All You Need to Know About ArTainium Sublimation Ink

ArTainium sublimation ink is used to create short run and highly customized images. Recent breakthrough in sublimation printing technology has ensured an economical and practical way to print on a variety of objects. Sublimation uses sublimation ink and sublimation paper in some Epson printers to print sublimation transfers. When the sublimation transfer is put into a heat press along with a substrate at 400 F, the ink turns into gas to form a permanent bond on the substrate. The substrate is a polymer coated item or synthetic fabric. The resulting print is a premium full color, photographic quality image that does not crack, peel or wash away.

What can be sublimated?
• White or lighter substrates – Sublimation inks are translucent in nature and therefore it shows best result in white substrates. Likewise, you can use grayish substrate for getting near natural results. But when you use other light colored substrates you can expect the best results when the images are with dark colors and complementary to the color of the substrate. But most of the time darker substrates cannot produce the results you expect.
• Soft substrates – For good results you should use synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon satin, or rayon using sublimation printing process. Use the specific types of nylon or rayon that go well with the process. Your vendor will be able to suggest you the right one. You can use this process for printing on soft surfaces like can koozies, mouse pads, car flags, and colorful puzzles and cubes.
• Hard substrates – Sublimation process of printing can produce the best result in hard surfaces. The sublimation print can penetrate the coating and gets crosslinked with it to become permanent. As it goes in the layer of the coating you cannot even feel the print on the surface.

What cannot be sublimated?
• There are some hard substrates that are not polymer coated and hence you cannot use sublimation process of printing. But, you can get some hard surfaces that are coated with polymers and therefore can accept sublimation prints. You must remember that because of the inherent nature of the printing process lighter color bases produce best result but dark substrates may not produce the colors truly.
• Again, you cannot use cotton substrates for sublimation. Though you can use a substrate with 50/50 mix of cotton and polyester, the color will look dull and faded. For these types of substrates it would be wise to use heat transfer paper.

Which items are commonly sublimated?
There are plenty of items that can be sublimated and newer products are being added to the list every day. Some of the most common products that can be sublimated are – aprons, tiles, dog tags, license plates, bag tags, ceramic mugs, door hangers, light switch covers, boxer shorts, clipboards, hardboard tiles, mini tees, tote bags, softlink t-shirts, plaques, pet shirts, neckties, travel mugs, ornaments, pet tags, puzzles, lab coats, dash plates, business card holders, name badges, jewelry, coaster, bookmarks, mouse pads, jackets, clocks and car flags.

What do you need for sublimation?

Here is the list of sublimation supplies you’ll need.

• A computer with a good amount of RAM and hard drive storage space.
• A monitor that is able to display colors properly.
• Sublimation ink – ArTainium UV+ ink is perfect for Epson printers.
• ICC Profiles – This is an accurate method for color management that instructs the inks how to mix colors to produce the right color.
• Sublimation paper.
• Printer – Epson.
• Bulk ink.
• Heat press.
• Specialty tools for easy printing, photo enlargement and photo editing.

Now you are ready to use ArTainium sublimation ink for sublimation printing.