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  1. #1
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    How to Dye Sublimate Custom Printed Mugs?

    Steps




    • Make sure you have what you need. The items needed are, the following: inkjet printer with sublimation inks installed, graphic art software like Adobe Illustrator or Coral Draw, sublimation paper, mug heat press, pair of scissors or art knife and a ruler, heat tape and a few blank sublimation mugs. Ad


    • Have a template. You can download one from our website here. This template is for an 11oz, 325ml mug. Diameter of the mug is 260mm. Print area is 70mm Wide x 90mm High on two sides of the mug. Our AI template is setup so you can print the graphics for two mugs on the one page. We have left guidelines in place to show you where to position the logos so that they are positioned at approximately 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock if you are looking down on top of the mug with the handle in the 12 o'clock position. Please keep important text and graphics 2.5mm away from the edge of the magenta cut line or the guide-lines. This is so when you cut out your finished printed sheet that you don't accidentally cut into your logo. Background graphics should extent 2.5mm past the cut-line.

    • Once you have downloaded the template. Open it in Illustrator and layout your logos or artwork in the position stated. If you only want 1 logo on each mug then position your logo to the right hand side. This means a right handed person will see your logo when they pick up your mug. It is actually on the wrong side at the moment by once we print in mirror image it will be on the correct side, which is on the left side of the page.

    • Once you are happy with the position of you logo / logos you are ready to print your artwork. Generally for most good quality sublimation paper you don't require a lot of ink to be laid down on the sublimation paper. If you are using an EPSON printer good setting to start with are Quality Option: Photo, Paper Type: PLAIN PAPERS, under the Page Layout Tab make sure the Mirror Image check-box is ticked. Click OK then the Print Button and then the Print button again in the Illustrator Print window.

    • Now that you have printed your page it should look something like this. Don't worry about the washed out look. All sublimation prints look like this. The magic happens once the image is heat pressed / printed onto the mug. This is when the ink turns to a gas state and is absorbed into the polyester coating on the surface of the sublimation mug.

    • Next step is to cut out your designs with your scissors or art knife and ruler. Cut about 1mm inside of the magenta cut-line. don't leave any of the magenta line on the paper of it will print on your mug.

    • Now we are ready to position our print onto our sublimation mug. All mugs are slightly tapered so before we wrap our artwork around the mug we are going to make two cuts right in the middle of the paper so we end up cutting through about 3/4 of the paper. What this will allow us to do is once we have taped the paper to the mug with the image facing the mug the cuts allow us to adjust the center of the paper up or down just a little to allow for the taper. otherwise your text may not run parallel to the bottom of your mug. You will also notice that most of the time you can see through the paper so this will help you to align your images so they are horizontal. So now cut off about 3 pieces of heat tape about 1/2" 12mm long stick them on the edge of your bench. Carefully wrap the paper around a mug, image facing inward. Now rotate the paper back and forth until you have roughly the same distance between each end and the handle and the same amount of white ceramic showing at the top and bottom of the paper. Once this is done apply 1 piece of tape to the center of each end of the paper. Now check to see if your text is aligned with the base of the mug. If not you can slip the paper up a down a bit where the cuts are until it is. Once you have this right apply the last piece of heat tape half over the bottom cuts and half on the mug to hold the paper in place.

    • Now adjust your pressure setting on your mug press so that when you clap your mug in the press it have medium to heavy pressure on it. You can tell if you have enough pressure as the Teflon and silicone rubber backing of the mug press will bow around the top and bottom of the mug a bit.

    • Now plug in your mug press and set the temperature for 400F / 204C and the timer for 180 seconds and let it preheat to the required temperature. (please note this is the setting for TexPrint XP sublimation paper) other sublimation papers may require lower temperatures or longer or shorter heating times.Once the press reaches the set temperature slide you mug into position and clap the mug press shut. If you have one with a count down timer it should start automatically or you may have to press the enter button to start the timer.

    • Once the time is up release the pressure off the press and remove the mug by the handle followed by picking the edge of one the the bits of heat tape on one end of the paper with your fingernail then peeling the paper off the mug in one smooth movement. (watch out its HOT!) This part is important as while the mug is still hot the image will still be releasing ink gas and if you do not remove it in a smooth motion you may end up with ghosting (double image), over spray or a slightly blurry image. This can also happen if you cook the mug for too long. you may have to experiment with heat and times to get the right setting for your press.

    • Now place you mug on a heat proof surface until it has cooled down enough to handle. If you have done everything correctly then you should end up with something like this.




    I am pretty sure that i have solved the problems for people who are very new in the business, isn't it?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator Paul's Avatar
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    I love it! I would add few bits but is excelent and easy to read.
    Iam going to stick it to the top!

    thanks for that!

    To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
    <-- How To Print Stuff BLOG

  3. #3
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    Yes you Should Go for it. Most of the people now a day doing the same business.

  4. #4
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    Is it wise to make a cut in the middle of the wrap as shown? been having a slight prob with some mugs not looking 100% straight

  5. #5
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    I never cut mine. Mind you, I don't have any lines that I need to get rid of!

    James

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