
- Ceramic tiles (for kitchen, museum, restaurants, offices, etc.)
Below is a list of the materials you need if you want your very own dye sublimation printing studio:
- Dye sublimation printer/inkjet printer with sublimation ink
- Disposable paper for nozzle checks
- Computer with Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator and CorelDraw Suit
- A heat press
- Heat resistant tape and dispenser
- Oven glove (used when handling hot items)
- Paper cutter
- Scissors
- Sublimation transfer paper
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Teflon sheets or skirt (protects platen of the press)
- Teflon pillows
If you want to put your designs on the products above, then take note of these steps and the materials you need:
Create Your Design
Create your design using the software on your computer, either Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Corel Draw. When you create your design, make sure to print it a little bit larger than the area where you plan to transfer it.
By doing so, it will give you a margin of error when you are aligning your transfer paper to the substrate. If the image you created or your customer’s image/design is of low-quality, then most likely the sublimation print will be of low quality as well.
Thus, you must insist that your clients submit a high-quality image so that a high-quality sublimation print will be achieved as well.
Printing Your Design
The second step is to print your design on sublimation transfer paper using dye sublimation inks.
Sublimation Transfer Paper
Transfer paper produces different qualities of prints depending on the ink used as well as the time and temperature combinations. To figure out the best conditions, I recommend doing test prints.
The side of the transfer paper where you should print your design on is the side that is brighter or has a sticky finish. Or the side which doesn’t have a watermark logo.
Another way to ensure that issues like color shifts and uneven transfers won’t be an issue while you are printing, is to keep your transfer paper away from moist and humid places. One trick to use when the transfer paper is moist is to place them under the heat press and let them dry (without closing the press).
Dye Sublimation Inks
If you happen to look inside a sublimation printer, you will see a roll of transparent film which looks like a roll of cellophane with red, blue, yellow, and gray colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).
The sublimation inks are enclosed on those sheets. Once the print head heats up, the dyes vaporize to the sublimation transfer paper wherein once again they turn to solid form. A dye, as you probably know, is a substance that imparts color to materials by penetrating the material. Usually, this color is permanent.
Dye sublimation inks are eco-friendly water-based inks formulated for sublimation printing. These inks are composed of a solid and heat-sensitive dye. Particles of the dye only form a bond with polymers such as polyester.
Once they form that bond, the print is less vulnerable to losing color. So, the higher the polyester content of the material, the brighter your final image will be. This is the primary reason why dye sublimation printing WILL NOT WORK with 100% COTTON FABRICS.
So, maybe you are asking, what about the other products you mentioned above?
To make the dye sublimation inks form bonds with ceramic, glass, and metal – they are all pre-coated with a polymer before the prints are transferred to their surface. Your choice of ink depends on the printer you will acquire, some of your ink options include straight CMYK to eight color sublimation
Sublimation Printer For T-Shirts
Inkjet printers can be used for sublimation printing but I suggest that if you use your inkjet printer for this printing method, then use it for sublimation printing only. You can’t use it for other printing methods because the inks will mix resulting in contamination and inconsistencies in the quality of your prints.
At present, there are various printers available on the market ranging from Desktop Models to Wide Format/Production Models (44’’ and above). When choosing an inkjet printer, what factors should you consider aside from budget and space?
To help you decide, answer these two questions:
- What are the products you plan to make?
- Would you be accepting large orders or not?
Once you have made up your mind regarding these two issues, then you can easily choose a printer according to width. The larger the printer’s width is, the larger the print that you can produce. The number of images per sheet that you can print also depends on the width of the printer.
So you might be thinking that you will get the largest printer there is. Take note, however, that larger printers cost more! Thus, I recommend that you choose the smallest printer that can produce the largest design that you will be using on a regular basis.
When you have acquired a printer for your business, the first thing you should do every day before you start printing is to perform a nozzle check (check your printer’s manual for the procedure) on disposable paper.
If after the nozzle check you did not get a perfect printout, it’s time for you to clean the cartridge heads until you finally get a good result. This step is done to ensure that your printer is ready and in the right condition. Some transfer paper don’t immediately absorb the inks. Allow the inks to dry first, before you transfer the design to your substrate.
You can also put it under the heat press, but again don’t close the press on the paper.
Transfer Your Design Onto A Substrate
Using a heat press, transfer the graphic to your chosen substrate.
Substrate
A substrate is a term usually used to refer to the base material where your design is printed. Almost all substrates for dye sublimation printing are white. Why?
Sublimation dyes are transparent when they turn from solid to gas. Therefore, a white substrate can emphasize the prints’ vibrancy. You can try to print on substrates other than white or off white. But you will eventually see that substrate with colors other than white, makes the prints invisible or not as vibrant as you want them to be.
In general, you can print on non-white substrates only if your design is darker than its color. But if you want to print a red design on a black substrate, the print will be invisible. Here are some of the characteristics of a substrate that you should take into consideration before printing/transferring your design:
- The texture of the substrate’s surface
- Size of your substrates’ surface
- The color of your substrates’ surface (consider before printing)
- How quickly does the substrate absorb heat
- Accuracy of the heat press (time, temperature and pressure)
As I mentioned earlier, moisture ruins your design (color shifts, and uneven transfers). So to ensure that your substrate is free from moisture, you could pre-press it for 10-20 seconds. Then wait until the substrate’s temperature returns to room temperature before transferring your design.
Heat Press
With the help of a heat press, heat and pressure can be applied on the transfer paper printed with the design. This process turns the dye sublimation inks from solid to liquid, then gas and opens up the fibers/pores of the substrate as well.
When this happens, the dye particles in gas form will enter the pores. Once the heat press is lifted up and the temperature drops, the ink turns again into solid form and gets trapped inside the pores of the fabric.
Budget and space are one of the primary factors that you should consider when choosing a heat press. The room where you should put your heat press must be properly ventilated (with exhaust system) to prevent yourself from inhaling toxic fumes. The heat press that you should choose should be slightly larger than what your printer can print. Consider platen size and style as well.
If you plan to produce large prints and multiple items at a time, then your heat press should be of sufficient size for these demands. For t-shirts, you should take note that the sizes of shirts vary (children’s t-shirts, adult t-shirts, etc.).
After assessing the right size of heat press for your business, then choose a heat press that is proven to give the following:
- Even distribution of heat and pressure
- Fast recycle time
- Platen (large enough to accommodate your products)
- Thermostat
Heat presses come in different forms, namely flat, mug, cap, and vacuum. But the ones I will discuss are those that can be used for t-shirts, and those are the clamshell heat press and swing-away heat press.
Clamshell heat press is one of the most commonly used heat presses for sublimation printing. The press is ideal for products with flat surfaces such as t-shirts, plastics, metals, ceramics, plaques, etc. Its platen opens and closes only at a certain angle thus this heat press provides unequal pressure.
Swing away heat press features a heated platen that can move up and down allowing complete access of the substrate. This feature makes this heat press a better choice for thicker substrates like wooden plaques. Before using your chosen heat press for transferring your design, it is a must to preheat your press first.
I also suggest that you calibrate your heat press so that you get an accurate temperature (the displayed temperature matches the actual temperature). Calibrating may prevent mistakes such as overheating and underheating. For this procedure, use temperature test strips.
I suggested earlier that when you print your design it should be larger than the area where you will transfer the design. In this case, if you start pressing, there will always be a part of the transfer paper that will be heated up and sublimate on the base of your press.
Thus, to protect your press I highly recommend that you use a teflon heat resistant sheet. These sheets can be easily cleaned after each press. Your working area should be well-lit or has natural lighting to avoid mistakes when transferring. Helping you determine if the color is coming out correctly.
Another thing, if you are using a heat resistant tape in order to prevent your transfer from moving while it is attached to the t-shirt blank. Make sure that the tape is not in contact with the area where your design will be placed and the heat platen. You’ll notice a patch on your design after you’re done transferring if you accidentally made this mistake.
To ensure that your substrate is subjected to an even pressure and to protect soft substrates (t-shirts, tote bags, towels, etc.) from the heat platen, a teflon pillow can be used. A teflon pillow elevates the area where the design should be transferred.
After several runs, it is normal that these pillows will flatten, just like your normal pillow. So I suggest that you stock up your pillows if you’ll be doing several runs. In general, a temperature of about 200° C (390 – 400° F) is used for sublimation printing.
The melting point of polyester is about 245° C (472° F) so to avoid any accident such as burn injury, you should maintain your heat press’ temperature below 245° C. If you are having difficulty transferring your design, adjust the time, not the temperature, especially if the temperature is close to 245° C. To prevent scorching of the substrate, remember that if you are working with high temperature, the substrate usually requires less exposure time.
Once you finally find the ideal time and temperature settings to do a sublimation transfer for different types of t-shirts. I suggest that you note them for your future reference. To complete the transfer of the design, the last step that you need to do is peel away the transfer paper immediately.
If ever there’s paper residue left on the substrate, use isopropyl alcohol to remove the residue. But be careful not to remove some of your design as well. You should also consider allocating space for the cooling area and packaging area.
This area should be equipped with a metalwork table or a wire rack, and fans should be able to help your products dry immediately. This area should also be free of dust and dirt to protect your final products from being ruined.
To take care of the quality of your final products, take note of these tips:
- Make sure that you don’t stack your final products (the ink will migrate from one product to another) with anything else even after they have completely cooled.
- Do not wrap your final product with plastic or a shrink wrap.
- Wrap them individually with paper instead.
Here are some of the problems I encountered over the years with sublimation printing, what caused them, and how I solved them:
- Blowout refers to a case where the colors are smudged and out of their intended borders.
Cause: Overheating, uneven heating, and too much pressure.
Solution: Use a teflon sheet to cover the transfer (it should be held tightly by heat resistant tape).
- Double Image
Cause: This usually happens when the transfer paper moves.
Solution: Use a transfer paper that is larger than the surface of your substrate. The sheet should have enough excess so that you can attach it to the surface with a heat resistant tape.
- Image Looks Dull After Printing
If this is the case, you do not have to worry yet since this is completely natural. Once pressed, the image will appear brighter. But make sure as well that you have correctly printed on the right side (brighter and with the watermark logo) of the transfer paper.
