What is Sublimation Printing?

Sublimation printing is the process of transferring dye on fabric, mug or paper using heat. To carry out this process sublimation printers are required. These are special types of printers used to print on different kind of designs on t-shirts or mugs. Sublimation printer are like the ink jet printer but they are not same. They differ in their working and the quality of design produced. If you want high quality of sublimation printing, you need to choose a better quality sublimation printer.  In other types of printing the ink is just imposed as a layer on the target material but in case of sublimation printer the ink becomes the part of target material (fabric or paper). So, there is more chance that the printed design will last longer.

How Sublimation Printer Works?

Sublimation printing is just like designing a tattoo. It is not on the surface, it’s inside the surface.

At first, the ink used in sublimation printers is heated to a certain temperature. This converts the solid ink into gas (vapors). This ink than passes through targeted fabric and embed in it. When the temperature of the fabric is cooled down, the ink return backs to its solid state and hence their design is permanently printed into the fabric as the ink becomes a part of it. This makes sublimation printing is most durable and it is the reason why most of t-shirt printing companies prefer sublimation printing rather than other printing methods.

Important Points while Purchasing a Sublimation Printer:

Following are a few points which you should keep in your mind while purchasing a sublimation printer;

-Quality: Always keep in mind the quality of printer. Never go for printer which has a poor output.

-Price: Choose a printer which provides best quality within your limited budget.

-Time: If you need sublimation printer for commercial use than you should prefer the one which can print more designs in small interval of time.Benefits and limitations of Sublimation printers:

Benefits and limitations of Sublimation printers:

Some benefits and limitations of sublimation printers are mentioned below;

Benefits:

-A lot of colors can be produced through this sublimation and they may not cost much as it only uses 4 colors. 

-The design printed through sublimation printing will never crack or peel and the fabric will be comfortable to wear.

-You can easily print high resolution images and designs.

-You can even print design when you do not have much time. As it prints really fast as compared to other printers.

-It can produce a much smoother and brighter design on the targeted material.

Limitations:

-The inks used in sublimation printing are not that much eco-friendly and they can contaminate the environment.

-The target material should be polyester in order to get better results as it does not produce better impression on natural fibers.

-The printing result is not better on dark colors. It shows a better result on light colors mostly on white color.

-If the sublimation printer is not used for a long time then there is good enough chance of clogging that can decrease the quality of printing and there is risk that printer will stop working. 

Conclusion:

Keeping in view the vast applications and benefits of sublimation printing, the limitations of these printers can be neglected. The sublimation printers and be really helpful for a large business which requires a lot of design to be printed in variety of colors in limited amount of time. As it is both cost and time effective. You can purchase a good quality sublimation printer within a range of $500-$1000. However, if you have a limited budget than you can purchase sublimation printer starting from $100(Not good quality).