Sublimation Printing
Sublimation Printing is the process used to create amazing t-shirts and other garments with an eye popping color that looks almost identical to a photograph. Sublimation printing begins with a 100% polyester garment, typically a T-Shirt. Some poly blends can be used, but the lower the percentage of polyester, the more dull your Sublimation Printing product will appear.
Sublimation Printing relies on opaque inks that at a specific temperature turn into a gas and embed themselves into polyester fabric. Since they are opaque, the substrate (T-Shirt) has to be white to start with, as the white of the fabric plays a major part in the Sublimation Printing results. You can’t sublimate the color white, so any design element in your Sublimated T Shirt that is white, is actually the absence of sublimation dye.
Sublimation Printing
Through the use of Dye Sublimation, you can accomplish a result that covers an entire T Shirt with your design. This means that your design concept can be printed on the sleeves and from the neck down to the bottom of the t shirt and all over the front and back. Most of the T Shirts that you see in a retail store are sublimated while the T Shirt is still just a roll of fabric. The fabric is then cut and sewn into a T-Shirt which provides true 100% sublimation coverage. However, the technology has advanced to the point where you can sublimate on a T Shirt that has already been sewn. There will be small gaps of white near the arm pits that can’t be helped due to a pre-sewn T Shirt with gaps near specific areas.
Typically, Sublimation Printing companies require high minimums and all over t shirt printing is costly as well, however, there are some companies that specialize in Sublimation Printing like AMBRO Manufacturing that will run small Sublimation Printing jobs in the range of 25-50 shirts per order. AMBRO prints large runs of thousands of T Shirts as well, but AMBRO Manufacturing has found a niche in the small Sublimation Printing arena.
If you are interested in large or small quantity Sublimation Printing T Shirts, please consider giving us a call (908) 806-8337 or email us.
Sublimation Printing