# Gray turns pink in mugs



## fpugliese (Jan 28, 2014)

Hi. I'm from Costa Rica and just begun with the sublimation bussiness. I sublimated some mugs yesterday with a picture in black and white, and when printed the colors turned pinkish. I'm using Epson L800. Can you please give me some advice?
Thanks.


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

What inks are you using and do you have an ICC profile installed for those inks to be used with that printer model?
If not, you need to get one, either from your ink supplier, or get a custom one made.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

fpugliese said:


> Hi. I'm from Costa Rica and just begun with the sublimation bussiness. I sublimated some mugs yesterday with a picture in black and white, and when printed the colors turned pinkish. I'm using Epson L800. Can you please give me some advice?
> Thanks.


As Pisquee mentions for sure you need an ICC profile for your sub inks. For now, with that specific B/W photo you can force grayscales in the Epson printer driver. This will allow you to only use the black "K" inks. This won't work for color photos though.

The B/W graphic was likely created from a mixture of the CMY inks, we call that a "composite black". 

Not having an ICC sublimation profile then any "composite" B/W picture using the color inks instead of "K" can come out ugly and off color.

Also, temperature and dwell time on hard goods sublimating can effect color, blacks are more critical for this than some other colors.


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## fpugliese (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks very much for the info. I really appreciate the help. Since I am a newbie in the sublimation world...can you please tell me how to get the ICC profile? I made some dog tags today and had problems with the colors too. The magentas are like coral, the cyans are bluish...I can't seem to get the colors right.


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## edward1210 (Nov 7, 2009)

fpugliese said:


> Thanks very much for the info. I really appreciate the help. Since I am a newbie in the sublimation world...can you please tell me how to get the ICC profile? I made some dog tags today and had problems with the colors too. The magentas are like coral, the cyans are bluish...I can't seem to get the colors right.


To get the icc profile get in contact with the person from where you bough the ink or if you bought the printer.


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

fpugliese said:


> Thanks very much for the info. I really appreciate the help. Since I am a newbie in the sublimation world...can you please tell me how to get the ICC profile? I made some dog tags today and had problems with the colors too. The magentas are like coral, the cyans are bluish...I can't seem to get the colors right.



You need to get it from the ink manufacturer. If you bought ink from someone who says you do not need an ICC profile throw it away.


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## fpugliese (Jan 28, 2014)

Thanks! I'll let you know!


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

headfirst said:


> You need to get it from the ink manufacturer. If you bought ink from someone who says you do not need an ICC profile throw it away.


If someone says that you don't need an ICC profile, then they are either lying, or don't know what they're talking about.
But don't despair - you don't need to throw your ink away - that would be such a waste of ink, and is a frankly ludicrous suggestion which shows little understanding of what ICC profiles are, or the third party ink market in general.
If the ink manufacturer doesn't have an ICC profile for your printer model, then you need to get a bespoke one made, this costs around £25, so not breaking the bank as a one-off set up cost of your business.
Only go this route though, if you have a good quality ink, where you know the manufacture, and can get it from more than one source in your country, as if you have to change ink brand, you will need to buy a new profile.


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