Can You Sublimate on Vinyl? | 6 Easy Steps Guideline

Vinyl sublimation is an artistic process for people who love to adorn their stuff with beautiful designs, quotes, etc. This process directly transfers dye onto fabric, vinyl, and other materials via heat. The sublimation process is of great interest to people who enjoy creating custom designs for their stuff. It allows your boundless creativity with flawless designs. Who does not enjoy customizing their favourite vinyl-based stuff with attractive colours?

Now when we think about sublimation, it rings to be a hard process, making us feel that no! Let professionals do it! If you think can you sublimate on vinyl? It simple answer is Yes! Because sublimating vinyl is also a lot more everlasting process as compared to printable vinyl. In this process, you do not have to worry that the colour will wear off if it is washed when your project is used. Today, in this article, I will teach you step-by-step about what products you require and how to carry out this amazing process for customization.

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Can You Sublimate on Vinyl? | Step-by-Step Guide

Yes, you can sublimate on vinyl. Sublimation via heat on vinyl allows you to accomplish any type of design you are aiming to sublimate. To achieve this process it is necessary to take a print of what you want to sublimate and place it on the surface. Upon heating, the dye sublimation ink will penetrate the top surface of the vinyl. With this, you will get the image perfectly as you print it on paper. If you have any design in mind for printing on vinyl, it can be achieved via the sublimation process easily.

Materials Required Before Sublimate on Vinyl

To fully customize any kind of design on the vinyl via sublimation, there are a few things that you require. Following is the list of materials required to sublimate on the vinyl, without these it will be hard to achieve the end result professionally.

• Sublimation Paper
• Sublimation Printer ( In case, you do not have this, you can buy pre-printed sublimation designs. )
• Permanent Clear Vinyl
• Heat Resistant Tape
• Scissors or Paper cutter
• Spray bottle
• Parchment Paper
• Heat press Machine
• Sublimation Design
• Vinyl product to sublimate upon

Important Factors To Consider Before Sublimation on Vinyl

Before starting any project, it is important to consider some very important factors. The same is the case with sublimation printing on vinyl, there are some necessary factors to keep in mind. Let us have a look at those important factors.

• Preheating before the transfer
• Preparing the substrate
• Cutting off the extra paper
• Temperature and Dwell Timings
• Two-sided substrate
• Storing Finished Products

Also Read: Can you sublimate on Canvas

Process Of Vinyl Sublimation

The process of sublimation on vinyl is not as complicated as it seems. But to start the process, your required material must be in place. The whole procedure can be carried out easily with full attention and in the following steps as mentioned below.

Step 1: Measure the size of the vinyl surface

Before starting any of your work, it is important to know the size you require. You should measure the size of your vinyl surface, whether it is a phone cover, or a cup, bottle, pouch, etc. After getting the measurements of the product, choose the correct measurements for your design before carrying out the process. Now that you are done with the measurements, it is time for the selection and printing of the design.

Step 2: Select and Print out Your Design

To begin this whole process, you surely need a design that you want to sublimate. The design can be anything from a manifestation quote to your child’s favourite superhero. The process as a whole starts from your computer, you select your desired design or create it, if you have any customized one in mind. If you are not sure of what you want, there are also many free designs available on the internet which you can use easily for your project.

Create your design on Coral draw, Canva, or Adobe Illustrator.

Now that you have selected your design, it is time to print it out on the sublimation paper by using a sublimation printer. There is one thing that you must make sure of is that you need to flip the image before printing it. The image is flipped so that you can achieve the correct design on your vinyl. Once you are done printing the design, it is time to cut it.

Step 3: Cut Your Sublimation Vinyl

Now that we have our design, it is time to cut it. The image is to be separated from the downloaded file. We are going to use the “Trace function” which is available in Adobe Illustrator, and in Silhouette Studio. It is very important to make sure you have traced the image in the exact size you need otherwise you will not be able to achieve neatness. The image we select needs to fit perfectly on the paper.

Once you have selected your cutting line, it is time to size the flipped image in it. Now that we are done with the sizing and have our image printed on the sublimation paper, you can cut it. You can use scissors or a paper cutter to cut the extra amount of sublimation paper to fit it accordingly on the surface of your product.

Step 4: Place the Design

Now that you have your design cut out, it is time to sublimate it. The extra corners of the paper should be cut off to have a clear and concise design. To sublimate it on the product, place the design on the surface and apply heat-resistant tape onto it to hold it in place.

The sublimation is carried out at a temperature of 375 degrees of Fahrenheit for 7 to 8 seconds. Afterwards, carefully remove the paper with the help of a mist of water from the vinyl before placing it on the surface to be printed.

Step 5: Press Your Vinyl

The design should be placed upon the heated surface and pressed on it. You should place the design where you find it most suitable to print it out. Once the printed side of the design is placed and attached to the surface of the product, you should line it up with vinyl. Now it is time to turn up the heat and press it. You should place parchment paper on the design to keep the surface from burning.

The suitable temperature for pressing the vinyl is 375 degrees of Fahrenheit to get the design on the surface. If you require sharper and more vibrant colours then it is best to have the temperature up to 390 degrees. You are to press the design for merely 7 to 8 seconds to achieve results.

Step 6: Remove the paper

After you have sublimate onto vinyl and pressed it, you have to gently remove the paper from the surface. When you have removed the paper, you will see the vibrant design on the vinyl sublimation is beautiful. You can then let the sublimated surface cool down and store it in a place of your liking.

Also Related: How to sublimate on dark t-shirt

How To Sublimate on Clear Vinyl

On clear vinyl for sublimation, you print out the design on sublimation transfer paper. After that place, the design onto the clear vinyl paper and secure it with heat-resistant tape. Next up warm the press up to 350 degrees of Fahrenheit and place the vinyl between parchment paper to press it for 25 seconds. Afterwards, let it all cool down completely to remove the transfer.

While removing the paper from the printable vinyl, use a mist of water and a paper towel. Cut off the excess vinyl and place it onto a clean surface. You then apply the sublimated clear vinyl on your desired surface just as any other regular vinyl. The clear sublimation vinyl gives you vibrant colours on clear surfaces, for example, a white ceramic cup, or a white water tumbler.

Can You Sublimate on White Glitter HTV

Yes! But for sublimation on vinyl htv, you will have to follow the exact same steps that I have mentioned above throughout the article. You will need to cut the shape of the design you require and print the graphic design onto white glitter HTV. Afterwards, place and tape the design on the surface to be sublimated and heat it up to 350 degrees of Fahrenheit. With great care peel off the carrier from the glittering surface and enjoy your awesome design at sublimate on white vinyl.

Frequently Asked Questions For Beginners

Final Thoughts

In the end, We hope that now you are well aware of you can sublimate on vinyl and how to sublimate it. Sublimation once mastered is quite an interesting process. You can adorn the things you find plain in a design of your own. The process allows you to go completely creative with creating customized designs of your liking. This process can also help you start up your own small business of customizing products for people.