Still confused? Here is how it works. The sublimation dye is printed (outputted from the printer) onto the transfer paper. To transfer the sublimated image from the transfer paper to the substrate, the paper is placed in contact with the substrate and heated to the appropriate temperature in the range of 385ºF to 425ºF depending on your ink manufactures guidelines and the sublimation ink turns into a colored gas.

When heated, the molecules of the polyester coating, fiber or film open up and accept the sublimation gas into the open pores trapping the color in the polyester molecules. When the polyester cools, it encapsulates the color which turns back into a solid. The transfer of color is now complete.

There are a variety of garments commercially available that are high in polyester concentration (at least 80% polyester) that are suitable for sublimation. Many screen-printers choose sublimation transfers as an option for short run orders to avoid the labor intensive screen-print process. However the higher cost of sublimation ink and specialty polyester garments still leaves a majority of the long run print jobs to screen-printing. This will change in time as the polyester garments come down in price due to higher demand for the product, and as better manufacturing processes for these garments comes into age.