Sublimation printing is a printing technique that has gained popularity in the last few years. Currently, it’s the go-to printing technology for industries like textile, wood and steel decoration, branding, ceramics, and others.
The primary reason sublimation is more popular than the previous printing technologies is that it imprints sublimation dye into the product rather than creating a design on the surface. The result is a high-quality, vibrant design less prone to fade after prolonged use.
Besides commercial use, sublimation printing is also popular in creating small-scale home crafts DIY projects, where people customize their daily use items for personal use to sell them. You can use sublimation printing to customize craft items like ceramic or stainless steel mugs, T-shirts, vinyl, wood, and other materials.
If you regularly use sublimation printing for your home crafts or business, you’ve likely encountered a case of dull designs. This happens when your design doesn’t pick the color and vibrancy of the original design. This can happen because of wrong heat press settings, low-quality printers, etc.
This post will cover some ways to make sublimation brighter to produce high-quality designs with excellent color gradients.
Causes of Dull Sublimation Designs
Let’s cover some of the reasons your sublimation designs may be dull:
- Wrong sublimation process
- Use of low-quality sublimation ink
- Wrong printer settings
- A mismatch between the fabric quality and color
- Moisture in the material you are sublimating on
- Poor graphic adjustments in the design program you are using
Making Sublimation Brighter
Here’s an in-depth review of why your sublimation designs could be faded and dull and how to make them brighter.
Understand The Proper Sublimation Process For the Material You’re Using
The first and most crucial step of any sublimation process is to research the correct method for your material. If you’ve been sublimating on vinyl, assuming the same process applies to cotton as the materials differ would be a mistake. This means a significant difference in the printing and application process may affect the design results.
When it comes to fabrics, polyester is one of the best materials to sublimate on. Its fibers have low thermal conductivity and are open and airy enough to bond with the sublimation dye. However, polyester is not as comfortable as natural or blended fibers. This is why textile industries prefer blending synthetic fabrics like Nylon and Spandex with polyester to retain polyester’s sublimation qualities but adopt the synthetic fiber’s comfort.
If you’ve been working with a fabric like polyester for your sublimation projects, it’s essential to research the exact sublimation process for the material you want to switch to. For example, if you change to cotton for your next project, you will realize that natural fibers don’t absorb sublimation dye. To sublimate on cotton, you’ll need to use a powder polymer coating or HTV. Heat Transfer Vinyl is one of the most popular ways of decorating cotton because vinyl, like polyester, absorbs sublimation dye well.
Before sublimating, research materials, including stainless steel and wood. Some, like wood, require a polymer coating and curing before sublimation for the best results.
Use High-quality Sublimation Ink
The quality of your sublimation ink is another vital consideration if you want to brighten your design. If you’ve been using the sublimation printer for a while without replacing the ink, it could be the reason your designs are dull. Sublimation inks have a stipulated shelf life. Leaving them in the printer for too long can cause print head clogging, color shifting, and degradation, affecting the design’s resulting color.
Even though many people agree on using sublimation inks past the expiration date, changing them after six months is good practice. This will ensure they have the perfect viscosity and quality for your print jobs. Try marking the cartridges with their installation date to avoid using inks past their expiry. You can check them after a few months to see how many more months of use they have.
Another way sublimation ink may affect your designs’ quality is incompatibility. Verify the ink’s compatibility with your printer before purchasing from the store or online. The result is low-quality faded designs. Regular sublimation inks degrade quickly, especially when exposed to sunlight. This affects their transference, quality, and viscosity.
The solution is to use manufacturer-recommended sublimation inks with triple-layer protection against sunlight damage and bright, vivid colors that show in your designs.
Use The Right Printer
Sublimation printers come in various shapes and sizes and have different settings depending on the type and function. For example, a standard sublimation printer is generally made for home use. It has less integrated and evolved functions because it’s intended for small-scale use.
However, it’s essential to understand your printer type so you can make the best use of it.
If you’re using an inkjet printer with sublimation printing capability, it’s vital to understand proper use and maintenance. Inkjet sublimation printers are susceptible to print head clogging and require frequent cleaning. Otherwise, the ink nozzles won’t be producing ink as they should, which will affect the design’s quality.
Another problem with some printers is needing more technical support for sublimation printing. Even though some inkjet printers convert into sublimation printers, not all have the correct information about sublimation printing. You can’t always tell when your settings, ink levels, or software are wrong, which affects your design.
The solution is to find a sublimation printer with a well-written instruction manual about usage, settings, and proper maintenance to eliminate the printer when your sublimation designs aren’t as bright as they should be.
Adjust Your Printer Settings
Similar to using the wrong printer, incorrect printer settings can also affect the design color quality. Most inkjet printers have settings for standard printing, even though they are still appropriate for sublimation. This means you have to adjust settings to sublimation printing every time you change your regular printer to a sublimation printer.
The most convenient way to ensure your inkjet printer produces the best sublimation results is to check the manufacturer’s ICC profile for your printer paper and use it to color correctly. Alternatively, use a design program to adjust the color settings for a specific design so they come out exactly as they should.
For example, a design software like Adobe has adjustable color settings you can use to measure and adjust the accuracy of a design. It’s important to note that people frequently confuse colors close to each other in the chat, like magenta and yellow, especially if you’re new to sublimation printing. Getting the color wrong in your design can result in dull designs. This is why knowing which colors you’re working with is crucial.
Other settings affecting the results include brightness, contrast, and saturation. When you think you’ve adjusted your settings, do a test print job on a sublimation paper to see how well the design reflects the source image. This will ensure the final design has the correct color, exposure, and contrast for a vivid and vibrant design.
Match The Quality of The Material to The Color
The material and the color are significant factors in sublimation. As noted earlier, polyester produces the best sublimation results because the lightweight, airy fibers absorb and retain dye well. Unfortunately, this isn’t the same for natural fibers like cotton. Cotton is generally light, absorbent, and soft, but its tolerance for sublimation dye is lower than other fabrics making it a poor sublimation choice. This means if you compare sublimation results on a polyester shirt to a cotton one, the polyester shirt will have vibrant and bright colors.
Mismatching the material and color also applies to sublimating dark materials. Sublimation works well on bright fabrics as they reflect while dark materials absorb light. This means prints on lighter fabrics appear more radiant, while the opposite is true for dark materials.
To make your sublimation brighter when working with dark materials that are not sublimation-friendly, like cotton, try using reflective material like glitter HPV. Additionally, ensure you get the correct color contrast and exposure, as poor settings will result in a dull design.
Ensure The Material You’re Sublimating On is Dry
Sublimation involves transferring ink dye from the sublimation paper through a heat transfer process. Having trapped moisture or humidity in the fabric or material you’re sublimating on will interfere with the dye transfer process. One of the most common occurrences of sublimating on a moist surface is color shifting. Because of the water particles, the material you’re sublimating on won’t trap the sublimation dye properly. The particles also dilute the ink resulting in duller colors.
Besides shifting colors, water particles also cause the pattern to bleed out, ruining the shape and color of the original designs. You’ll also likely experience uneven transfer and lower-quality design because water interferes with the transfer process.
If you’re working with materials like wood that retain moisture even when they seem dry, it’s essential to wait a few days before sublimating them. Additionally, avoid sublimating on clothes that are straight from the washing machine. Instead, wait a few hours for them to dry or sundry them to remove moisture.
Invest in a Quality Heat Press
Another way to make sublimation brighter is to invest in a good heat press with a digital display that recovers well between pressing. A heat press provides the heat and pressure needed to transfer the design from the sublimation paper to the material you’re working on. Low-quality heat presses have inaccurate temperature readings, which results in poor transfer.
For example, if you use lower heat when applying an adhesive to a fabric, the adhesive glue may not be activated, leading to uneven transfer. Too much heat, on the other hand, may burn off the adhesive. Excessive heat can also lead to a ‘strike through’ where the heat degrades the ink and the design and reduces its opacity and vibrancy.
Good quality heat presses also have excellent platen engineering, which is critical to applying even pressure, even when working with thick fabrics. Pressure affects how well the design sits on the material and may also affect the color quality because of the transfer process.
Another important consideration in selecting a heat press is digital time and press controls. Even though manual control can work, digital ones have more margin for error, meaning they’re likely to replicate your design even if the temperature is off by a few degrees.
Use High-Quality Sublimation Paper
Poor-quality sublimation paper can undermine the design results even with the correct printer and heat press. For brighter designs with vivid colors that pop, select sublimation papers with a white base or bright colors. Here are other factors to consider when buying sublimation paper:
- It can withstand the heat press machine without wilting or degrading
- It can hold the sublimation dye without absorbing some of the micro-ink dots
- It can properly release the dye into the fibers of the material you’re sublimating on
Key Takeaways in Making Sublimation Brighter
Here’s a quick breakdown of things to remember when working using sublimation printing to make your designs bright and vivid:
- It’s recommended that you use a printer and ink from the same brand to avoid running into compatibility issues.
- Use a sublimation-friendly surface for your printing. If not, ensure you use powder or liquid polymer coating before sublimation.
- Check the printer settings and adjust exposure, color, and contrast to reflect your desired design.
- Research the correct sublimation method for the material you’re working on, including the required temperature and pressure.
- Use high-quality sublimation paper.
- Avoid working with dump clothes or materials like wood that retain moisture without giving enough time to cure and dry.
- Use high-resolution images for your designs so they are bright and pop on the material they are transferred on.
Conclusion
Dull and opaque designs are a common issue in sublimation printing. Luckily, you can try a few adjustments and tricks to ensure your designs are bright. The first thing to consider if your designs are dull is whether you’re using the correct sublimation process for the material you’re using. Other factors affecting color in sublimation include the type of printer, the fabric or material you’re using, and the quality of the heat press. It’s also essential to adjust the printer settings and color correct when you switch from a regular to a sublimation printer.
FAQs
Can The Wrong Heat Press Settings Fade Out My Design?
Yes, heat and pressure affect the color gradient of your design. Too much heat can cause a strike out by degrading the quality of the color affecting the brightness.
Why is My Substrate Not Accepting Sublimation Ink?
Sublimation only works on polyester or polymer-coated materials. If you’re working with wood, stainless steel, or ceramics, you’ll have to spray or dust them with a polymer coating.
