Introduction to Dye Sublimation Heat Transfer Imprinting

[marcperella4]

I have heard of people doing sublimation/transfer with cotton and other materials. whats the difference??

[condesystems]

@marcperella4 That would not be sublimation at all. Sublimation is defined as ink + polyester. There are some sublimation imitation processes, the best of which is ChromaBlast by Sawgrass for cotton.

[gideeeon]

Hi, is the t-shirt 100% polyester?

[condesystems]

@gideeeon YES!

[Delirium619]

just yesterday i came from a job interview for a job designing graphics to be printed by sublimation. This answered a lot of questions for me about the process!

[420jaymac]

making shirts using the dye sublimation method will never crack, peel, or fade?

I have used heat transfer paper for laser and inkjet printers that after a couple washes. the transfer on the shirt will have line cracks and fading.

[condesystems]

@420jaymac Dye sublimation is actually dyed into the fabric, creating a molecular bond,

most transfer paper images sit on top if the fibers.

[condesystems]

@420jaymac Since the image is dyed in it will never crack or peel. It MAY fade as nothing is really safe from UV light, but you would have to hang it in the direct sun for quite awhile to get it to fade.

[420jaymac]

@condesystems thanks for your response! much appreciated

[MysticTrades]

@condesystems Hi, I have been making sublimation mugs for a while now and wanted to get into the t shirt business. I've done a little research and found out that when using a heat press you have to cut out the non printed area on the sublimation transfer sheet once printed. Otherwise this would leave a white residue around the image. Squared and circular designs aside I was wondering how you would cut around an image that is highly difficult to do by hand?

[condesystems]

@MysticTrades I don't know what research you have been doing but I suggest you watch one of our numerous videos. There is no "cutting out" or white residue involved with sublimation imprinting on tee shirts.

[MysticTrades]

@condesystems Hi, yes sorry I must have been watching videos of standard dye ink instead of sublimation. This is good to know thank you

[mifamilia0]

hey, thank you for posting your video david its great! i was just wondering if you need a special sublimation printer or i can use my regular epson printer.

[condesystems]

@mifamilia0 You need a printer dedicated to sublimation and loaded with dye sub inks, like ArTainium or SubliJet ink. Certain Epsons have cartridges and bulk ink units created for them. Nowadays, most people are using the new Ricoh solutions, the GX7000 and e3300N have sublimation cartidges available. All the ink solutions can be found at conde com

[GingerSnapsPhoto]

great vid dave, cheers for sharing