Hello,
I am new to sublimation and after pressing several test mugs I need some advice. I haven't been able to get consistent results out of the mug press and don't know whether to blame it because it was just a cheap model from ebay.
My set up is:
Ricox GX7000
mug press from ebay
It took me a while to get the colour right in Photoshop but after several mugs I finally was happy with the colours of the images on the mug. So no problem with colour profiles or printer at the moment.
I was having problems with the images fading on the edges a bit but I understand that, sometimes it's due to not placing the mug quite right, I also figured out that the mug press places more pressure on the left side of the mug so I place it slightly more towards the right side of the handle to counteract it.
Main problem is the intensity of the image (I don't know how to describe it best). I started with 140s at 170 C. Some images had lighter stripes in them, especially in the darker areas, where you can see that not all the ink from the print has gone onto the mug. I thought it was due to not leaving the mug in long enough for all the ink to sublimate onto the mug, so I increased the time, first to 150s, then 180s and finaly to 190s. 2 mugs at 190s came out quite nice and I was reasonably happy with them, but thought another 20s might help. So the next day I pressed a mug with the same image for 210s but it came out really fuzzy, as if there were white dots where the colour should have been solid and not very sharp. So I reverted back to 190s where I thought the mugs came out nicely, but when I pressed the mug at 190s it had the lighter stripes in again, the same as another mug which I pressed only for 150s. Also only one part of the mug was affected (the centre part opposite the handle), the rest of the mug was fine. On other mugs the stripes could appear in different places. I am really confused now, and can't figure out what to do next.
I dip the mugs into hot water after pressing, it does seem to make the images sharper.
When I first brought the mug press it was really tight, I couldn't even close it with a mug inside it. I loosened it a bit, but still was having problems closing it with a mug in, so I loosened it a bit more. Now I would like to experiment with adding a bit more pressure but I can't tighten the press for some reason.
Can anybody please advise what could be the problem? Is the problem with the lighter stripes in the dark areas of the image common? Any help is appreciated because I need to be able to produce consistent results. I know it is easy to blame the press but at the moment it feels like I'm doing everything right and just can't get the results out of the press.
Thanks in advance, Allan