Introduction to Dye Sublimation Imprinting

Whew! Finally I get back to you, my dear reader, with what is supposed to be a blog about my little side business I am creating from scratch. I have taken a little vacation from writing, but I think I am inspired again and have some things to write about.

It occurs to me that some folks may not know anything about dye sublimation. It's an imprinting process, used to put images on various products. As any process, it requires a few things to work.

1) First, a computer with software for manipulating images. I use PhotoShop Elements, which is an inexpensive version of real PS, but costs only $100 or so.

2) An inkjet printer. The printer must have the special "Micro-Piezo" printhead. Certain printers have this, and here's a short list of the ones that will work:
Epson: C120, 1400, WF1100, WF30, 4880, 7880, 9880
Ricoh: GX7000, GX5050N and e3300N
I have a GX700, by the way, it cost me $700 a year ago, but I see they are more expensive now, but it's worth it as I can print up to 13" x 19", which is big enough for me.

3) Sublimation ink. There are only a few companies that make this ink, some Chinese ones (avoid) and Sawgrass Inks in North Carolina. Sawgrass makes ArTainium and SubliJet brand inks and both work very well, you just have to stick with whichever you install, you cannot switch about. I use a GX7000 with SubliJet-R inks, they cost about $110. each and it uses four cartridges, so that cost me a bundle.

4) Heat press. Now, that's one thing not to skimp on. I have seen a lot of complaints about cheap Chinese heat presses bought on ebay and there are no warranties not parts to fix them when they break. I have a George Knight DK20, which ran me $1200. It presses up to 16" x 20", so that matches up with my printing capacity.

5) Things to decorate. The dye sub process works with polyester. Main rule is that the item must either be polyester fabric or coated with a poly compound. Polyester clothing is available at any WalMart, but coated items like mugs or tiles must be ordered from a supplier. I use Conde Systems almost exclusively.

Here's a great video from Conde, showing all the items I just mentioned:


Well, I hope this quick primer brings you up to speed, now I have to work on my business logo.