Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451361
7 6 S U B L I M A T I O N R E P O R T 2 0 2 2 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M from one side to another, that blank goes in the trash, and you have to try again. By making a larger investment in a qual- ity heat press, you will save more money on potentially ruined blanks. Any U.S. manufactured heat presses will t the bill from one of the many great industry dis- tributors. Skip buying your heat press on Amazon and save yourself the headache. No. 2 Mind your time and temp I already mentioned that you need to heat the transfer and substrate for about 60 sec- onds at 400 F, but that is just a general- ization and more of a limit in most cas- es. For several reasons (eciency, reduced production time, and reduced scorching), you want to be able to press at the lowest heat and time you can. We need the inks to turn into a gas and bond with the poly- ester for the very best transfer. But after it starts to bond with the polyester, it needs to cool to lock it in place. If the inks are overheated, they will gas back out of the polyester and make the image fade. All the inks turn to gas at a little dierent temperature, so you will want to look for signs of the correct time and temperature. A blue hue or tint to your blacks means the transfer was under pressed and a red or brown hue/tint means the transfer was over pressed and the inks gassed back out. To nd your proper time and tempera- ture, it is best to start with the manufac- turer's suggested time and temperature and then work your way down (or up in sporadic cases) from there. Also, as you adjust, rst adjust the time, then reduce temperatures as we always want to press for a shorter period to reduce the time it takes to make each substrate. Document your results! No. 3 Perfect your templates Having a quality template for your designs is a big part of making repeatable transfers easy to produce. We are mainly going to use a white substrate with sublimation, but often times, we don't need or want a white background. You need a bleed area. A bleed area is an area that is slightly larg- er than the actual substrate, which is go- ing to fall o the edge or "bleed" o, so there is no chance of a white edge even if the transfer is not 100% lined up. You will nd this bleed area will be a much-wel- comed space when lining up your transfers since they will be upside down, and you won't see the actual graphic until it comes o the press. e bleed area on a rigid sub- strate that is not going to stretch and is sized consistently is typically ΒΌ". For soft goods, like garments, baby onesies, gar- den ags, or other products that might be hand sewn and are therefore sized a little inconsistently or can stretch, I sug- gest up to 1" of a bleed area or more on all sides. Perfecting templates to match your production process and needs is a con- siderable time and money saver. Starting with the manufacturer's template is good, but remember they are not doing produc- tion like you, so you need to make sure you have what you need to guide your art preparation quickly and accurately. S U B L I M A T I O N R E P O R T 2 0 2 2 Create vivid images on socks, arm sleeves, shirts, and more.