Someone should seriously work on inventing something that removes unwanted sublimation ink. Because the person who figures out that technique is bound to take over the world.
Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but wouldn’t we all like to have the option of removing sublimation ink? I know we sure would! Whether or not sublimation is permanent or temporary completely depends on your substrate as follows:
Sublimation cannot be removed if it was pressed onto polyester or polymers. Even bleach will not remove the sublimation. On cotton, sublimation ink can eventually be removed after several washes. On hard substrates, such as poly-coated coffee mugs, sublimation can be lightened with high heat, but it can only be totally removed by sanding the coating, down to the actual ceramic.
Because sublimation ink is impossible to remove on poly based blanks, it’s a great idea to test new ideas and new designs on random, scrap pieces of polyester. This will allow you see any design flaws, color problems, and even sizing issues, before wasting a precious, often expensive, sublimation blank.
That being said, no matter how experienced you become, mistakes happen and everyone I know has tried just about everything imaginable to remove sublimation ink….with no success.
Let’s get into sublimation mistakes and also talk about the differences when sublimating on cotton vs. polyesters vs. poly coated mugs and tumblers.
Why Is Sublimation Printing Permanent on Polyester but Not Cotton?
First, let’s understand what is happening during the sublimation process. Essentially, you’re trying to keep all the vapor from escaping your object.
During the heating process, The gas or wet vapor transfers directly on top of the T-shirt and thus, transfers the image.
Cotton vs. Polyester for Sublimation
The reason Sublimation printing is permanent on polyester but not on cotton is because the gas, vapor created by the heat press only attaches to polys. Sublimation ink vapor does cling to natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, burlap, or even paper, but “cling” is not the same as forming a permanent bond.
If sublimation ink DID permanently bond to natural fibers, it would never even leave the sublimation paper.
That is exactly why sublimation ink can eventually be removed from cotton items, but not polyester. Yes, the ink will transfer to cotton, but it doesn’t create a permanent bond.
This can be compared to spilling ink from a writing pen onto your skin. The pen ink will stain for a few days, but eventually, the ink will be gone. That’s because there is no real bond, just temporary clinging.
So, when you press sublimation ink onto cotton, you are simply staining the material, temporarily.
What Can You Do About A Sublimation Mistake?
Since mistakes happen in sublimation, here is a basic overview of how we handle stray blotches, unexpected lines, etc.,
Mistakes On Polyester: Because you cannot remove a sublimation mistake, we’ve learned how to cover the flaw, usually with swirls, circles, hearts, flowers, etc., Kind of like how a bad tattoo will get covered up instead of removed. Think about the design and choose any complimentary coverup.
For instance, if you experience stray ink on a custom coaster featuring a dog image, you could add a paw print coverup Or, a shirt with a cowboy boot design could use a lasso or flower cover up. Just think about it, an often times you’ll create something even better than the original.
Mistakes On a Coffee Mug: We also do our best to cover up using applicable images. But most mistakes with a coffee mug are lines at the top, bottom or sides. For this, we may try to add hard borders all the way around. However, if the mistake is too large, many people sand down the coffee mug and turn it into an epoxy mug project. There is actually a market for these and epoxy crafters will buy your sublimation duds.
Mistakes On a Stainless Tumbler: These can be moody when reheating, but it’s not impossible to do a cover up. Just be sure you wrap it extra tight and use a mug press or small easy press and press only the area you are trying to fix.
Did you know: You can significantly fade sublimation ink on a tumbler by re-baking in a dedicated convection oven at 390° for about an hour. You’ll never remove the sublimation completely, but if the original design was light to begin with, it might be enough to apply a darker design right over the old, faded mistake.
Sometimes, the effect can be even better than the original! Otherwise, sell your mistake tumblers to other crafters who paint, epoxy or do fabric covered tumblers.
How Long does Sublimation Printing Last on Tshirts or Cups?
In our experience, using a good quality sublimation ink, good quality paper and the right transfer process, most sublimated items will last longer than expected. Here is what we’ve found over the many years we’ve been doing this:
On a 100% polyester shirt, sublimation should last the lifetime of the shirt.
On a 65% poly, 35% cotton shirt, sublimation will be slightly less vibrant, but should still last the lifetime of the shirt.
On 100% cotton, sublimated transfers will fade each wash
On Sublimation Blank Coffee Mugs, sublimation ink should last the lifetime of the mug if hand washing
Sublimated Coffee Mugs that go through the dishwasher can fade significantly, especially with high heat models
Stainless Tumblers does come down to the quality of the tumbler. They should last a lifetime with hand washing, but many fade even in hot cars because mass production has resulted in some poor quality poly coating.
We always instruct our customers to hand wash their sublimated mugs and tumblers for the longest life possible.
How to Stop Sublimation Printing from Fading in the Wash
First, use polyester shirts with a minimum of 65% poly. That’s the best way to keep sublimated prints looking bright and lively.
Let’s face it, some customers will insist on a cotton shirt and that’s okay. We even make them for ourselves once in a while. What isn’t okay is not informing your customer that these shirts sublimated onto cotton, will have a limited shelf life.
But with the right conversation, many people will accept the one day wearable because usually they only need the shirt for a special event.
In these situations, we always have our customer sign a disclosure stating the design on their shirt may not last through washing cycles and may run and bleed if they get wet while wearing.
Now that we’ve covered our bases, we have learned that you can do certain things to keep the sublimation ink on the cotton shirt for as long as possible. Here are some tips:
Wash in cold water
Turn the shirt inside out
Use delicate cycle
Forget the fabric Softener
Use a Sensitive Skin or Baby Laundry Detergent
Skip the Dryer and Line Dry on a Rack instead
As for polymer sprays whether they are DIY or purchased as such, we don’t use them. We know many people do, but we don’t want the added responsibility of chemical disclosures etc., Plus, the idea of chemical polymer laying against a woman’s chest for hours, is not something we’re willing to put out there….we simply don’t know enough about how that exposure might seep into the skin.
That’s us, and we are happy with our decision not to use unknown, sprays & chemicals on t-shirts.
Aside from that, you can read our article here (link)where we go over using vinyl and sublimation together on cotton.
Now let’s move onto our final topic – sublimation fading in the sun.
Can I Prevent a Sublimated Print from Fading in the Sun?
We love, love, love garden flags and doormats. But, they do absolutely fade if left in direct sun, especially in the sunbelt states.
To slow the fading process, definitely use UV rated sublimation ink. We have 2 dedicated printers with UV rated sublimation ink and the difference is notable, especially if you’re going to go after the outdoor market.
However, UV rated inks does not mean it will last forever. It simply means it will last longer and that’s why we always suggest to our customers to only buy our doormats for covered porches and to install garden flags in shaded areas.
If they comply, the UV rated sublimation inks can last at least 4 years (and counting) without fading – that’s based on personal experience of our own items for our own homes.
It’s also worth recommending an annual spritz of a protective water repellent with a UV protection. These are cheap ways to extend the life of outdoor items and most people have something like this spray laying around the house for their outdoor furniture or sneakers.
Conclusion
Hopefully you have learned the scenarios when sublimation is removable and when it is not. At the end of the day, it’s like anything else…
When we want it gone; it stays. And when we wish it would remain, it washes away.
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Whether you dream big, or you’re just tired of piecing together your blanket designs, eventually, every heat press owner asks the question: what’s the biggest heat press out there…and can I get it?
If that sounds familiar, you are in the right place for learning about the largest heat press size known to man and whether or not it can be added to your workshop or home studio. Let’s dive in…
The largest heat press sizes are large enough to handle 4ft x 8ft sheets of prefabricated, material. Think: sheets of laminate, polymer, plastic, woods, vinyl banners and fabrics. If you need an even bigger heat press, just about any size heat press can be customized by the right manufacturer, such as those used for carpeting.
Now for everyone jumping for joy thinking you have the answer to all your baby blankets….it’s time to talk about whether or not a heat press of this magnitude, is even practical.
Is a Large Format Heat Press Worth It?
A heat press that big in size is fun to consider, but quickly becomes a reality check for most home hobbyists and small business owners.
A huge heat press, capable of accomodating 4×8 feet substrates is going to cost between $12,000 and $60,000 USD. For example, HPN offers the Geo Knight 931 TRITON (link to see pricing) and you can even upgrade to oversized platens that are a whopping 8ft and 12ft! Certainly a must have for a business looking to expand into carpet printing.
Given the price, it’s clear to see that the largest size heat press is a serious piece of machinery, typically reserved for businesses that have the capital and a huge client base in order to be able to support such a large purchase.
Still interested in the biggest possible heat press? Let’s move onto logistics and power needs.
How Much Power Does a Huge, Large Format Heat Press Use?
If the price didn’t turn you off, know this: you WILL need commercial or perhaps even industrial electric capabilities. That’s because these huge heat press machines require 3 phase or even 4 phase systems and that is absolutely non-existent in the 1 phase, residential home setting.
Just how much power will these large heat press machines require? While watts are likely to vary depending on the manufacturer, expect to be accomodating between 9000 and 12000 watts. And if your commercial power system can’t handle the load, you’ll be one very unhappy person…with a large heat press.
If you’re still interested in a large heat press, let’s move onto the logistics….shipping.
Freight Cost for Largest Size Heat Press
If you can find a USA manufacturer, you’ll definitely save on the shipping. However, the heat press machine itself will likely cost way more, so, therego any hopes of savings.
When it comes to shipping from let’s say…China to USA, you have to consider both the size and the weight of an item. And in the case of a large size heat press, both are very big numbers.
How much does the largest heat press weigh?
Heat presses capable of pressing 4×8′ items, could weigh between 0.5 – 1.5 tons (more if you get oversized platens). Because shipping costs change daily, this is just an estimate…but expect freight charges to be several thousand dollars plus duties.
Duty and Tariffs?
Yes, duties do apply for imports and you will be well over the threshold for enjoying a duty-free experience. In addition, Tariffs are constantly changing based on US/China relations.
Bottom line, wherever you buy your huge heat press, they will work with a qualified freight forwarder and you’ll get your shipping quote once they know you are serious. In most cases, the shipping quote will expire, so if it’s a good deal, don’t delay.
What is the Largest Size Heat Press for Home Use?
The largest heat press you’ll likely find in a home, residential setting is a 16×24 inch. This size is ideal for home use because the power required falls within residential guidelines.
That doesn’t mean your house is setup to handle it, so be sure to read this article here to see if you’ll have a problem with a 16×24 heat press in the home.
With a 16×24″ heat press, items like blankets will still need multiple presses, but at least you’ll be able to press one photo, in full, every time. Plus, it’s perfect for large, 4x t-shirts, garden flags, pillow cases, waffle towels, etc.,
If you’re ready for a large heat press that can fit into most residential settings, we highly recommend these selections at Heat Press Nation (link to 16×24 Presses). Heat Press Nation is where we get our presses (and many of our sublimation blanks). Their customer service is second to none and tech support is even better.
Conclusion
Hopefully you’ve learned that while you can get a huge heat press to press a 4×8 banner, these monster heat presses don’t fit into residential spaces.
Huge heat presses require commercial or even industrial electric setups that simply aren’t available in our homes. But if you have the industrial space, it’s definitely possible to get a heat press large enough to press rolls of carpet! Just be prepared to make a huge investment and know that importing will involve not only the cost of the item, but duty and possible tariffs.
As for residential purposes, the largest heat press kind of maxes out at 16×24 inches (link to 16×24 heat presses) due to the amount of power you’ll need. If you have the power, a 16×24 heat press will make your sublimating journey so much easier.
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Are your wondering if your heat press is on its last leg, or preparing for a heat press purchase? You’ll want to have a basic understanding of the prep time required for heat up. This article will reveal the time it took for all different size heat presses to reach a certain temperature so you can use this as a benchmark for your own press.
If your heat press is taking a lot longer than the average time, be sure to read on to see what may be causing the slow heat up time. Now on with the results….
For testing purposes, we chose a middle of the road temperature of 385°F and the results included 46 heat press users! We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that when we tested our own heat presses, they were right in line with all the other heat press users surveyed. Here is what we found…
Average Time for a Heat Press to Heat Up? ( 385° F)
9×12 apx. 10 Minutes
15×15 apx. 15 Minutes
16×20 apx. 20 Minutes
16×24 apx. 20 Minutes
Of course the temperature of your environment will have a slight impact on heating efficiency, but overall, a heat press that is in good working order should only vary slightly from these average timeframes.
For example, if your 15×15 heat press takes 20 minutes to heat up, you are not too far off from the average.
However, if your 16×20 heat press is taking 45 minutes to heat up, and you’re not working inside of a freezing cold room, then there may be a problem with your setup or your heat press itself.
Now let’s cover the most common reasons that a heat press would be taking FOREVER to come to temperature.
3 Common Reasons Why a Heat Press Might Take Too Long to Heat Up
We like to think that a heat press is “plug and play,” but the reality is, that they require an awful lot of electricity in order to operate properly…especially as we go up in size to the 15×15 and 16×20 +.
Truth is: the bigger the heat press, the more watts it takes and the more likely you are to be having a problem with it coming up to temperature in a reasonable timeframe. In our experience, there are 3 things you can check out if your heat press is not performing as expected.
3 major culprits of a heat press that takes way too long to heat up are:
Overloaded Electric Circuit
Undersized Circuit Breaker
Broken or Damaged Heating Elements
Let’s take a look at each problem one by one.
Overloaded Circuits can Cause a Heat Press to Heat Slowly
An Overloaded Circuit could definitely cause a Heat Press to take forever to heat up, and in some cases, it may cause it to never reach the high 300’s or 400° required for sublimation.
Luckily, as long as your circuit is appropriately sized and connected, it’s the easiest problem to remedy.
Each circuit in your electric box has only so much capacity. Every single item plugged into outlets on the same circuit, will require a share of that limited capacity. The more items you have plugged in, the less available to heat up your heat press.
Resolution
To correct this. simply unplug everything you can on the circuit while using your heat press. This way, your heat press will be the only device requiring power and drawing watts from the circuit.
If your heat press doesn’t have to share resources (available watts) with your printer, computer, lights, radio, etc… it will heat up so much faster!
If you are still having problems, you might have a bigger problem with the load of the heat press vs. capacity of the circuit.
Circuit Amps Too Small for Heat Press
The reason so many people begin to have problems with larger heat presses heating up in a timely fashion is because our larger heat presses use a lot of watts (power). Watts, as we know, are what devices use to consume the available power from our circuit.
Watts (or wattage) are typically listed somewhere on the device packaging or manufactures website.
Most Household Setups
Most household outlets and accompanying circuit breakers are rated for 15 amps / 110-120 Volts / 1800 Watts. Now again, we say “most” so that doesn’t mean your outlet and circuit have this rating.
It’s important to note that the number of outlets does NOT increase capacity. The capacity is set at the breaker, not per outlet. Every outlet on the circuit shares shares the circuit’s resources.
Small Heat Press in Home Outlet
To Complicate Things – For safety reasons, it is recommended to keep outlets and circuits to a maximum of 80% of their rated capacity. And that’s because pushing circuit limits could be hazardous, plus, the available amps, volts and watts are not guaranteed to be exactly 15/110-120/1800.
The actual limits of a particular 15 amp breaker could turn out to be 14 amps and not 15. Plus, actual wattage of a heat press could be more or less than what is listed. They make tools that measure your actual current, but with both of these variables, it’s easy to understand why it is suggested to only use 80% of a circuit’s capacity.
How Many Watts for Larger Heat Presses?
Many heat presses use between 1400 – 1800 watts, or more! When you have the option, to buy a heat press that uses less watts for the same size, we think it’s totally worth it…even if it will cost us more upfront.
Let’s compare the Watts on two Different 15×15 Heat Presses
For example: we have this 15×15 MPress heat press from HPN (link to heat press) and it’s on the low end of watts, at 1400 watts.
Compare that to Fancier Studio’s 15×15 press on amazon says right in the description that it requires a whopping 1800 watts! (link to FancierStudio 15×15 heat press)
Now let’s compare these 2 different heat presses in a normal household setup.
Let’s say you have a normal 15 amp breaker, which equates to 1800 watts capacity. If you’re being safe and abiding by the recommended load of 80% maximum watts, then you have only 1440 watts available on that circuit (1800x.80).
If you decided to run the MP Heat Press heat press, (link to MP Heat Press) you could still use one more appliance or light along with the heat press. But if you chose the FancierStudio Heat Press, you’d be well over the 80% safety limits…even with nothing else plugged in. (link to FancierStudio Heat Press).
That’s why it’s so important to research your power capacity ahead of time. Both are great presses. One is more expensive, but one will require more power (power you may not have).
Resolution
First, consider buying lower wattage heat presses, especially when they are the same size. Yes they will be more upfront money, but there is a reason they cost more…and hopefully you’re beginning to see the difference.
Second, If the heat press you want exceeds safety recommendations, such as 1800, it’s worth getting a qualified person to install a dedicated 20 amp circuit. A professional will tell you whether or not your electric panel has room for this addition or if any upgrades are in order.
In our workshop, our large heat presses will all have dedicated, 20 amp circuit with appropriately sized wiring. Note: You cannot simply change a 15amp circuit or outlet to a 20 amp circuit or outlet without changing the size of the wiring. Everything will need to be swapped including the outlet, the circuit breaker, and the wires.
Why Install a Dedicated 20 Amp Upgrade for Heat Press?
A fully converted 20 amp circuit (outlet+breaker+wires) is rated for 2400 watts – and 80% of that (safe cushion) is 1920 watts.
That is perfect for our large format presses that require a draw 1500-1800 watts.
If none of the above are the reason why your heat press takes forever to heat up, then it could be a faulty element.
Broken or Damaged Heating Elements
Just like it sounds, this translates to any break in the electrical connection or heating path inside of the actual heating element running through the top plate of your heat press.
The best comparison we can provide is the burners of an electric stove. Think of those round heating coils glowing red, and then one day there is a break and you can see part of the element no longer glows red. It will still get hot because of heat transfer, but that area is no longer responsible for heat up.
Heating elements can go bad, or go spotty and when this happens, your heat press will not only take forever to heat up, it can also lead to a bad pressing experience.
How to Test
A laser thermometer will help you identify whether or not you have a break in the heating element. Simply allow your heat press to heat up for about 15 minutes and then test the temperate with the laser in several areas.
Resolution
If your heat press has swappable replacement parts, definitely go for it! It’s a lot cheaper to replace the top heating element than the whole heat press.
But, most presses do hot have a swappable element, or mayble you’ve never loved your heat press anyway, it may be time to invest in a quality heat press with great technical support and warranty.
For that, we recommend watching this video from HPN (link to video) that helps put you in the right size heat press.
Conclusion
The time it takes for a heat press to reach desired temperature has a lot to do with it’s size. The larger the press, the longer it takes to heat up.
However, our survey showed that when a heat press is plugged into an appropriately sized outlet and circuit, including the wiring, it takes 15-20 minutes to reach the high 300’s F.
If your heat press is taking a lot longer, please get a professional to look at your setup. It could be as simple as unplugging everything else on the circuit, or maybe you’ll go with a dedicated, right sized, circuit that fits the size of your heat press.
Keep in mind the 80% capacity rule and always err on the side of safety.
Content may include affiliate links to online retailer that qualify us for earnings. If we can find multiple retailers, we may include links to different retailers so you may compare prices.
Of course we’re only going to consider printers that are “Brand New” when we look at the cheapest sublimation printer. Sales excluded, you will likely pay the least amount of money for the Epson EcoTank 2720.
What is the Cheapest Sublimation Printer? The cheapest printer that can be used to print sublimation is likely to be the entry level Epson EcoTank 2720. While Epson doesn’t market it as a sublimation printer, thousands of sublimators use the Epson 2720 in their sublimation business.
The EcoTank 2720 costs about the same as the Epson Workforce 7710 (link to pricing) but the 7710 and the 7720 are being discontinued by Epson. Not to mention, the EcoTank line (Regardless of Model #) costs less money to adapt it to a sublimation printer. Here’s why:
What You Need to Convert the ET 2720 for Sublimation: or 3700, 4700, 15000, 16500
The EcoTank printers, regardless of model number, will require you to buy sublimation ink…..and that’s it. Even though the printers come with ink, the ink inside the box is NOT sublimation ink; it’s pigment ink. Save that pigment ink, sell it….do whatever you want with it.
The only thing you cannot do with the Epson pigment Ink is put it in your new printer if you want to use it for sublimation.
Besides sublimation ink, you’ll need nothing else for the printing portion. But you will need to hook the printer up to a computer in order to print quality prints.
Info about supplies such as sublimation paper, heat tape etc. are just normal business costs for beginning a sublimation business.
Overall, it’s very easy to turn the Epson 2720 into a printer than can be used for sublimation.
What You Need to Convert Epson Workforce Printers for Sublimation
Epson Workforce printers require you to by sublimation ink AND empty cartridges for the new ink. These printers will come with cartridges that are full of pigment ink. So instead of installing the included cartridges, you’ll need to buy empty cartridges, and you’ll need to buy bottles of Sublimation ink.
You’ll pour sublimation ink into the empty cartridges and then install the cartridges into the printer. Save or sell the genuine cartridges. Some people take the gold computer chips off and save them. It may come in handy to have these chips down the road.
Where to Buy the Epson 2720 or Other Eco Tank Model
With many people still working from home, it’s hard to find printers. And the popularity of the EcoTank makes these printers even harder to come by. That’s because they are great for both office use AND Sublimation!
Check amazon.com daily (link to Eco Tank Printers) as they will often pop up. You can also score an Eco Tank at Officedepot.com and if you have an Office Depot near you, it’s worth going into the store and checking their stock. We’ve noticed not all websites are accurate when they say “sold out”.
Finally, you can shop right on Epson.com by clicking the banner below. Epson.com doesn’t inflate prices and they ship free to most US locations.
Don’t forget they have a refurbished printer section and sometimes you can get an EcoTank for an additional percent off the normal retail. We bought a refurbished ET-3750 from their refurbished center and it was a nice savings!
EPSON Printers: Is Automatic Document Feed Worth It?
An ADF capable printer allows you to stack multiple sheets of paper onto a fold-out type tray, and then press the copy button, or the scan button. It is a huge convenience for those who need to copy and print multi-page documents and booklets or for those who need to constantly convert paper copies into multi-page PDF.s for computer sharing.
If you’re going to use an EPSON printer as a dedicated sublimation printer and you’re looking for the least expensive route, ADF technology is mostly wasted and therefore, not worth spending the extra money if budget is a concern.
ADF capable printers are also a little larger than non-ADF and should be considered when space is a concern.
For sublimation, the best prints will be produced when you print directly from your computer, tablet or other device. Using the printer’s copy function to print a sublimation transfer usually results in poor quality. Avoid it at all costs.
In Conclusion
Because you will not need to buy all new cartridges, you will spend less money adapting an Epson EcoTank than you will adapting an Epson Workforce line.
When you’re looking for the least expensive printer to start sublimating, at this time, the entry level EcoTank model is called the 2720.
We love our little Eco Tanks! They are amazing , compact travelers allowing for on the spot customization at trade fairs and craft shows. What we don’t love is the limited print of 8.5″ wide, but that’s why we also have large format options in our arsenal of sublimation (converted) printers.
The reality is, we understand that many (if not most) beginners start their sublimation journey with an entry level Sawgrass or Eco Tank printer that is not capable of printing anything wider that 8.5″ paper (AKA: letter size).
But make no mistake, that doesn’t mean that you have to let go of your dreams of making large design baby blankets, doormats and 4x t-shirts….to name a few. Now….it will take some effort and practice to master the art of printing a design in sections but really, if we can do it…YOU CAN TOO!
If you’ve got a small format printer and your heart is set on bigger products, this printing in sections guide is for you; so let’s get started!
Can You Sublimate in Sections?
Yes! If you want to sublimate a large design but are limited by print size, there are ways to sublimate in sections. For instance, you can split large designs into sections using the “tile or poster” option offered in most design programs. If you don’t have those options, we can show you how to do it in free versions of Adobe Reader or MS Paint.
Let’s go over each of these methods one by one and in this order:
How to know if your design program prints in sections
Printing in Tiles Using MS Paint
Printing in Sections Using Adobe Reader
Can Your Design Program Print a Sublimation Design in Sections?
There are far too many design programs to go over each one individually. But for the most part, whether your design program can or cannot print a larger print across multiple pieces of paper will be determined by your print options screen.
The key words you’ll be looking for in your print options screen are “Tile” or “Poster” or “Mural”
If you see those options in your Printing Options Screen, then you can select the options and then (hopefully) you’ll be given a little preview of how it will look printed across multiple pages.
Simply choose the option you like best. Be aware that sometimes you don’t get an option, the program will just give you the best option and you’ll have no other choice except for the tiling options presented.
Sample Screenshot of Tiling Options for Splitting Prints
For example: Here is an image inside the print options of adobe illustrator PAID design program. You’ll see the “OPTIONS” section has a drop down menu, and one of the choices is “Tile”…
OPTIONS: Scaling and Overlap Options
Should I overlap my tiled print? We think so! And especially if you are printing on a printer that leaves a little white margin on each side.
It doesn’t have to be a huge overlap, just a small amount like .02-.05 is enough to work with.
Now if you don’t have a sophisticated design program with these tiling options, let’s review the 2 ways to print sublimation in sections using either your free Adobe Reader or Microsoft Paint.
How to Print a Sublimation Design in Sections Using FREE Microsoft Paint
Even though most newer laptops come with a new version of MS paint called 3D Paint, the basic program is still usually found in the start menu. Thank goodness for that!
That’s because Free MS Paint is one of the last free options for being able to print a large design over multiple pieces of paper.
Let’s show you the screen shots. This is a huge design and we want to make a large doormat for a front door using a Home Depot style, traffic master Rug.
This large image can be sublimated in sections as long as we print in sections
You can see that the actual dimensions of the print are 24 inches Wide by 12 Inches High and we are going to print this using our little Eco Tank 2720 (over several pieces of paper). Yes we are!
How to Open a PNG or JPEG in the PAINT Program
If your images normally open in a different program, it’s okay. For most PNG or JPEG files, simply LEFT click onto the image once (without opening the image) until a menu pop ups. From that menu, you should see the option to “OPEN WITH”
Scroll over the “OPEN WITH and you should see an option for Microsoft Paint, we will click that Paint Option and the image should open in Paint. Here is what left click looks like on our .PNG File…
Left Click Image – Select OPEN with Paint (NOT 3D Paint)
After you select the OPEN WITH option, simply choose MS Paint or just “Paint” program.
Now that your image is inside of the MS Paint Program, let’s get into how we print it out in sections.
To do this, go to File-Print-Page Setup. Here is what that will look like….
File – Print – Page Setup
Now you will be inside of the Page Setup Options. That’s where the fun begins and where we will look at our options for printing this large design with our small sublimation printer.
Before we get into the options, now is a good time to briefly discuss the pros and cons of tile printing in MS Paint.
The Pros of Printing in Sections Using Microsoft Paint
You can choose your paper size
You can choose Landscape or Portrait
You can build margins
You can scale it and tile it
You can choose between center and vertical
The Cons of Printing in Sections Using Microsoft Paint
Lots of choices can take a while to learn
The Preview feature is not intuitive or friendly looking
Cons aside, there is way more to like about printing in sections in MS Paint, than there is to complain about, and we have the ultimate tip for making this as easy as possible. Let’s get into the screenshots of the Page Setup options for tile printing our sublimation design.
When you first enter the page setup, you should see the box below. We’ve outlined the most important section with a Red Box. Within the red box, is a green box and that’s what we call the magic button.
Take a moment to look at the screen shot of the page setup screen:
MS Paint Page Setup Screen for Tiling Sublimation Print
The reason we call it “the magic button” is because after you select your paper size and orientation (portrait or landscape) simply click into the “Adjust to” circle and you’ll see that it automatically understands the FIT we would need to distribute this 24×12 inch image across multiple pieces of paper.
In this case, the size of the paper is Letter and we are asking it to print Landscape mode. You can change those options to suit your needs.
Once we click the “Adjust to Button” MS Paint tells us it’s going to print it across 3 pieces of paper horizontally and 2 pieces vertically. Here is the screen shot AFTER we clicked the “Adjust to Button”
See how the ‘Fit to’ Changed from 1×1 to 3×2
MS Paint knows that the best fit will be performed by printing this print on 6 (3×2=6) pieces of letter size paper.
Now, if you happen to have legal size paper, definitely play around with the paper size and select LEGAL instead of LETTER. This might give you a cleaner distribution of the image. Or it could require less pages, which is usually a good thing if your heat press is large enough to support larger pages.
You can also change the orientation from landscape to portrait and you can center the image using the centering buttons. Play around and use the print preview function to see how each page will look before printing.
That’s how you would print a large sublimation print in MS paint across multiple pieces of paper. If you don’t have MS Paint or a design program that allows you to tile print or poster print, you’re left with trying to print from it as a PDF using Free Adobe Reader.
Let’s get into that..
How to Print Sublimation in Sections Using Adobe Reader Free Version
If you already have a genuine Adobe Reader installed and you know how to save work as a PDF, this will be so easy for you to learn…you’ll wonder what took you so long to print in “poster mode.”
For those of you who know what you are doing, simply import your image into a program that allows you to save the work as a PDF. Once you are done, skip down to the section in this article called “Printing in Poster Mode” in Adobe.
If you are unfamiliar with this, or don’t have Adobe Reader installed, its okay…we’ll cover all of that now.
Free Programs that allow you to SAVE IMAGE or Work AS PDF
So the first step of being able to print sublimation into sections using Adobe Acrobat is to have a program that allows you to save your work as a PDF. If this is brand new to you, it’s very easy to learn.
Here are the top 3 program options we recommend for saving a sublimation design as a PDF so we can break-up our print:
Power Point
Microsoft Word – Image must be smaller than 22 x 22 inches
Google Slides
There are probably more, but one of these is all you need.
Saving as a PDF – Screenshot
Every program allows you to save your work in different formats, but some allow far more options than others. Here is a screen shot of MS Word and you can see from the FILE Menu, there is an option of “SAVE AS” and when we click that tab, we can see all the options for saving our work.
In this screenshot, you can see that MS Word does allow you to save your work as a PDF.
Word is One Program that Allows You to Save as PDF
That’s good news, and if you have MS Word, this might work for you. However Word does have a maximum work space of 22×22 inches. So if your work is larger, it won’t be an option.
In our example, our rug image is 24×12, so Word will NOT work for us this time. We will have to use Power Point or Google Slides to save as PDF and then use the free Adobe Acrobat reader to print our sublimation in pieces.
Saving as PDF using Power Point or Google Slides
We have a love affair with Power Point. We know it’s meant for business presentations, but man we sure do a LOT of designing in this awesome program. But for the purpose of this demonstration, we’ll use Google Slides because every single person can use it for free.
Then, simply open a blank presentation. Here is that Google Slide screenshot:
Screenshot of Google Slides Blank Presentation
Once you are inside of a blank presentation, we have to do 2 things before we upload our design. The 2 things are”
change the slide size (workspace size)
make the slide “Blank”
Notice that when we open a blank presentation in google slides, it gives us a small workspace of 10 x 6 and it also puts Title and Subtitle boxes on the slide that we will not use.
Here is what it looks like when you first open a blank presentation in google slides: Screenshot
Screenshot of slide size and title boxes we will change
Let’s get rid of the boxes and change the size of the workspace so our large design will fit before we upload it.
IMPORTANT! Whichever program you use, Word, Power Point or Google Slides. BEFORE inserting your image into the program, open up a “blank presentation” or “blank document” and change the slide size or document size to be a half inch larger than the image you will upload.
How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides: with Screenshots
Select >FILE, from the Menu and then find and click: PAGE SETUP. A little box will pop up and you’ll open the box to find “CUSTOM” and If you’ve done that successfully, here is what your screen will look like:
Open the Drop Down Box and Find CUSTOM
Now that you have found the custom settings, this is where you will enter the size of your design PLUS one half inch.
In our case, we are going to setup our page to be 24.5 x 12.5 inches before we upload our 24 x 12 rug image.
If you forget to do this step and upload your image before changing the workspace size, your image will shrink during upload. That’s why we do it BEFORE uploading the image.
Screenshot – Here is what our custom settings look like in preparing to upload our rug image:
Remember to Click on “APPLY”
Now that our workspace is the right size for our image upload, let’s get rid of those “Title and Subtitle Boxes” that are not going to be used.
Removing Title and Subtitle Boxes in Google Slides: with Screenshots
From the Menu Labels, Choose > LAYOUT and see a box open. Inside that box, you’ll click on “BLANK” and watch those boxes disappear!
Screenshot of LAYOUT MENU
From Layout Menu: Choose ‘Blank Slide’
If you’ve done everything right, you should have a blank slide and it should be very large. It may even be so large that the numbers on the ruler are not showing. It’s okay if you cannot see the ruler numbers anymore.
If you are concerned about the size, simply insert a shape, the exact shape of your slide and then check to see the fit. It should prove that your slide is properly sized.
Now let’s upload your large sublimation design so we can save it as a PDF.
Upload your sublimation image into google slides
This step is very easy. From the INSERT Menu, select Image and then choose: UPLOAD FROM COMPUTER. Here is our screenshot:
You have to know where your sublimation design is located
From there, you have to know where your image file is located and simply follow the path to your image and select it.
If you’ve done this properly, your image is now in the google slide. YAY!! Now let’s transform this into a PDF so we can finally begin the steps of printing in sections!
How to Download or Save Google Slide AS PDF
We are ready to transform our big sublimation design into a PDF and before we do this, let’s just make sure we name it something that makes sense. In our case, we’re going to name RENAME our work from “Untitled” Slide to “OUR BIG S RUG”
Why RENAME our Image?
We do this so we can easily find it on our computer. To rename the slide, it’s so easy. Simply click File>Rename
Now let’s download the PDF to our computer.
Downloading the Google Slide PDF to our Computer
To download the file to your computer as a PDF simply click:
File>Download >> Download as PDF
Download PDF Screenshot
Downloading your image as PDF
Now it’s on our computer. You might have to check your download file if it’s not easily found in your task bar.
Once you find your new PDF, open it up using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. If you have an older version called Adobe Reader X, this should also be okay. Simply find the PDF, Left Click > Open with >> Adobe Acrobat Reader DC or Adobe Reader X.
Once your new PDF is open, click File, Print and hopefully you see this pop up screen with your printing options. Here is what ours looks like and we want to click on the POSTER tab:
We are looking for POSTER Tab
If you do not see the poster tab, go to the Troubleshooting section toward the end of this article.
Printing in Poster Mode in Adobe – Splitting Your Sublimation Prints Across Multiple Pages
Adobe takes a No Frills approach to printing in tiles. You’ll have two options: Portrait Orientation or Landscape Orientation. That’s it. Sometimes, less is more and it turns out to be a very easy way to break up a large sublimation print.
Here we go with the screen shots. This is now screenshots of our rug image opened as a PDF.
After you click on the poster tab, it will show you how it will print your sublimation design in sections and across 6 different pages. In this case, we chose landscape mode, but you can play around and see which you like best.
You can also change the paper size to legal, using the tab labeled “Size”.
You can adjust orientation and paper size to get the best option
Remember Your Sublimation Printer Settings
Now before you go and print your image across several different pieces of paper, remember to go into your print properties and make sure your sublimation settings are what you want.
For example: Mirror, High Speed OFF, etc., If you need help with your sublimation settings, check out our YouTube video below:
https://youtu.be/SOmFARBWiVg
When all is said and done, click print and watch your sublimation design print in sections using several pieces of paper.
Then, all you have to do is line them up and press them in stages.
Troubleshooting Printing PDF in Sections
If you do not have the Poster Tab Option in your PDF Viewer then you probably have a knock-off PDF reader.
For instance, here is what a low end PDF reader might look like after you press PRINT. I know this because it was pre-installed on my laptop so I had to download the real Adobe Reader (free).
This PDF Reader shows ads and does not allow Poster Printing
If this looks familiar, or you simply don’t see the POSTER tab option, you’ll have to follow the steps for installing the real Adobe Acrobat Reader DC on your computer. Do not Worry: It’s free and we will show you how in the next step.
Installing the Free Version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or a premium version of another Adobe program such as Illustrator, you’ll need to download the PDF Reader at the official Adobe Site.
Be sure you are at the actual Adobe Site and not installing some generic, look alike version of a PDF reader. There are tons of knock-offs out there that do not have the feature we are looking for in order to print our sublimation in pieces. So be sure to go to: Adobe.com
Not to mention, Adobe doesn’t make this free download well-known. It’s hidden in the support pages between an entire page of applications you have to pay for. So we included screen shots:
Screenshot of Adobe Home Page for free Adobe Reader
Adobe Home Page and Where to Find Free Reader
Then, Scroll until you find the FREE Acrobat Reader DC. It will just have a “Download Button” and not a “Buy Now” Button. Here is what it looks like:
Free Acrobat Reader DC Hidden in the Forest
Once you have it installed, make sure you tell it to use it as your Default PDF Reader. This will be an option during install or toward the end.
Now go back to the section about printing your sublimation print across multiple pages using Adobe!
Conclusion
You can print designs and sublimate in sections.
If you’re working in a desgin program, simply look for tiling options on the print options page.
If you don’t have a design program, you can us MS paint to print in tiles and if you don’t have MS paint, you can print using the Poster feature of the real Adobe Acrobat Reader installation.
In order to print in sections using Adobe, you’ll need to safe your work as a PDF using our free options mentioned above.
Everything is free…at least at the time of this writing.
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We can practically guarantee that once you get through your first Christmas season as a newbie sublimator, you will spend January thinking about ways to improve and streamline your process.
If that’s you, CONGRATS! on trying to improve your business so that you can enjoy more profits next season.
Today, we’re going to talk about best practices when it comes to pre-printing transfers and why it’s an absolutely fabulous idea! But first, let’s answer the burning question:
How long do Sublimation Transfers Last? We have pressed transfers up to 14 months after being printed and the results were perfect. It’s worth noting that we use high quality sublimation paper and we store our prints in a dry, cool, dark environment.
Frankly, we think as long as you print on quality sublimation paper and store them wisely, there is no reason to think they wouldn’t last even longer. In fact we’ve heard of people buying prints at estate sales that were years old and they pressed just fine.
Now let’s dive into Why we would Print in advance, and then we’ll review the 5 Golden Rules of Pre-Printing Sublimation Prints.
Good Reasons to Pre-Print Sublimation Transfers
Reason 1 – Make More Money – The main reason to pre-print your regular stock, sublimation transfers is to save time during the busy seasons so that you will have more time to make more money.
Since you cannot print customized orders in advance, having your regular hot sellers ready to press will actually give you MORE time to accept customized orders. And we all know those customized orders bring in bigger bucks! Cha-Ching!
Reason 2 – Avoid Ink, Paper & Printer Shortages – The best way to describe sublimation supplies during the holidays is: SCARCE. What’s worse is that prices can jump due to simple supply and demand.
We have paid twice as much for paper and we’ve also been through “no paper to be found” anywhere. Pre-printing will ensure you don’t miss out on these incredible profit generating months altogether.
Reason 3 – Ability to Delegate – We’ve all been there. You’re doing great keeping up with orders and them BAM! Cold, flu, migrain…you name it and now you cannot function. Maybe you turn off new orders, or customized orders, but having pre-printed transfers can save the day when you return to work.
In addition, pressing is EASY to delegate, printing…not so much. Crazy as it may sound, we don’t let anyone near our sublimation printers!
Reason 4 – Avoid Murphy’s Law – We all know Murphy is one cruel dude. Murphy’s law is that sublimation printers stop working during the busiest time of the year. Good luck finding a printer, and ink during the busiest time of the year.
By pre-printing our sublimation transfers, we avoid Murphy’s Law like the plague.
Her’es how we take advantage of slower times so that we make more money during the busy times.
How Far In Advance Do We Print Our Sublimation Transfers?
Here at QuickSPI, we start printing our fast selling Christmas designs as early as October and we print Valentine’s Day right after the Christmas rush is over….after a day or two of recovery of course.
After Valentine’s Day we begin printing Easter designs, Mother’s Day best sellers and our Regular Garden Flag Hot Sellers…in that order.
Having these regular sellers ready to press allows us much more time for custom orders.
What other Sublimation Transfers do We Pre-Print?
Ready to Go – Sublimation Prints Pre Printed.
We always have a stash of ready to go patterns that are perfect for double sided blanks. For instance we always have rainbow, plaids, glitter and paw print patterns ready to make a blank even better.
Finally, we have our logo pre-printed. We don’t sublimate our logo onto every single product, but we do apply it whenever possible.
We find that the last two weeks of February are a great time to do a lot of printing. It’s one of the slowest times of year and a great time to get ahead.
Now let’s get into the best way to store sublimation print transfers so they will perform just as if they were printed day 1.
How to Store Sublimation Prints – 5 Golden Rules
Saving your prints to use later can be done and we do it all the time. You don’t need anything fancy or expensive. A file organizer or covered box can be good enough.
We have our bigger prints rolled up in mailing tubes and we have smaller prints in an accordion file organizer. These are all very inexpensive.
Here are the 5 Golden Rules:
Use Quality Paper – We mostly use A-Sub, but as long as it’s sublimation paper you should be good. Simply put: Do NOT expect prints to last if you print them onto regular copy paper.
Make it Dark – Our 13×19 prints stay inside mailing tubes and we have an accordion file box for smaller prints. Then, we keep these two print holders inside of a closet.
Keep it Dry – We keep everything off the floor and away from accidents.
Keep it Covered – Lint is the enemy of sublimation and we do not want lint and dust falling onto our prints. The accordion box has a flap closure and we make sure it is always closed. As for our tube mailers, we keep the end caps securely fastened. No Dust Penetration is KEY!
Keep the Temperature Normal – Keep these in a normal living space. Attics, basements, garages etc., can be too hot, too damp or too cold.
Can you use sublimation transfers more than once?
Reusing Sublimation Transfers is tempting but should not be done unless you are prepared to both: waste your blank and have inferior, blurry results.
If you’re worried about too much ink left on the paper, consider adjusting your printer settings from high quality to standard quality and see if that helps. If your prints are coming out faded, it may not be the print, but the material itself. We go over materials in this article here: link to article about fading.
Conclusion
Sublimation print transfers can be printed in advance and it’s a good practice to get into once you start selling and building a line of “regulars” that always sell.
We’ve used transfers that were over a year old and the results were exactly as if we had just printed the transfer. Take the time to store them properly as explained above an you should have no problems.
Once your business picks up steam, you’ll notice that your busy times of the year coincide with all of the major holidays with Christmas being the busiest.
Printing early can save you time and earn you more money in the long run.
