Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Hi all was talking to a friend of mine and he suggested that I use either digital or sublimation transfers because of the amount of colors in my designs compared to plastisol because on short runs with lots of colors they will be cheaper.
Can someone help me understand the differences?
Also how is the quality of digital and sublimation compared to plastisol?
If you are going to do light colors then sublimation, it actually dies the fabric resulting in vibrant colors and 0 hand, the ink is more expensive and as the shirts, 100% polyester microfiber are expensive also but the end result cannot be achieved by any other method.
Inkjet you can use on darks with certain transfer paper, you would use pigment ink or the claria ink, less expensive set up price and also you will need to trim the transfer paper to reduce the window the paper produces, slight hand with good results.
Either process can be done with some of the Epson printers (not all but most) hope this explains a little, I would search the sublimation section of this forum
Hi. The only thing I'd add to Roger's comments, is that many inkjet tranfer papers will now also work with dye based inks. I have successfully used dye based inks with no flaking, or fading. The quality of inkjet tranfer paper does vary considerably, so you do have to shop around to get good results from inkjet heat transfers.
Hi. The only thing I'd add to Roger's comments, is that many inkjet tranfer papers will now also work with dye based inks. I have successfully used dye based inks with no flaking, or fading. The quality of inkjet tranfer paper does vary considerably, so you do have to shop around to get good results from inkjet heat transfers.
Hope this helps.
Hi what would you suggest for my design? I don't want to sacrifice quality.
Hi. Sublimation only works on white, or pastel colours. You cannot use sublimation to print on dark fabrics.
As I am based in the UK, I cannot recommend a particular manufacturer, or supplier for inkjet transfer paper for dark fabrics. There are lots of postings in this section, that will give you that information though.
Hi. Sublimation only works on white, or pastel colours. You cannot use sublimation to print on dark fabrics.
As I am based in the UK, I cannot recommend a particular manufacturer, or supplier for inkjet transfer paper for dark fabrics. There are lots of postings in this section, that will give you that information though.
Hope this helps.
I'm not asking about manufacturers.
I'm asking about the best means, plastisol, digital. Actually my design is a full color.
You might be better off to do plastisol for doing dark shirts if you can get them in at your target price, this is going to hinge around how many transfers you order at one time.
I would have plastisol transfers made for that image. You can press on lites and darks and the quality is outstanding. As an example go look on the Pro-World website for an idea of what can be done.
If you are doing a large run then just have them screened.
Like you said earlier, the colors need to be tweaked a bit.
I would have plastisol transfers made for that image. You can press on lites and darks and the quality is outstanding. As an example go look on the Pro-World website for an idea of what can be done.
If you are doing a large run then just have them screened.
Like you said earlier, the colors need to be tweaked a bit.
Wow Pro-World is local to me and I see they have some designs that I like although I would see if they could change text.
Digital/sublimation 
