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STARTING UP WITH SUBLIMATION FACT SHEET
•MUGS •TILES •JEWELRY •HOME DECOR • AND MORE!
Thinking about starting your own sublimation business?
Taking your first step can be a little scary, so let us help guide you along the way to creating professional mugs, tiles, jewelry, home decor, and more! The possibilities are endless. We have a couple of tips to help you...
What is sublimation?
Sublimation is a great, professional way to personalize mugs, tiles, jewelry and more. It is similar to heat transfer, however it is a process where the image becomes an actual part of the item. Sublimation uses special paper, ink and polyester-coasted items that all react with each other. When heated to high temperatures, sublimation ink turns into a gas and the pores of the polyester coated item open up, allowing the gas to enter. Then, once removed from the heat, the pores of the polyester item close up, trapping the ink inside of the item. Sublimation items are smooth to the touch -- you won't be able to feel any image outline if you run your fingers across the sublimated item.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Printer
The printer is the first piece of equipment your first decision should be about. It is the first step in creating your personalized items. We offer the Ricoh or Epson printers. Think about the types of products you will be offering. How large are they? When choosing a printer, make sure that if you are doing larger items like cutting boards that the printer will print that large. Most printers start out printing 8.5”x14”, then 11”x17”, and even on to rolls. There are wide format printers available that will print even larger! Give us a call for more information. Sublimation Ink Sublimation ink must be used with the printer instead of the regular manufacturer’s inkjet ink when sublimating to these specially coated hard surfaced items. We offer two kinds of ink. Sawgrass SubliJet IQ / R and Artainium UV+ which are available in cartridges or bulk systems for heavier production needs. ICC Profile/PowerDriver (color correction) Because you will not be using regular inkjet inks, you will need to use a form of color correction. This will tell your printer what kind of inks you are using and give it instructions on how to use them. You can download both color correction methods for free at Sawgrass.com. Depending on if you have SubliJet Ink or Artainium Ink will determine if you should be using a PowerDriver or ICC profile... Artainium UV+ always uses an ICC Profile. An ICC Profile is a color correction file that is a one time installation. It is a free download available on our website. When using the ICC Profile, you must print from a program that can manage color profiles. We currently only support use with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Elements, Adobe Illustrator, and CorelDraw. After installing your profile, you will need to setup the ICC Profile within your compatible design program. SubliJet Ink most always uses a PowerDriver. A PowerDriver is a secondary driver that is used. It is a free download available on our website. When printing sublimation, simply select the PowerDriver in the list of printers when choosing your printer. PowerDrivers do all the color correction work for you. You do not need any special design program to print from and can print from any program. There are however a few settings that can be changed according to your substrate you are transferring to and some color saturation settings for a more precise output. SubliJet Ink is great for beginners! Sublimation Paper Sublimation paper must be used in conjunction with the sublimation ink to work in the process. We recommend our ImageRight Premium Sublimation Paper for best output.
Sublimation Media “For Accurate & Consistent Imaging”
Heat Press: Think of this machine like a large iron, only hotter and way more powerful. This machine doesn’t print on to your garment, but transfers an image that you have previously printed with your printer. Choosing your heat press is like buying a car. They all do the job, but some have more “bells and whistles”, others have different brand names, and there are different sizes. Heat presses have options like digital features,auto-openings, and even different size platen attachments. We carry top names like Geo Knight, Hix, Hotronix, MAXX, and InstaPress. You must also consider the size. If your purchase a printer that prints 11”x17”, you should make sure you purchase a heat press that is slighly larger like 16”x20.” Learning Your Heat Press: We recommend reading your heat press manual before using. When transferring images to items, you will be required to adjust settings on your heat press such as the pressure, temperature, and time. Your items that you are transferring to will determine these settings. If your press is manual, the pressure is usually controlled by a knob located on the top of your press that can be turned both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Turn it to the right to increase to a heavier pressure. And to the left, to decrease the pressure. You should test the pressure by increasing and decreasing while closing and opening the press. This will help you understand how this features works. The heavier the pressure, the harder it should be to pull down the lever and close. The temperature will either be a setting on the LCD screen or a knob that will sync with the thermostat reading. And the time will also be either set on the LCD screen or on the smaller presses, you will have a separate time that can be used. If you have a more advanced digital press, most of your settings may need to be adjusted on the LCD screen. Refer to your heat press’s manual for instructions on how to control these features. Mug Press A mug press is the same thing as a larger flat press, only in a different shape. It is used for transferring an image to round items like mugs and water bottles. Just like a heat press, you can adjust time, temperature, and pressure. Refer to your specific mug press’s manual for instructions on how to adjust the settings. Accessories - These are very effective tools used during the sublimation process. Teflon Cover -
18”x20” teflon sheet used to keep your press platen clean. When printing sublimation, it is best to provide some bleed (this is when you print the image slightly larger than the product) around your image which may get on the heat press when facing it downward.
Thermal Heat Tape -
Heat resistant tape used for holding transfer paper securely to item preventing any movement that may occur during pressing.
Mug Wrap -
Silicone coated mug wrap, perfect for doing items too small to fit in mug press. Great for use when having to use an oven.
Heat Pad - Rubber pad for use when transferring onto hard to transfer textiles like ceramic ornaments, tiles, and some metals.
Unisub Jigs -
Unisub's jigs will help align multiple select Unisub products for faster production and accuracy.
Imprintables Sublimation only works with specially coated polyester blanks. We have a large variety of sublimation blanks stocked in our warehouse. We also off a large selection of popular Unisub blanks including jewlery, puzzles, keychains, pictures frames, and alot more. Mousepads, photo bags, and even flip flops are great gift ideas to offer your customers! Visit our website at www.CoastalBusiness.com for our complete product listing. Quantity discounts are also available.
TIPS
Time, Temp, and Pressure:
All items require their own pressing settings, but here are a few standard presets for popular substrates: Metals - 45 seconds @ 400 degrees F, medium pressure Plastics - 35 seconds @ 400 degrees F, medium pressure Hardboards - 35 seconds @ 400 degrees F, medium pressure Polyester Fabrics - 35 seconds @ 400 degrees F, medium pressure
Your first prints:
If your prints are only transferring yellow after pressing, check that the sublimation inks are installed in the printer and not the Epson/Ricoh inks! If the wrong inks are installed, you will need to run a few self-cleaning cycles to clear out the inkjet ink from the system. Contact us for more technical assistance.
Ricoh Printers - first time setup:
If your ink levels are showing low even though your haven’t used the printer yet, that is okay. The ink is still there. It has actually just moved to a new location throughout the lines inside your machine.
Image Doubling “ghosting”:
Use a teflon cover to place OVER your item and transfer paper to prevent any ghosting of your image. Ghosting refers to the look that you may get if your paper shifts at all during the lifting of the heat press at the end of the timed cycled. Layering a teflon sheet on top will provide weight and After your first initial print, you may discover lines or “banding” throughout your print. prevent any movement. This can be normal. To clear this up, simply perform a head cleaning. You can do this through your printer’s properties window.
