What you need to get started in sublimation printing.
Printing technology is changing all the time, we are seeing extremely higher quality prints being obtainable with the better ink, higher print capabilities and improvements on heat presses, but the basics on sublimation printing stays the same. You will need a Computer, with as much memory as possible as this will give you plenty of space on your hard drive for all your images. The better the pc system your able to acquire the better it will be for you. Also some of the software you will require to uise will be either Photoshop or Corel Draw. There are many other software packages you can use like Macromedia Freehand and Illustrator etc. A good quality printer is also an essential item of equipment to have. Not all printing systems will work with dye sublimation, so please check carefully that your buying a suitable one. Epson sell a lot of high quality printers that are perfect for use with Sublimaton Printing. The next most important piece of equipment that you must buy is a Heat Press. There are many heat presses to choose from, all depending on your printing requirements. There are specialty presses, which are soley desinged to be used in printing Mugs, Tiles, Hats, Caps and Ceramic plates. These heat presses need to be selected carefully. There are some heat presses which are designed to be of multi use, so you need to decide on your budget and long term requirements before you buy.Always try and plan for the future and think about what product you could print on to. Go to www.printednovelties.com and check out the different products that are available. Last but certainly not least is the actual Dye. You will need sublimation ink and sublimation paper, for your printer. Sublimation ink differs greatly from the standard printer ink we use everyday so be sure to check that your buying the correct ink. There are also continuous ink supplies which can be incorporated with you printer system, please consider these systems although the initial price is much higher, these continuous systems will save you a fortune in ink costs in the long run. A final thing you should carefully consider is the actual paper you use for printing on to. Standard printer paper is not advised as it does not give a high quality print. Many people start of trying to save money by using standard paper, but i can assure you that the long term quality is no where near the same.You can buy a special sublimation paper for printing which is more expensive but highly recommended.
