Mug Image Slightly pixelated?

[dplovin]

Hi first of all I would like to say hi.

I'm new to sublimation printing, my issue is i've received an image from a friend via jpeg format who wants it printed onto a mug.

its kind of coming out slightly pixelated on both the mug and the print.

im using photoshop program. ricoh 3110dn with sawgrass sublijet R, trupix paper, also the powerdriver profile, and photoshop has been configuired to work with sawgrass powerdriver profile.

as I say im kinda new to this. im guessing to file size or something is too small.

is there a guideline or rule to follow, also if it is the image he's give me that's too small what info should I give to him to get the best print my end.

help much appreciated

[Earl Smith]

Hi dplovin and welcome. Your setup looks fine. I would think its down to the resolution. Youve answered your own question really, file size/resolution is not enough. I always try and have the image at 300 dpi. If its taken from the internet its often only 72. And no, converting the image wont work It need to be a higher resolution to start with.

[dplovin]

hi Earl thanks for the reply.

I thought so, just wanted to get a more experienced opinion.

many thanks for that

[NikGrey]

Hi dplovin,

You will have to get the image emailed to you.

Welcome to the forum.

[dplovin]

Right so once there emailed what format shoukd I save it as. And once opened in Photoshop is it just a case of going to image toolbar, then image size, then adjust accordingly

thanks for the replies guys

[Earl Smith]

Get used to saving it in the same format for all images. Eg; PSD will save with a transparent background, jpeg will not. tiff will save as transparent but only if the image is RGB.

I dont work with Photoshop, I have Corel, but I save my images as psd for my subli printer and my OKI white because the images have transparent backgrounds.

[RogerC]

To the original poster.........I had a similar image problem when I first started printing decals etc and asked for advice on a dedicated 'vinyl print' forum. I received a lot of advice, wasted loads of time trying to resolve the issue until I received a very succinct response from an extremely experienced printer which I still use as a guide today an it was this:

Small resolution jpegs are 'crap'....so remember you can't polish a turd!!

[NikGrey]

Sound advice "You can't Polish a Turd" - I have fond memories of my Sound Engineering Tutor repeating that daily.

On the subject of saving, I have been saving my .psd's as .png's for printing - just because I can flip the image easily.. I suppose I should flatten the .psd and flip that rather than duplicating everything.