The Six Most Common Sublimation Printing Problems (and How to Fix Them)
Sublimation printing is reliable once your workflow is dialled in, but getting there usually means running into a few issues along the way. Most problems come down to the same handful of causes: temperature, pressure, time, paper, or nozzles. This guide covers the six issues that come up most often and gives you specific fixes for each one, so you can stop guessing and start solving.
1. Faded or Washed-Out Colours
This is probably the single most common complaint from people new to sublimation. You press a transfer and the colours come out pale, dull, or nothing like what you saw on screen.
Start by checking your heat press temperature and time. Sublimation transfers need enough heat to fully convert the solid dye into gas. If the temperature is too low or the pressing time is too short, the ink will not fully transfer, leaving you with a faded result. For most flat substrates, you are looking at around 180-200°C for 45-60 seconds, though always check the specific recommendations for your blank.
Next, check which side of the sublimation paper you printed on. Sublimation paper has a printable side (the brighter, whiter side) and a plain side. If you printed on the wrong side, the ink will not release properly during pressing and your colours will look washed out. This catches more people than you would expect.
Finally, confirm that your substrate is actually suitable for sublimation. The process only works on polyester or polymer-coated surfaces. A cotton t-shirt will not hold sublimation ink no matter how perfect your settings are. The ink needs polyester fibres or a polyester coating to bond with. If you are pressing onto fabric, it needs to be at least 65% polyester, though 100% will always give the best results.
2. Ghosting or Blurry Prints
Ghosting is when you see a shadow or double image around your design. It happens when the sublimation paper shifts during the pressing process, even by a fraction of a millimetre. Once the paper moves, the ink re-deposits in a slightly different position, creating that blurred or shadowed look.
The fix is simple: tape the transfer paper to the substrate before pressing. Use heat-resistant tape along at least two edges to hold the paper firmly in place. When you close the press, make sure the substrate does not slide. When you open the press after the transfer, peel the paper away in one smooth motion rather than lifting it tentatively, as hesitating can cause the still-warm paper to re-contact the substrate.
Also check your heat press pressure. If the pressure is too light, the paper can shift more easily during pressing. You want firm, even contact across the entire surface.
3. Lines and Banding
Horizontal lines or streaks across your printed transfer almost always point to clogged print head nozzles. Run a nozzle check from your printer's utility software to confirm. If you see gaps in any of the colour channels, run a head cleaning cycle.
If the lines persist after one or two cleaning cycles, you may need a power cleaning or a manual print head clean. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide on how to clean the print heads on an Epson EcoTank.
Lines can also appear if you are printing in Draft mode. Always set your print quality to High for sublimation work. Draft mode reduces the number of passes the print head makes, which leaves visible gaps between each pass.
4. Colour Shifts (Greens, Oranges, or Wrong Tones)
If your prints are coming out with a noticeable colour cast, like skin tones going orange or blues turning green, the most likely cause is an incorrect or missing ICC colour profile. An ICC profile tells your printer how to translate the colours in your design file into the correct ink output for your specific ink and paper combination. Without the right profile, the printer is essentially guessing, and it will usually guess wrong.
Check with your ink supplier for the correct ICC profile. If you bought your printer or ink from Sublishop, the profile should have been included with your order. Install it on your computer and select it in your printer driver or design software before printing.
The type of sublimation paper you use can also affect colour accuracy. Different papers have different coatings that absorb and release ink at different rates. If you switch paper brands, you may need to adjust your ICC profile or at least run a test print to check that your colours still look right.
5. Transfer Paper Sticking to the Blank
If your sublimation paper is sticking to the substrate after pressing, or tearing when you try to peel it away, you are almost certainly using too much pressure, too high a temperature, or pressing for too long. Any of these can cause the paper to bond to the polymer coating on the blank.
Reduce your pressure first, as this is the most common culprit. You want firm contact, not crushing force. Then check your temperature and time against the recommendations for that specific blank. Different substrates have different tolerances, and what works for a ceramic coaster will not necessarily work for a mug.
Using good quality sublimation paper also helps, as cheaper papers with thinner coatings are more prone to sticking.
6. Inconsistent Results Between Prints
You press one mug and it looks great. The next one, using the same file and the same settings, comes out noticeably different. This is usually a heat press calibration issue.
Many heat presses, particularly cheaper flat presses, do not heat evenly across the entire platen. The centre may be hotter than the edges, or one corner may run cooler than the rest. You can test this by pressing a large sheet of sublimation paper with a solid colour block across the full platen area. If the colour is patchy or varies across the surface, your press has uneven heating.
Pressure can also be uneven. If one side of the press closes tighter than the other, that side will transfer more ink, giving you a darker result on one edge and a lighter one on the opposite side. Check that your press closes with equal force across its full surface. Some presses have adjustment screws or knobs at each corner that let you fine-tune the pressure distribution.
If you are pressing multiple items in a single session, give the press time to recover its temperature between presses. Opening the press releases heat, and if you load the next blank immediately, the platen may not have reached the correct temperature yet. A digital temperature readout helps here, as you can wait until it is back to your target before pressing the next item.
Getting Consistent Results
Most sublimation problems come back to the same core variables: temperature, time, pressure, paper, and nozzle health. Once you have each of these locked down for a particular substrate, you should be able to reproduce the same result every time. Keep notes on the settings that work for each type of blank you press, and always run a test print on a spare before committing to a full run. Browse our sublimation consumables range to make sure you have the right ink, paper, and supplies for reliable results.