Dye-sublimation printing is one of the best printing methods around—particularly useful for T-shirt and fabric printing. The final print job doesn’t fade or wash out and the final colors are much more vibrant with dye-sublimation compared to other printing methods. The use of sublimation-dye and sublimation transfer paper, though, is slightly more complicated because you need to take a lot of precautions when printing out your T-shirts.
With dye-sublimation you must keep the materials moisture-free, properly heat the press and keep multiple other considerations in mind if you want a great final print. That said, there’s plenty of room for error when using dye-sublimation printing—most of them occur with the use of T-shirt transfer paper.
You should keep in mind the following considerations to minimize errors during printing.
Don’t Forget to Use the Right Transfer Paper
You’ll find two types of sublimation transfer papers in the market—light and dark transfer paper. Light transfer paper is used for printing on light-colored fabric and a dark transfer paper is used for printing on dark fabrics. Most people forget that light-colored fabrics can’t properly print blocks or transfer colors to darker fabric and end up with prints that are hardly noticeable.
Always pay special attention to the type of transfer paper you’re using so that you don’t mess up the entire order. Double-check to see if you’re using the right paper and maybe do a test print to see how well your prints are turning out.
Make Sure the Paper is Straight
It’s a problem that a lot of people in the heat printing business complain about—and there’s really no way around it besides being really careful when laying down the transfer paper. You could try investing in an alignment tool that project lasers to tell you if the paper’s laid down straight. Alternatively, you could also fold the T-shirt from sleeve to sleeve to create a crease that tells you if the paper is properly placed.
Print in Mirror Mode
A lot of people place the transfer paper so that it’s facing up to them—forgetting that the final print job will show a mirror image of whatever designs you want on your t-shirts. Always double-check that you’re printing on mirror-mode before completing the print job or you’ll lose a lot of money on t-shirts with the designs printed on backward.
Iron Your Transfer Paper Beforehand
Unless the paper lies fully flat on your t-shirts, the designs won’t transfer properly to the fabric—either the blocks or the colors will fade or you’ll get patchy prints. Ironing your transfer paper will eliminate the risk of bad transfers because smoothed out paper makes full contact with the T-shirt to transfer the whole design properly.
The JIND Group Limited is a leading sublimation ink and paper manufacturer, including full stick sublimation paper, eco-solvent transfer paper and fast-dry sublimation paper. Get in touch with us or visit our website today to place an order for sublimation paper or ink for your printing needs.
