Tips & Tricks For Sublimating On Garments That Aren’t White
One of the most important things to know about sublimation printing is that in order to achieve the white in your graphics- you must be printing on a white garment (unless using a film/catalyst product like EasySubli, ForeverSubli, etc). It is a constant struggle, and an element that may deter some folks at times. But… What if your art has no white needed? Or any color in it, for that matter. What are the actual limitations and how will the product come out?
Here are some things to consider:
1. Pay attention to the blend. Not all tri/poly blends are created equally. Depending on what color(s) you choose, your “heathered” portion will traditionally either be black, gray or white. Your imprint will NOT take to these threads as they are not synthetic. Upon the initial press, it may appear that it has- but once the product is washed, the heathered threads will resurface.
2. Adjust your design colors for your garment color. If you are printing on a lighter, off white color (Ice Blue, Light Heather Gray, Ballerina Pink, etc), some colors may take exactly as intended, or pretty close. You may run into other anomalies like your red’s and pink’s looking purplish on a light blue, or your green’s and orange’s looking brown on a pink shirt. Depending on what you use to design, most apps and programs allow you the ability to adjust the overall opacity of your art and add a background color for reference. If you back off the opacity to between 65%-75% (depending on app- using Adobe Creative Cloud and Photoshop for reference here), it will give you a more realistic look at what your art will look like on your garment. Don’t forget to remove this background before you print, and dial opacity back to 100%- this is merely just for you to gauge what your print may look like before it’s pressed.
3. Adjust your print settings. If you are printing on a darker heathered garment (Navy, Maroon, Forest Green, etc), you may need to adjust the color/print settings. If you are using a Sawgrass product, you can control the saturation and color levels through the print manager screen. Please note: adjusting these settings will affect the amount of ink the printer lays down, so please make sure you re-adjust print settings once you’re finished to assure you don’t unnecessarily burn through extra ink. If you are using design software with a converted printer, do some test prints. I do NOT recommend using any settings that have “gloss” or “glossy” in their title. These will likely lay down way too much ink, and create a mess.
4. Try a different weight of sublimation paper. Not all sublimation papers are created equally! While we love Sawgrass and their offerings, depending on what kind of graphic you’re printing- different sublimation paper weights DO matter, when it comes to printing consistently clean and crisp graphics. For simple- one color, line text/art style designs going on a thin triblend raglan, you’ll find an eco, or lighter weight paper works great for what you’re doing. If you are printing vivid, multicolor, bold art/text style designs on a jersey knit, thicker triblend- a heavier weight sublimation paper will 100% improve the quality of your imprint. The ink density of a full color print on a flimsy transfer can ruin a garment no matter how careful you are, so always double check your transfers before pulling down that heat press!
5. Play around with press times and temps. The last thing you want to do is burn/scorch your garment. However, unless you want to gamble with your graphic ghosting… you have ONE chance at pressing this (unlike HTV or EasySubli, which at times can be forgiving). Thinner garments are going to require lighter pressure and slightly lower heat. With that being said, in this scenario- time is the element you can only really play with liberally. On a thicker garment- you may need to increase pressure more than time or temp. If you’re buying your garments from reputable places (Threadsy, Jiffy Shirts, S&S Activewear, Alphabroder and SanMar are all great places to buy blanks from), they often offer size charts and product breakdowns to let you know the weights of your blanks and how they’re made. This gives you the ability to compare these factors to some degree before you even get to the printer.
I hope that in this journey, you find a couple of these tips helpful to some extent. In our shop setup, we utilize both a Sawgrass SG800, as well as a converted Epson ecotank printer with A-Sub brand sublimation ink. These methods have also been attempted on not only a commercial heat press- but a 10x10 handheld press, as well. There are a ton of different ways you can sublimate garments. Below are a handful of links to some products from beginner to advanced that we personally love working with.
