What Are the Benefits of Sublimation Printing?

What Are the Cons of Sublimation Printing?

The major con of this type of sublimation printing is that it is expensive. While dye sublimation printers are made for household as well as professional use, they can cost around $300 for a small home one and can go up to $600 for a more high-end product.

For larger printers for mass production, they can cost up to $10,000. Keep in mind, however, that this is remarkably less steep than what they were a few years ago, but one has to remember that this is just for the printer alone.

Other required products include a heat press and printing paper, which can significantly bring up the cost. Well-made heat presses can cost from $150 to $500, and the sublimation paper used for the printer can be worth over $100 depending on how much you need.

Printing paper must also be purchased sparingly as opposed to the machines used. It must be noted that the price of this equipment is worth it in the long run when it comes to the quality of the print.

Another noteworthy con is, as expressed before, that this type of printing can mostly be done on polyester fabrics. They need to be 100% polyester for the best outcome. If you want to print on items that aren’t made from fabric, they must be poly-coated for the process to be most efficient.

Dye Sublimation vs. Heat Transfer

What is the difference between sublimation and heat transfer? The two types of printing can be confused with one another due to similarities of using heat presses, but the differences are HUGE:

Heat Transfer Differences

Transfer Paper

The main difference is that heat transfer paper makes the design an added coat on top of the fabric material when applied with a press. Think of the cheap, overpriced merchandise you see at tourist shops when you go to the beach. The paper is very inexpensive, but that’s because it doesn’t have the quality of sublimation paper.

Printable Fabrics

Heat transfer can be used on a wider variety of fabrics and is less expensive, but the result won’t look as vibrant as when sublimation is used. Heat transfer can also decrease in quality over time with cracking and fading. That is why most companies prefer using the sublimation process over heat transfer printing.

Sublimation Transfer Paper

Sublimation transfer paper creates a result that feels like it’s part of the fabric or rigid object. This design is fully infused into the fibers or material that you are printing on which means that it won’t fade or crack over time. It doesn’t look like a cheaper sticker was heat-pressed to the material. The end result is incredible.

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