New to mug sublimation - advice needed

[Earl Smith]

Im new to this forum but been printing sublimation for around 5 years. Everything Ive learnt has been trial and error and a little help from where I bought my printer.
I was advised to press at 195C. The mugs goes cold/warm into the press ( which shows a temp of around 200c) , the temp then drops to around 150c and takes about 210 seconds to come back up to 195c. I then leave it at that temp for 30secs, no more or it burns. The magic being 195c for 20 to 30 seconds.
This has worked for me.
Earl

[bms]

Are you printing onto the correct side of the paper? There should be a brighter side which is put face down in the paper tray.
Also, you should be using PowerDriver for best vibrancy rather than tweaking Photoshop. You can download PowerDriver from this link:
http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/technical ... c-profiles

The lines in the second image look wierd - this may be the press. I would put a safety mug in your press, get it to 170 degrees, remove and put in your mug with the paper taped around it, press for 3 minutes (temp will fall as the mug goes in but rise again to 170 degrees) with reasonable pressure (enough so that the paper is tight against the mug face) and remove after the 3 mins has elapsed. This should give a good result. If the image is wavey or faded in parts then this may be the mug press.

[Allan]

Thank you very much for all your replies, it is all very useful info.

I think I will give PowerDriver a go - it might add more vibrancy, although colour-wise I was quite happy with the results, consistency was fine, I was giving it a bit more vibrancy through curves in Photoshop but as you say PowerDriver might give it even better results.

I am printing on the right side - smoother side downwards in the printer tray.

I do use a blank mug while heating the press up to 170. Then remove the blank mug and put slightly preheated mug with a template around it into the press and start the countdown.

I have now managed to tighten the press a bit so hopefully that will help.

The lines seem to have been a problem on most of the almost 30 mugs I have pressed, some quite visible like the ones on the picture, some less, on different parts of the image, but often in some form or another vertical stripes over the full wrap of the image. They seem to be less visible when I left the mug in longer.

Thanks again to you all for your help.

[Andrew]

170 is way to low imo. 190 would be better but all of this can depend on the press. From the photos I was actually going to say wrong side of paper due to the white grainy speckles but you say not. Anyway, higher temp as a starter and see how you get on and try and pre-heat the base of the mug to make your life easier.

[John G]

170 is way to low imo. 190

It may be too low with an epson - but with a Ricoh, it's spot on.

[bms]

170 is way to low imo. 190 would be better but all of this can depend on the press. From the photos I was actually going to say wrong side of paper due to the white grainy speckles but you say not. Anyway, higher temp as a starter and see how you get on and try and pre-heat the base of the mug to make your life easier.

190 with a Ricoh will cause the blacks to go brown, hence the lower temperatures recommended.

[Allan]

Thanks for your tips.

I do think I use the right side - there isn't really a glossy side to the paper, one side is smoother and a little bit brighter/shinier, so I put that facing downwards.

I too have read that the Ricoh needs lower temperatures and shorter time, that's why I started with that, thinking it'll save me time trying at higher temperatures which might not work.

I did feel though that some of the templates had in some places still ink visible on it when taken off the mug after pressing (usually in that stripy rhythm, equivalent to less colour on mug), especially in the dark shades, which seems to have become less prominant with more time added to pressing - that's why I kept increasing the time. At 210s colours didn't go browner, they stayed the same as at 180/190s but the image became less sharp and more white specs appeared in the dark tones.

The white specs are more visible on some of the mugs, but on most (even the ones at shorter time) the dark solid colours don't seem to be as full and smooth as I would like (if you know what I mean) especially if there is a gradient between two solid colours ex. black and green or black and dark red.

[Andrew]

190 with a Ricoh will cause the blacks to go brown, hence the lower temperatures recommended.

Never used a Ricoh so that is all new to me. Got one on my shelf sat there with subli ink so might have a play.... just not cost effective compared to wide format.

I would get a couple of tests done on the paper and you should be able to see before pressing the difference. Print 2 sheets on opposite sides to see.

[Allan]

Thanks Andrew for the advice, what is the difference in what appears on the mug when printed on the wrong side of the paper? Does it still sublimate and not smudge or something like that?

To Ian M - I brought Signal paper because I heard it's good as you say, can I ask you which side you print on - the smoother/brighter side?

[Paul]

best way to check witch side is coated lick to fingers and squeeze the paper whichever side will tick more to the fingers is coated