Macon Innovations

Sublimation on darker colors

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So I don't just waste money I figured I'd ask another question.....What colors of shirts can we actually do? I know the lighter the better but let's say someone wants an orange shirt done.....Can I not do it at all our will only darker colors show up on that color? Thanks in advance for the help once again.....I would assume Black would go on just about anything. ..

Mike

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you are just dying the fibers so as you go darker it will just be a dark image that is hard to see - there is no way to dye dark colors to lighten them.  so light white, gray, yellow some pink but anything dark will not work as you want

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Gotcha....I have someone that has some safety orange shirts that wants black lettering done....Think that would work out ok?

I did a halloween one with bats for a customer and it worked out fine black lines, and bats and some dark greens,

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Gotcha....I have someone that has some safety orange shirts that wants black lettering done....Think that would work out ok?

 

Yes.  Tell people that sublimating on colors is just like running that same color paper through a printer.   Print a yellow design on orange paper and it will barely show - print a black design on orange paper and it will come out black.

 

Make sure the shirt is 100% polyester, as shirts made from a blend of natural and synthetic fibers will only accept some of the color (sublimated ink chemically bonds to synthetic fibers) and so it will appear washed out and "vintage" after you wash it once.  Black text on an orange 50/50 blend shirt will come out with really dark grey text instead of true black.

For solid black text on an orange shirt, heat transfer vinyl is a better solution.

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For solid black text on an orange shirt, heat transfer vinyl is a better solution.

Jones couldn't agree more, but remember the customer is always right, and they want what they want.

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I did try and explain that to him but he says he does not like the way the HTV feels.....He is bringing me 1 shirt tomorrow to do and we will take it from there....Thanks again for the insight

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Jones couldn't agree more, but remember the customer is always right, and they want what they want.

 

The trouble is, most folks don't understand the limitations with certain things.

If a person was able to have a sample of sublimation and regular print ink and HTV, they could show a prospective customer the difference and what can be done.

 

Until recently, I didn't know the differences between the HTV and assumed that HTV meant the thick bulky vinyl that used to be on shirts. It's clear that they've come a long way with HTV.

I saw one the other day that had a felt feel to it. Who knew?

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I was actually wearing a shirt I had done in HTV and he said he would prefer not to feel ANYTHING....So I told him to bring me one and I would do it for a tester for him...

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I was actually wearing a shirt I had done in HTV and he said he would prefer not to feel ANYTHING....So I told him to bring me one and I would do it for a tester for him...

Then if its all black lettering go sublimation its the only way unless you have a DTG.

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I was actually wearing a shirt I had done in HTV and he said he would prefer not to feel ANYTHING....So I told him to bring me one and I would do it for a tester for him...

 

Then tell him to go nekked. ROFL!!

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Lmao.....You wouldn't suggest that if you had seen him.....

 

ROFL!

I'd make him a pink t-shirt with purple lettering and tell him that's all I got. LOL!

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I did one on a 50/50 safety green. It just looked like it was an older shirt that had faded a bit. The customer decided to stick with vinyl in the end. You could also try a regular transfer with JPSS. It will do decent in your circumstance. You may see a little ghosting around the image because anything but white seems to show the polymer but you might get by.

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I just received my order of JPSS and 3G and have never used it before.......I think im going to make a sample shirt or two with all the different processes on it so that i can show people the differences...... Like do a 50/50 shirt with Dye sublimation,HTV.JPSS and 3g....Then do it again on a 100% polyester shirt....And a 100% cotton......Then i would have 3 example shirts to show the differences for each material.....

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Good idea. Just remember with the JPSS to trim off the excess around whatever you are printing on it. I use scissors or an xacto knife. On white you can't even tell there is anything there around the edges but I still trim to avoid a ghost square. I recently did a bunch of JPSS on lightly colored shirts and I just put a small box around the whole image so it looked outlined and it took care of the color change that occurs on light colors and made it an easy trim. If people like white shirts JPSS can be a really affordable option for them.

 

3G is similar to printed vinyl and will need contour cut or hand trimmed. (and printed normal not mirrored. 

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