Sublimation printing
Everything you need to know about sublimation transfer printing
In 2005, we set out on the path to revolutionize digital transfer printing in our country as well. We were the first to start selling complete desktop sublimation printing systems in Hungary, with which our customers' creativity could unfold. Since then, we have strenghtened our leading position in this dynamic and competitive market through persistent work and continuous pursuit of quality. If you have seen photo mugs and other unique gifts on the shelves of gift shops, hypermarkets and hundreds of online stores, there is a good chance that they were made with our machines and materials.
What is sublimation printing in a nutshell?
Sublimation is a chemical process when the substance – in this case is the sublimation ink – turns from a solid state into a gas. We turn this chemical process to the advantage of technology, when the sublimation ink printed on the transfer paper can be transferred to the surface of the object with a heat press after drying. That's all you need to know in a nutshell!
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The ink is connected to the surface of the object by a molecular bond due to heat, which means that you can't feel the surface of the print, a large color range and vibrant bright colors are achieved, and the glossy or matte surface does not change! (The matte stays matte, and the glossy stays shiny.) The print on the sublimation object is perfectly scratch-resistant and durable! |
Start your own home business with minimal investment!
To start a business, you only need the right tools and a small room. Moreover, you can even operate as an on-demand print studio at fairs and festivals.
What do you need for sublimation transfer printing?
Sublimation inks
The soul of your sublimation system is the special ink. It is transferred by the effect of heat from the transfer paper to the surface of the object. Since this is one of the most important elements of the system, it is worth choosing a professional ink. The INKTEC sublimation inks we distribute provide you reliability and beautiful spot-on colors. Reat more about it in our blogpost!
Sublimation transfer paper
This is the medium through which allows transfer printing. But you can't just use any paper for sublimation printing! Normal copier and photo papers are unsuitable, as their multiporous inkjet coating is designed to permanently lock in the ink. Sublimation transfer paper, on the other hand, does not allow the ink to sink deeper into the paper fibers, it keeps it on its surface so that the transfer takes as little time as possible in the heat press.
| The main advantages of our quality A-SUB transfer papers, is short transfer time and , valamint a nyomtatást követően nem hullámosodik és kunkorodik a papír, mely probléma sok bosszúságot okoz olcsóbb szublimációs papírok esetén. Learn more about its excellent benefits and why is it the best choice for you in our blogpost! |
Sublimation printers
The most popular sublimation printers are Epson printers. Almost all sublimation ink manufacturers develop their ink for the Epson piezo print head technology, that's what they are compatible. Your choice depends on what products and in what volume do you want to produce. For sheet transfer papers and object printing we recommend our Epson or Sawgrass Virtuoso printers. For LFP roll-to-roll printing (e.g. flags, clothing and other industrial use és we recommend our wide-format Audley sublimation printer.
| Epson or Virtuoso?
Sawgrass Virtuoso printers and sublimation inks offer a 100% factory solution. The printer and the ink are the same brand and they also provide almost perfectly spot-on color profile for them. Epson printers with the premium quality INKTEC SubliSmart sublimation ink is 100% compatible, to which we also provide ICC profile for beautiful vivid and spot-on colors. A well-proven solution used by hundreds of our customers since many years now. As for Sawgrass, both the system and the ink cost are more expensive, our latter system (Epson+Inktec) is cheaper and the cost of the ink is also significantly cheaper! We strongly recommend both solutions and sell them from stock. If you have any questions, our expert colleagues will assist you. You can also observe the two systems yourself in action in our showroom. |
Heat press
Heat press is the tool for ironing the transfer paper onto the surface of the object. This process takes approx. 1-2 minutes. Don't worry, we provide you with the information for each of our printable products on heat-time settings. There are various types of heat presses according sizes and type of printable products:
- Flat heat presses: for flat objects, available in different sizes (even for large formats)
- Special-shaped heat presses: mug- / baseball hat- / plate heat presses
- Combo heat presses: cost-effective entry-level solution for startups, for various types of promotional objects
- 3D vacuum heat presses: great solution for various 3-dimensional objects
- Roll-to-roll heat treatment machines, calanders: for roll materials.
| Read more about heat presses here: Everything you need to know about heat presses |
Printable sublimation raw materials
It is important to know that not all objects are suitable for sublimation printing. As for ceramic, metal and glass objects, a special varnish pretreatment is required. This transparent thin surface will absorb the sublimation ink during the heat treatment. Fortunately, you can find countless genuine sublimation items suitable for printing! But if you want to print on your own unique product, try our sublimation pre-treatment varnish!
| As for textiles, no pretreatment is necessary, but that the material needs to be 100% synthetic (typically polyester, polyamide, elastane, or a mixture of these). Sublimation textile printing has developed into a separate sector, with a system of suitable machines you can produce brightly colored flags, textile molinos, interior design textile accessories or clothing (e.g. swimwear, sports shirts or other textile products) with industrial performance and productivity. |
Costs
| Cost | Ink | Paper | Raw material | |
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If you only want to print on mugs | 0,003 €/mug | 0,02 €/mug | Standard white mug: 0,9 €/mug* |
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If you want to print on mugs and other products | 0,08 €/A4 | 0,04 €/A4 | Depends on the raw material.* |
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For industrial sublimation businesses | 1,32 €/m2 | 0,67 €/m2 | Depends on the raw material. |
*For our complete range of sublimation blanks click here!
Price of heat press: For our current range and prices click here.
Electricity: The power consumption of heat presses is typically not high, with the exception of industrial heat presses. The power consumption of desktop mug presses is only ~300 W, that of flat heat presses is between 1800-2500 W. Of course, it does not consume this much continuously, only during the warm-up time, which is approx. 30 sec. As for industrial heat presses, you have to expect a higher current consumption, and in some cases the industrial 3-phase plug is necessary. The output of industrial heat presses typically ranges from 5KW to 10KW.
Production time: It takes approx. 2 minutes to print a photo on a regular sublimation object, but it also depends on the heat press. You can print a mug in a normal 1-position mug press, or even in an industrial 4in1 mug het press, which makes the process faster. According to our customers, our 4in1 automatic mug heat press4 machine has significantly increased productivity, as both production time and related costs have decreased.
Why choose Signdepotot and our SUBLISTART system?
Over the past 18 years, we have perfected our sublimation system, which allows you to produce safely and without any issues. No problems and questions, no color problems and printer nozzle clogging! Our system includes everything from quality (non-Chinese) inks and transfer papers to professional heat presses and printers without having to compromise. For spot-on printing, we also provide a color profiles, even separately for textile and solid surfaces.
If you're planning to start a sublimation business, we highly recommend our SUBLISTART systems which contain everything you need in a well-organized system. Learn more about them in our blogpost!
And if you didn't find answers to all your questions in our videos and user guides, our professional support team will help you with everything online, by phone or in person!
| Do you have any questions left? Come to our showroom, where you can see in person how the technology works and test our products. Our expert colleagues will help you with personalized advice. |