Sublimation is a printing process that uses high heat and pressure to press ink into a polyester coating on substrates such as metal, wood, polyester cloth, ceramics, and plastics. The art is printed larger than the substrate (known as bleed) and placed on the item with heat tape. Next up the substrate gets placed in a heat press under high pressure at 400* for a predetermined time. The ink get baked into the coating and the printed paper is discarded. Coatings are often graffiti resistant, scratch resistant, and easy to clean. Unlike direct printing the image does not rub off or fade unless the item sustains significant damage or UV exposure.

Some products have UV protection built into the coating providing a lifespan of up to 5 years outdoors. Products not rated for outdoors use are still very durable. Chromaluxe indoor metal prints have an expected lifespan of 65+ years indoors.

One side effect of sublimation printing is warpage. Plastics and wood will tend to curve after exposure to high heat. Some curvature is expected on these substrates.

Uploaded business logos and art should be 300 DPI for maximum satisfaction. Photos taken with a phone typically print well but you should ensure you upload the highest resolution available on your device and not a copy or screenshot of the original.

DPI View Distance Chart

Many of our products are viewed at an average distance of 3 feet. At this range most photos taken with a phone will look excellent.

Hard substrates do not emit light or let light pass through it. This will make images look bright on your device but print darker than expected. Here are 2 methods to help you determine if you should raise the exposure before sending it our way. Turn your phones brightness to about 40% or print on a regular piece of paper and put it against something solid. If the shadows are too harsh or details are too dim you should consider raising the brightness of your photo.

We automatically increase color saturation on all photos in our printing process.

Our sublimation products require bleed (art that goes beyond the edge and gets removed in the process). Typical bleed in our customizer is 1/8″ per side for hard substrates and 1/4″ per side for soft substrates. Keep faces and text away from the edges for best results.

• Pexels
• Unsplash
• Pixabay
• Openverse
• Freepik
• PublicDomainPictures
• KaboomPics

Or check out our selection of AI generated images available for commercial or personal use in the customizer on the Images tab.