Which is better: Sublimation or Heat Transfer Printing?
If you are starting a personalized gift items and garments business, you want to know if you should use sublimation or heat transfer printing. It is not an easy decision to make, but here is some information to help you find the answer. Sublimation Printing vs. Heat Transfer Printing With sublimation, a design for an image is printed onto a special type of paper. Special inks are turned into gas when heated. As it cools, the gas is transformed into a solid form and creates an imprint of the image. The effect of the printing is permanent. Since the ink becomes embedded into the fabric or whatever sublimation blanks are used, it will not fade easily. When it comes to heat transfer printing, a design is printed onto a special transfer paper. The special paper is coated with pigment polymer film and waxes that bond with garment fibres when heat is applied. The paper is then placed design side down atop a piece of clothing, and heat is applied via a heat press. Once the p...