# help please! sublimation printing not working at all



## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

hiya, i have an rx585 epson printer, recently got a ciss sytem with sublimation inks, i didnt flush the old ink out but i have printed lots of plain pages and my sub inks are going down so im assuming its flushed out and is ok? i have a heat press and a mug press. i brought some sublimation phone cases, mugs, paper and tape from the same company i got my heat press from. however i have just printed an iphone blank,followed all instructions, pressed at 190c for 50 seconds and then the mugs i pressed at 180c for 180 seconds. neither transferred what so ever though to either item and i cant figure out why? i let the prints dry for 15 minutes and then pressed them. what else can i try? i made sure i printed on the sticky (after wetting fingers and pressing on either side of paper) side of the paper too. thought this would be easy after i got to grips with tshirts and hoodies but now im not so sure! any help would be appreciated thank you


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## rimcountrygraphi (Sep 20, 2012)

WHat paper are you using and are you sure it is for sublimation? I'm using Image Right R paper and have had no problems with it.


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

its just called sublimation paper but i am sure it is good quality as it is from the same supplier of heat press/mugs/transfer paper and they are all fantastic quality. starting to think it may be the ink as im sure i have done everything right, and if not that i should at least get some transfer across. does anybody know how to test if ink is dye ink or sublimation ink? (maybe printing on to normal transfer paper for tshirts? would sub ink normally work on normal transfer paper?)


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

What is printed on the bottles of ink that came with your CISS? If *nothing* (or a very, very light image) appeared on your phone case and mugs, then it's likely not sub ink at all, but either pigment ink or regular dye ink.

You can get color transfer using cheap inkjet printer paper, or if you print on the wrong side of the paper, so don't worry about that. The image will be poor, but you'll see that the inks are working.


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

the only thing printed on the bottles is ''for use with rx585'' would there be a difference if i printed with sublimation ink onto normal transfer paper and pressed onto fabric? as i need to prove that it is regular ink, im positive of it now as like you said there is literally nothing transferring across at all!


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

I'm guessing the RX585 in this case is an Epson printer model, in which case the label isn't helpful. Who knows what kind of ink is in there.


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

the seller has just mailed me back and said it is infact dye ink, and that he only sells dye ink. the listing clearly said 'you will receive.. 100ml x black sublimation ink' etc so putting in a complaint and will search for some more sublimation ink that is in fact actual sublimation ink lol! thanks for all the responses though  x


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## puppylove7 (Dec 1, 2012)

Don't forget to give your printer a good clean to get rid of all that old ink. I had a similar problem so know how you feel.


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## akar (Jul 1, 2011)

At this point you may have to settle for Sawgrass inks since they seem to have a monopoly on dye sub inks. It's bad business, cutting out competition, but they're doing it even more effectively than Microsoft! So, Ricoh makes printers that are designed to work with Sawgrass inks. I don't know of any really effective alternatives at this point. If you buy another non-Sawgrass ink and it works, please post here. Many people are interested in finding an alternative to Sawgrass.


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## tetaganda (Apr 22, 2012)

I have been using alternative sublimation inks for many months now. I have printed messenger bags, hundreds of phone and iPod touch cases, mugs, wallets, key chains, compact mirrors etc., My blanks come from different suppliers and the printer has done great in all blanks.

I agree there is no ICC profile included so I made profiles myself. It's trial and error at first but you'll get used to it after 2 or 3 tries. I use it on epson wf1100 with a piano book CISS from the same ink supplier too. It all works great. 

I have Sawgrass in my ricoh gelsprinter but the colors are off too so I have to manually adjust colors on Photoshop and made profiles for each of my substrate. 

I will post pictures of the products I have made. Customers have so far been happy. 

There is no one absolute profile for each substrate or even image. I try to adjust it and save a profile for each product. It's not that hard once you have set it on Photoshop.


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

Kate, make sure your heat press is actually showing temperature in Celcius - some of them are set up in Fahrenheit and if pressing at 190F it's not hot enough to transfer an image.

Welcome to the forums


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

thanks for all your replies. have now got some sublimation ink (that actually works!  ) got it from a uk seller on ecrater, customgraphics was the seller, really fast shipping and seems really good quality only problem is i cant get the red to print red, its orange every time? seller sent me the icc profile so have installed that and set it on photoshop.. am i right in thinking i need ''photoshop manages colour'' and then that profile for it to work? have tried all different settings, other colours are great apart from the red/orange!


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

First on the color handling: Yes, you need to tell your printer not to manage colors itself. In the main print dialog, specify that Photoshop handles colors, and select the color profile you got from your ink seller. Then go into the print settings, and find the option for turning off printer color management. The exact steps vary depending on the printer and model you use, but it's a good idea to spend some time in the printer option tabs, and know it by heart.

If you don't do BOTH of these steps your printer will try to manage colors on top of Photoshop's efforts, and you'll be lucky if the people in your prints don't look like Smurfs.

Be sure you use RGB color space in your documents. Don't use CMYK. There are some test documents you can print out to verify. This is one many people here use:

DOWNLOAD PDI TEST IMAGE Photodisc Color Management Calibration Target Reference Image Baby Faces How To Achieve True Print Color

Also, purplish blacks and reddish oranges are sometimes an indicator of either insufficient heat, or not enough time under the press. Try varying the settings one at a time until you get an improvement. Start first by making sure your press really is at 400 degrees F, then increase the time in 10-15 second intervals, and study the results.


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

FYI CustomGraphics sells FujiInks Sublimation inks (not to be confused with the well know company called Fuji) for if you're ever searching for more of the same and can't find CustomGraphics anymore. Also note that FujiInks are NOT a licensed sublimation ink manufacturer.
If you want the best colours, then getting your printer profiled with a custom ICC is a good option, rather than one that Custom has had made for a different printer.
Alternative inks are also available on UK ebay, which are licensed.


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

thank you. 

have set photoshop to the icc profile provided and changed all the settings to what i think is right.. but still no red  all orange! every other colour is fine, even black.. quality is amazing and vibrant.. really happy with it other than the orange. 

tried increasing to 204 degrees c (equivalent to 400f, was using 180c before) but no luck and increased time in 10 seconds but still the same orange tone. 

any other ideas other than getting a custom icc done?


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

You need to know the settings used in creation of the ICC - the print quality option and the paper setting, to ensure the printer is laying down the same amount of inks in the same proportions as when the printer used was profiled. Contact CustomGraphics and ask what settings you need to set your printer to. 
Now, either Custom has been provided with an ICC from FujiInk for your printer model, or he could only have 1 Epson 4 colour profile, and 1 Epson 6 colour profile, so what he has sent may not actually be for your printer at all (this is me guessing though)

There are sellers on Ebay UK who do ICC profiling for sublimation printing, and you may need to look into this.


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## giftswithatwist (Oct 15, 2012)

yeah the profile is titled epson 6 colour so i assume he just uses the two.. it said he got best results with matte photo which i am using (and have tried all others) but still red is orange and also beige has a slight green tint.. looks like im going to have to go for a custom profile, wanted it done quicker than that really but would rather have good colour prints to sell rather than dodgy coloured ones! thanks guys.


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