Dye sublimation is a process used to dye man made materials, such as polyester, polyeurothane & Nylon.

Photographic images are printed using an Epson inkjet printer, onto a special paper which holds the image in place while being pressed.

The image is printed in reverse, and then pressed image side down. The dye turns into a gas, and then bonds with the polymers in garment / imprintable item, turns back into a solid, thus dyeing the image into the item.

Dye sublimation works with man made substrates, polyester, polyeuthothane, Nylon, and does not work directly onto 100% cotton. You can print onto 100% cotton using a special paper, however it is this paper which is dye sublimated & heat pressed onto the garment, unlike dye sublimation onto polyester or poly cotton garments for example.

Dye sublimation is for white & light coloured garments. Because it is a dyeing process, you can't dye sublimate onto dark garments. You can print onto dark garments using dye sublimation, but again, you would use a different paper, the same paper which allows you to print onto 100% cotton, which is referred to as "dye sub dark"

Because a wide range of products can be coated with a polymer coating, dye sublimation is the preferred method of printing onto a huge array of gift items, such as mugs, mousemats, placemats, coasters, jigsaw puzzles, bags, tiles, key tags, clock faces, and much more.

What it's not good for

Cannot print directly onto 100% cotton. This can be acheived but you would need to use a "dye sub dark" paper, which is sublimated and heat pressed onto the garment, therefor if you're mainly wanting to print onto 100% cotton, you would be best advised to look at the other processes.

Cannot print directly onto dark garments. Again, this can be acheived but you would need to use "dye sub dark" and on dark garments, you would need to cut out the any of the background image which you do not wish to remain white, therefore a cutter desirable, and completely necessary on images which would be too complex or intricate to cut out by hand.

For more information on Dye Sublimation - visit our sister company Subli Nation who specialise only in Dye Sublimation printing equipment, blank imprintables & consumables.