How to Make Sublimation Prints Brighter? – Tips & Tricks

Who wants the dull and faded printing on his/her apparel? Please raise your hands! No one! Why?

Everyone wants the bright, attractive colours that give you the feel of lovesublimation prints brightersublimation prints brighter, enthusiasm and feeling of fresh lime. Whether you are printing on shirts, mugs, tumblers or on any sublimation blank everything plays a vital role. From the printer, ink, heat press settings like a temperature-time duo, the sublimation paper and of course, the sublimation blank/substrate each and everything matter the most. Yeah! I have experience of 30+ dull and boring printing events but I don’t want you to go from such events and dismood your clients. 

So let’s get started to know how to make sublimation prints brighter every time.

Start with the high-quality sublimation ink:

Quality always matters! The fresh, high quality and vibrant ink pays you to achieve brighter, fresh and lasting print every time. Following are some common mistakes you mostly make and I get 100 emails daily regarding the same.

Following are solutions to the issues and replies to those emails which are unattended. The solutions are:

1. Always, prefer high-quality ink, which is specifically designed for sublimation printing.
2. It is a must to read first-hand user reviews about fading and the quality of the printing while choosing the ink from the vast ocean of the ink market.

First Hand User Review: These are the reviews of the people who used it directly and experienced the quality of the material & gave reviews.

3. Avoid mixing the two or more types of ink together. Initially, I tried mixing so many colors, but it never worked.
4. If you want to store the sublimation ink then it is a must to store it at room temperature away from the direct sunlight as direct sunlight degrades the ink’s quality. 

Some of the popular sublimation ink brands available in the market are:

• Printers Jack Sublimation Ink Refill
• Hiipoo Sublimation Ink
• MERRYWORK Sublimation Ink
• Tonha Sublimation Ink Refill
• E-Z Ink Autofill Sublimation Ink

You may also check – What Is Sublimation Ink

Use specialised and compatible sublimation paper:

The characteristics of the best sublimation paper are:

• Fast-drying: The paper should dry fast after printing to avoid the line marks on the design.
• High transfer rate
• Ink-saving performance
• No fading, smudging or cracking
• Affordable

I always keep in mind when choosing and purchasing the sublimation paper. You also have to keep all the things in mind and look for the above-mentioned characteristics while purchasing.

You may also check – What Is Sublimation Paper?

Try to Invest in a High-Quality Sublimation Printer:

All of you know that there are two types of printers available in the market,

1. Laser Printer: Uses heat & laser in powdered form toner
2. Inkjet Printer: Uses Ink

And for us, as our sublimation ink comes in liquid format, it is necessary to use an inkjet printer.

I Always use an inkjet printer while sublimation printing.

I have all the printers from cheaper to costly, and I tried my art with everyone I have but quality always pays. If you want vibrant colour then you have to invest in a high-quality printer. As per my long experience in sublimation printing, if you want vibrant colour then it is a must for you to invest in a high-quality printer 

The checklist while selecting the printer is:

• Select the printer with more ink tanks, (as it is costly but worth it as it can print complex designs and colours very efficiently with quality)
• Always go with the inkjet printer
• Consider the printer format.

Usually, printers come in 3 formats:

1. Narrow Format printer: Used in the home or in the office for printing, normally print A4 size. This is a beginner-friendly printer as our sublimation paper comes in A4 format.
2. A3 Printer: used for bigger print sizes and in sublimation for clothes printing it is normally used.
3. Large/ wide format printer: prints up to 74” wide images.

The best sublimation printers available in the market are:

• Epson SureColor F170 (A4 paper)
• Sawgrass SG500 (A4 paper)
• Epson SureColor F570 Pro (print size up to 24-inch roll)
• Mimaki TS100-1600 (for large format printing)
• HP Stitch S500 (for large format printing)

How do I maintain and take care of the printer?

1. I use the printer regularly so that the ink cartridges won’t dry up & try to replace it if necessary.
2. If an ink tank is half filled, fill it and empty the waste tank regularly.
3. Run the nozzle check 
4. Align the print head
5. Clean paper feeder rollers

Always go for test printing before going to final printing.

You may also check – What Kind Of Sublimation Printer Do You Need

Always go with the high-resolution image or design:

Print/design quality play a vital role in obtaining high-quality prints. What are the factors taken into account while selecting the design?

1. Create or select your own design or picture that you want to print
2. Apply sharpening to the design by using Photoshop/ graphics
3. Save your design in PNG format (I urge you, this is advice from my personal experience)
4. Print it with a high-quality printer
5. Reduce the speed of the printer while printing. If you lower the printing speed the print quality will be great.

Follow the Heat Press Settings Properly:

You all know that sublimation is the game played with the right time, pressure and temperature. And for sublimation, normally, moderate pressure is good. But when it comes to temperature and pressure, it is higher the temperature, the lower the time and vice-versa.

Always follow the user guidelines, which usually come with the sublimated products.

If the user guidelines do not come with the product then it is always good to refer to Google for search.

Some heat presses come with auto settings for the materials, like the heat press I have. Please look at and understand the settings first. Someone asks me,

Sublimation Substrate:

It is the material on which we have to do sublimation like shirts, mug tumblers, etc.

Case 1): 

It is a must to always use 100% polyester and white/bright-coloured material for sublimation printing.

Why?

The sublimation colours will explode on the white-coloured, 100% polyester material.

Case 2):

What if anyone wants the print on cotton material? 

Use the sublimation coating spray first, and then sublimate it.

Case 3):

In the case of a dark-coloured shirt, use Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) as a base layer and then sublimate it.

Always use the material for sublimation printing which are labelled as “sublimation blanks” as this type of material comes with the polyester coating and gives the desired result.

Use heat-resistant tape/ Butcher paper to avoid ghost printing:

I can say that this is a must. At the start, I just tried to avoid this step but it was just like shooting myself in the foot. It gives me the result like ghost print or faded print and I just don’t want it.

Ghost Print: It is the shadow of the main print. It is the print which is printed in the background of the main print. When we look at the print from some distance it looks faded.

So to avoid this issue, 

Always use heat resistance tape to secure the design while printing.

Place the butcher paper on the design while printing.

It helps to hold the paper while opening and closing the heat press machine.

Many times I saw after all the precautions the sublimation faded.

In that case, I just used to re-sublimate it. Yes, re-sublimate it! I’m not joking! So many times I do it. Just put the parchment paper on the design and apply heat (330 F) and pressure is that much easier and after 25 seconds I get the bright print.

You may also check – What is Heat Press Machine?

Post Printing Precautions To be taken:

Post-printing processes have the same importance as the pre-printing process. The precautions include:

1. Give time for the sublimated items to cool down so that the design can be set properly before handling or shipping.
2. You can place a silicon or Teflon sheet on the design and press it again for a few seconds to ensure a secure bond between dye, design and cloth.

Conclusion:

From the above discussion, from using high-quality sublimation paper, ink, and substrate to the post-printing care, all that matters equally is to get a sublimation prints brighter evey time. I am 100% sure that by reading the whole steps that I mentioned above, you get a good knack for sublimation and hope it will help you in your business to grow with customer satisfaction. Happy printing!