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Sublimation

t shirt and mug design and printing

Sublimation is a process where the ink is heated and turns to a vapour which soaks into the fabric of the item you are printing either a shirt, mug, coaster or mouse mat

For the process to work the items to be pressed must be either polyester or coated in polyester or in the case of a t shirt have a good mix of fibers most are 50/50 mix of cotton and polyester

you can either print your own transfers or use a printing service to print your transfers for you most will quote per A4 sheet and are great for standard subjects or frame works i.e text where you then insert your own picture

To print your own transfers you would be better off useing a epson printer and a bulk ink system (ciss) inks are roughly £25 per 100ml so if you use a 6 colour printer can work out dearer than say a 4 colour but the way to go would be decide what you planned on printing so more colour detail then a 6 colour or if you mainly wanted to do text and so on then you could get away with a 4 colour printer

Once you've decided what you were printing and have your design ready to print either flip the design in you picture editing software or click mirror image in your printers preferences

place the shirt to be printed in your press and place a sheet of greaseproof paper inside the shirt to stop the image going through to the reverse of the shirt then place another piece of greeseproof paper on top of the shirt to protect your heating plate

Press the shirt for a couple of seconds to warm the shirt and remove creases then when happy place your transfer on the shirt image side facing the shirt and rebember to use your 2nd sheet of greeseproof paper then press for say 20 seconds (will vary depending on shirt,ink,transfer type)

Then as they say bob is your uncle you have a printed shirt allow to cool then your done and ready to sell

this is just a basic how to if you require a more in depth guide or have any questions please use the ASQ link