The Sublimation Journal

Condé’s David Gross talks about his favorite tips for the sublimator. Here is with Tip #3: Purchase Starter Kits. Kit shown is part number CSK200 at http://www.conde.com. Check out http;//www.conde.com for more tips and business supplies for dye sublimation and heat transfer imprinting.

Condé Systems’ Brittany Anderson demonstrates the procedure for adding images to KrinkleSub® aluminum plaques using dye sublimation transfers made from a Ricoh® GX7000 printer and SubliJet-R™ sublimation inks. All products are available from conde.com, including the George Knight® DC16 heat press used in the demo.

ArTainium® UV+ sublimation ink is best known for its reliability and affordability. ArTainium sublimation inks cost-effectively provide professional results  for those who prefer to rely on their own color management expertise rather than rely on a pre-established print interface and for those who require less technical support. ArTainium UV+ inks produce stunning graphics, quickly and easily, enabling your business to capitalize on the visual power of sublimation.

Get creative with color and output using custom ICC profiles that comes standard with ArTainium UV+ inks. Utilizing the Epson® driver, the ICC profiles provide creative freedom to control and manipulate output your own way.

Flexible Solutions

ArTainium UV+ systems are designed for the true graphics professional. With the ability to print in both Mac or PC environments, these flexible solutions work well in every environment.

More Ink for Your Money

Save money with ArTainium bulk ink systems. The EasyFlow® Bulk Ink system is available with ArTainium UV+ inks and provides a simple method to cut your costs per print by more than 60%. It’s an easy way to keep cash where it belongs…in your pocket!

In addition, our professionally created ICC color management profiles provide stunningly accurate and consistent color control management.

Key Sublimation System Components for ArTainium

For the best results, we recommend a current generation computer with a fast processor and plenty of memory. For those working with digital photographs and customer-supplied artwork, you may wish to look into purchasing a scanner and a digital camera (the higher the mega-pixels, the better).

Professional Graphics & Imaging Software Suite

The quality of your end products is a direct result of obtaining good quality graphics and being proficient in a full graphics suite of software. Sawgrass recommends either CorelDRAW or Adobe Creative Suite. Both suites allow the ability to import ICC Profiles, for color management, and provide the ability to manipulate both vector and raster images.

Sublimation Transfer Paper

For the graphic or image to permanently dye the final product, specialty sublimation inks and matched paper are needed. Regular office or copy paper will not release the image properly. For best results, choose a high-quality transfer paper that dries quickly and is designed to allow the ink to release from the paper during the heat transfer process.

Heat Presses

The act of sublimation (solid ink dye particles vaporizing directly to gas without passing through liquid stage) requires heat and pressure to occur. While there are a variety of heat presses on the market (overhead swing-away, clamshell, inline modular, etc.), customers are advised to think in terms of the products they will offer and the volume they expect to produce before purchasing one. Look for a commercial quality heat press with even temperature distribution, a fast recycle time, an accurate thermostat, and a platen designed to accommodate your products. When purchasing a commercial quality heat press, shoot for the top third of the price range.

Substrates

The applications for sublimation printing are almost endless! From T-shirts to mugs to awards to mousepads, sublimation technology can decorate almost anything that made from polyester fabrics or coated with a special polymer coating.

Epson Printers

Due to their unique piezo print head technology (cold printing vs. thermal printing), the sublimation industry has adopted the use of Epson’s inkjet printers. Platforms are designated by maximum print width and number of colors of ink. When shopping for a printer, customers are urged to think in terms of the types of products they plan on producing and their anticipated volume. Print width can be a determining factor in the number of products that can be produced, and print speed can be an issue depending on volume. Look at the benefits of each supported printer before purchasing.