Sublimation Rules Were Made to be Broken

New heat pressing techniques and garment colors are taking sublimation apparel from ho-hum to hip.
Sept 1, 2007

By Kim Stryker

Listening to the market, the biggest misconception I hear most often is that images cannot be sublimated on colored garments. If you practice this school of thought, then it's time to drop out. While the fabric color range for sublimation is slightly more restricted than for traditional screen printing or discharge, don't let this stop you from experimenting with the huge array of sublimation-friendly colors available.

There are four important points to remember when designing for sublimation on a colored garment:

Rule No. 1: When choosing colors for your graphic, consider the garment's color.

Since sublimation inks permanently dye the image into the fabric, the garment's color will blend into your graphic. While this may seem challenging, apply the same concept you learned in elementary school art class: yellow and blue make green, red and blue make purple and so on. Below are some guidelines that may be helpful when choosing shades, as well as the RGB (red, green and blue) values of a few of my favorite color combinations.

Pink
If your strategy is to master one color at a time, I would start with pink. From athletes to fashion divas, this is one hot color for any business's bottom line. An "airbrush" appearance works exceptionally well on this color, or try matching your text to the highlighted shade on a ringer for a nice contrast.

Colors to Try with Pink

Gray: RGB 85/85/87

Flesh Tone: RGB 217/166/147

Brown: RGB 76/61/0

Hot Pink: RGB 245/47/172


Yellow
If you are using a vibrant yellow shirt, certain shades of light blue may have a slight green hue when pressed. However, if the garment color is a soft yellow, you will not experience any color shift and your graphic colors will appear enhanced.

Colors That Work with Bright Yellow

Turquoise: RGB 28/149/182

Green: RGB 11/111/60

Red: RGB 193/32/44

Soft Yellow's Complementary Hues

Gold: RGB 233/210/170 (color is subtle)

Soft Pink: RGB 210/65/109

Hot Pink: RGB 249/16/113

Green: RGB 151/178/131

Teal: RGB 31/153/156

Blue
My experience has been that blue — as long as it is not a dark shade such as navy — is an excellent fabric color to work with and can add richness to green, blue and purple garments. If you choose something from the orange family — RGB 185/85/0, for example — it will transfer as a rich golden brown. Flesh tones sublimate beautifully onto a blue garment.

Hues to Try with Blue

Turquoise: RGB 0/101/170

Bright Green: RGB 106/208/0

Dark Fuchsia: RGB 111/0/83


Silver/Gray
Little to no shift in color will occur with this shade. Vibrant and muted colors look great on this color.

Colors to Try with Silver or Gray

Slate Blue: RGB 104/122/126

Dark Slate Blue: RGB 52/61/63

Light Sky Blue: RGB 177/211/218

Green: RGB 40/77/45

Cherry Red: RGB 151/21/21

Key Lime Green
This is a color that gives a shirt "style" when combined with a great graphic. Second only to pink, key lime green is popular with the tween, teen and 20-something markets. Lavenders and browns give this color a soft, feminine look, while bright blues and greens offer a tropical feel.

Key Lime Complements

Lime: RGB 178/255/43

Turquoise: RGB 116/183/193

Indigo: RGB 42/66/102

Chocolate: RGB 36/29/25

Lavender: RGB 115/84/123


Terra Cotta/Burnt Orange
As many have found, there is no need to fear sublimating on this color. Certain RGB values create beautiful contrasts and the shade is extremely popular with the outdoor markets — camps, Sierra Clubs, scouts, etc.

Rhymes with Orange

Orange-Red: RGB 164/25/0

Wine: RGB 111/0/83

Blue: RGB 0/79/178

Royal Blue: RGB 24/20/255

Red: RGB 142/2/1

Slate: RGB 38/52/59

Brown: RGB 65/30/2



Coffee/Medium Brown
This is a unisex shade that is very adaptable to sublimation. While color may appear muted, it does not look dull.

Cream and Sugar for Coffee

Red (RGB 206/01/06)

Chocolate Brown (RGB 21/10/04)

Purple (RGB 91/0/142)


Rule No. 2: Always use RGB values when designing for sublimation.

RGB (red, green and blue) intensity values are one mode used to define a color. These three intensity values are on a scale of 0 to 255, and I believe RGB mode offers more vibrant colors than you can achieve using the CMYK mode (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) of traditional screen printing. Given the techniques and traditions of creating graphics for garment decoration, many designers automatically work in CMYK. Once sublimated, CMYK values can appear dull and faded. While that is not the worst thing that could happen, working with RGB values will heighten your color, bringing greater depth and richness to the image.

If a customer brings you a CMYK graphic for output, there are some "tricks" you can use to increase the intensity values. If it is a vector image, you are in luck since you can easily select each section and recolor them using RGB values.

If the image has been flattened or is a photograph, first change the color mode in your graphic program to RGB. Don't be misled — changing the mode will not magically change the color's intensity to read as RGB. This is due to how CMYK is interpreted in RGB, which is not a 1-to-1 relationship. Nowhere does this prove truer than with black.

If you have 100% black in CMYK (C0/M0/Y0/K100) and you simply use the Mode > Change Mode command, you will find that same "black" in RGB will read as R39/G37/B37. The values for true black in RGB, of course, should read R0/G0/B0. If you output three blocks of black using these three variations, you will see the difference in shades.

No matter which graphic program you use, there will be settings for saturating, contrasting, brightening or darkening your image. Experiment with these settings to intensify the color in an image. If you're sublimating on a colored garment, do not be afraid to intensify the color to a near-fluorescent shade. Once the printed garment is in the heat press, the color will tone down as it blends with the garment color and cures.

Rule No. 3: Make sure you have all color management turned off before printing.

If the colors in your image do not look as you intended, this is the first issue you should consider.

Rule No. 4: Print and press test blocks of color on the garment.

Nothing is more frustrating than creating an image, running 50 prints and then discovering your colors are off. It is a very costly mistake, but one that is avoidable if you plan. Order an extra colored garment that is strictly for creating your color palette.

Although it may cost a little extra up front, it will save you time, ink, paper, shirts and, ultimately, money. Use a Sharpie to note the RGB color values next to each test block so you can reference them later. Keep costs down by using just one extra shirt and print small test color blocks all over the extra sample. If you've used every inch of a shirt and desperately need to check a color, turn it inside out and keep testing.

Ignore Heat Press Boundaries
Do not let your heat press stifle your creativity. The placement of graphics on apparel has never been more limitless — over seams, down one sleeve, inside collars. When designing, my favorite rule of thumb is the more crooked and less centered the placement, the cooler the look.

Although many heat presses are not large enough to press the full length of a sleeve or the entire front of a shirt, the graphic can be divided into multiple presses. If perfectly piecing your graphic together for multiple presses is too much of a challenge, create a more abstract look using random lines and blots of color so it does not have to line up perfectly. All of the graphics shown here were pressed on a 14" x 17" heat press. The following are some approaches to placement that have scored big:

• Create an all-over print — cover the entire shirt (this is a great alternative for those who want a hip look, but are afraid to move beyond the white T-shirt).

• Sublimate the inside of the hood on a hoodie; sublimate the drawstrings to match.

• Create a pattern for only the collar of a polo shirt.

• Sublimate onto the "rings" of a ringer.

• Let your graphics fall off the shirt bottom or run off a sleeve.

• Sublimate up the side of a shirt, continue it over the shoulder and onto the back.

• Press the graphic at odd angles or place it close to the T-shirt's collar.

• Put a tattoo-looking image across the small of the back on a tank.

Make It an Original
Nothing says higher margins like an artist's signature or offering a limited number of a particular shirt. If the designer agrees, have him sign a white sheet of paper using a thick Sharpie. Scan the signature and incorporate it into the garment by sublimating it down a sleeve, positioning it diagonally over the shoulder or pressing it across the back of a shirt.

One of the advantages of sublimation production is the ability to easily customize an individual garment. Numbering each shirt the same way an artist numbers a run of prints is a great way to set you apart from the competition. The "exclusiveness" of owning one of just 20 shirts appeals to a certain niche of the market and can be very profitable.

Amuse Your Muse
Apparel decorators, no longer limited by the humdrum of white and block-style, centered graphics, are tapping into new markets with edgy, different creations. Don't be afraid to experiment and approach new projects with a "never say no" attitude. Every designer will tell you some of her best work happened by mistake. Who knows? Instead of following the latest trend, you may create it!

Kim Stryker is the creative director for Vapor Apparel and a former graphic designer for Sawgrass Technologies. Her work in both graphic and fine arts has won numerous regional and national awards. She has designed for several celebrities, including Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins and Tom Hanks. Contact her at marketing@vaporapparel.com.

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