Sublimating on a Black Poly/Viscose Blend
with Siser® EasySubli® HTV, Sawgrass SG400, & Silhouette Cameo 3
The wait is over- EasySubli® heat transfer vinyl has finally arrived! The HTV that bridges the gap between sublimation and colored polyester, cotton, rayon, and many more is now available through a select variety of authorized distributors. For purchasing inquiries, please email us at Info@SiserNA.com.
Now before you go and buy up the whole lot, here’s a few other things you need to achieve best results with EasySubli.
EasySubli Companion Products
- Sawgrass SG400 printer* (SG400 discontinued for SG500)
- Siser® EasySubli Inks by Sawgrass**
- EasySubli Mask***
- Silhouette Cameo 3****
- Heat Press or Cricut EasyPress
*EasySubli will also work with the Sawgrass SG800(SG800 discontinued for SG1000.)Other brands of sublimation inks and printers may work, but they will require trial and error testing. Siser has partnered with Sawgrass to develop special inks and a profile for the greatest print quality with the least hassle.
**EasySubli Inks can also be printed on standard sublimation papers like Sawgrass Truepix for the traditional sublimation process.
***EasySubli Mask is not always necessary. Mask is only required when designs have multiple pieces that need to be kept in alignment.
****EasySubli can also be cut with other electronic cutting machines. Check out the Cricut tutorial here and the Brother ScanNCut tutorial here.
Here are a few more things I used to make this graduation tank top:
- Siser Weeder
- Heat Transfer Pillow
- 65% Polyester/35% Viscose Tank Top
- Parchment Paper
Since I’m not limited to light polyester garments anymore, I decided to go with a black tank top. This breezy beauty from Bella + Canvas is great for a summer graduation party and will be perfect when we’re through customizing it! So let’s get started!
Step 1: Set up Your Print & Cut File in Silhouette Studio
If you’ve made stickers, cupcake toppers, or any other kind of paper craft, you might already be familiar with creating a print and cut file in Silhouette Studio. For those of you who aren’t as experienced, I’m going to walk you through the steps. The easiest way to make your file ready for printing and cutting is to go to File>New Project Wizard>Print and Cut. This will open a file that already has registration marks in the corners.
However, it’s simple to start in a blank document as well. You just want to make sure of a couple things:
1. Turn on Registration marks for the type of machine you’re using. Within Page Setup>Registrations Marks select Style “Type 1” for all Cameos as well as the Portrait and Curio.
2. Set Page Size to “Current Printer” or “Letter” (8.5″x11″) for the SG400/SG500 printer. This will vary depending on your printer since the SG800/SG1000 takes 11″x17″ sheets.
3. Check the “Show Print Border” and “Show Cut Border” boxes.
4. Use the Trace tool to create cut lines. Afterwards, I recommend adding a .025 internal offset to create a bleed edge (deleting the original cut line.) A bleed allows a margin for error. So if the Cameo’s cutting is a little bit off, it’s likely the printed portion will still be cut without white spaces. Use the Horizontal and Vertical Alignment tools to center the bleed cut line and printable image before printing. DO NOT move your image or cut line in Silhouette Studio after sending the design to print, otherwise it may cut incorrectly!
As for the art itself, you can design in Silhouette Studio using the text, shape, and crop tools to make a similar file to what I’ve created or you can design in a third party software. In that case, you’ll need to save your image as a .jpeg or .png in order to open it in basic Silhouette Studio. Designer and Business edition can open more file types.
However you decide to get your file into Silhouette Studio is up to you, the only rule is: Do not overlap your printing guidelines. Although the registration marks are small, they are allotted extra space indicated by the smaller gray grid lines. Parts of the image that overlap the gray shaded corners will not print. So I’ve centered my 9″x6″ design and I’m ready to print with our Sawgrass SG400.
Step 2: Print Design with Sawgrass SG400 Sublimation Printer
If you have a new printer, follow the installation instructions for Siser EasySubli Inks by Sawgrass. If your printer is currently utilizing another type of ink, please contact Sawgrass Customer Support for further guidance.
1. Place EasySubli in printer tray so the glossy side is facing up.
2. Send the design to the printer by selecting File>Print or choosing the printer icon from the top left ribbon.
3. Select “Virtuoso Print Manager” (AKA “VPM”)* from the list of possible printers and pack your patience because this program takes a minute to start up, but trust that it is working! This step is very important- Sending to the Print Manager allows you to adjust the print profile. Selecting the actual printer itself before adjusting the PM is not recommended and can result in too much ink deposited on the material.
*After this blog post was first created, “Virtuoso Print Manager” has been updated to simply “Sawgrass Print Manager” or “Print Manager” and will be referred to as such or “PM” for the rest of this blog post.
4. Select “Siser EasySubli Vinyl” from the “Substrate” and “Paper” drop downs. Additionally, make sure the “Mirror” box is NOT checked. If these options are not available, you may be running an older version of PM. Click here for instructions on updating your PM and activating the Siser Edition.
5. If your print preview does not appear due to a layout or sizing error, go to the “Layout” tab in PM and check the “PM Performs Layout” box. Alternatively, you could export your design from Silhouette Studio as a PDF file, drag and drop that file onto the PM desktop icon, and select the same settings in PM from the previous step.
6. Select “Print” in PM and listen for the tell tale sounds of the SG400/SG500 sucking in a sheet of EasySubli to get this printing party started!
7. Carefully remove the printed sheet from the tray to avoid smudging the damp inks and set aside to air dry for 30 minutes. Damp inks and over saturated prints can prevent EasySubli Mask from bonding properly so this step is especially important if you plan to use the mask.
The drying process can be sped up by placing the printed sheet under a Clam Shell Heat Press (that is open, on, and heated up) for 60 seconds. The residual heat will do the work of 30 minutes in just 1! With this drying method you may notice the colors begin to develop a little under the heat. This is normal and will not effect the overall vibrancy of the end result.
However, it is NOT RECCOMENDED to use the quick dry method if you are using a drawer style or swing away style Heat Press. The residual heat is too close to the HTV on these types of presses and may activate the adhesive on the back therefore bonding it to the liner and making masking almost impossible.
If your design is one big piece that doesn’t need to be cut (or it can be hand cut), then there’s no need to dry or mask it. However, be very cautious when removing printed EasySubli from the backing and transferring to your garment to prevent smudging the inks. If you’re in this boat, you can skip the next two steps and move onto Step #5: Heat Application!
If your design is like mine and it’s made up of multiple pieces, then it’s cutting time…on the next page that is.
Will this work with a Cricut?
Hi Brook! Yes, EasySubli™ will also work with the Cricut. The process is very similar, however the steps in Cricut Design Space are somewhat different than Silhouette Studio. Please keep your eye out for a full step-by-step tutorial coming soon!
When I print then cut with the cameo and siser easy subli it cuts past my image even though the trace lines are right on the image on my screen. I have an epson et2720. Am I missing a setting?
Hi Rachel! It sounds like you may need to re-calibrate your Cameo. If that doesn’t solve the issue, you can try adding a bleed around the edge of your design to allow for the blade to cut slightly off the lines and not be noticeable.
What are the cut settings for the easy subli on the Silhouette Cameo
Becky, the cut settings for popular craft cutters are listed on the EasySubli™ page along with other useful information. https://www.siserna.com/easysubli/
Why would the ink be running once I put it on the heat press? I’ve dried it for the 60 seconds before taking the backing off and putting it on my shirts?
Hi Sharon! It sounds like you may be using a heavily saturated image. Please ensure you’re using the correct print profile and contact our support team at Support@SiserNA.com if that doesn’t solve things.
I’ve printed my images using the EasySubli, let it dry under the heat-press as you noted and now it is stuck to the carrier sheet! I just wasted 22 sheets!
Oh no, David- I’m so sorry! We would appreciate the chance to help rectify this problem. Can you please email Support@SiserNA.com with any pictures/videos of the stuck EasySubli you might have? We may be able to get to the bottom of the issue so you can have success with the product in the future.
Me too! Did u find a solution or is it just trash at this point?
Hi Sandy! We would appreciate the chance to help rectify your issue. Can you please email Support@SiserNA.com with any pictures/videos of the stuck EasySubli you might have? We may be able to get to the bottom of the problem so you can have success with the product in the future.
I’m having the same problem. Please help I have wasted several paddies l pages of paper and ink! Thanks. Cindy
All tutorials I have watched shows how easy this is to weed. Is anyone else having a problem getting this to weed? My Cut marks are good around my design however, its peeling the rest away, it sticks and I end up tearing it. I finally got a good weed after some struggle and cutting away excess to but now I cannot get it to stick to the Mask. I am new to this but this is not looking as easy as I thought it was going to be – I thought the hard part would be getting the image to cut correctly. I am thinking the problem lies with drying the ink under the heat press – I think it is not only curing your ink but causing the adhesive in adhere make it harder to weed. Any thoughts or assistance would be greatly appreciated because like others we have customers that want to see their images in full color without paying the price of screenprinting but they love their black shirts and this will be a great solution if I can figure out the weeding and masking process for this product. Thank you!
Hi Peggy! We recommend placing the printed EasySubli® HTV under an open clam shell heat press. The top platen on a swing away heat press may be too close to the HTV and activate the adhesive as you stated. My apologies for not including an image of the drying process which may have cleared up some confusion! Additionally, if the image is very saturated with dark colors it may be more difficult for the Mask to pick it up. If you need further assistance, please contact our Product Support staff at Support@siserna.com
Can you use this the easy subli ink to print on TexPrint paper for polyester projects or are you limited to cotton when using the siser ink. That’s not made clear anywhere.
Apologies for the confusion, Evelyn! I’ve made an adjustment in the copy to note that Siser® EasySubli® Inks can be used on standard sublimation papers. Sawgrass’ Print Manager has a pre-set for TruePix paper and EasySubli Inks. You may need to experiment with your settings for success with other brands of sublimation paper.
My easi subli does not stick to the tshirt, what on earth am I doing wrong? I’ve even tried pressing 1 side up and 1 side down to make sure I’m doing it right and it will not stick! I’m not sure Ben printing on it, to make sure it will stick and not waste ink and it’s not sticking, you can peel it right off.
Hi Crystal! I’m so sorry to hear EasySubli isn’t sticking for you. We will need a few more details in order to troubleshoot this effectively. Can you please send your application settings and any pictures of the issue to Support@SiserNA.com.
Really disappointed with this purchase. I was under the impression that this was a new sublimatiom paper from Siser, to use on all types of material. However, after getting my purchase, I find out that this is just printable vinyl. Its no different than the other brand I have, except it cost me 3 times as much. Now Im out $100 for something I already had and only paid $20 for it. I wanted sublimation paper. Siser needs to adjust their advertising on Easy Subli paper.
Hi Patty, I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding around EasySubli Heat Transfer Vinyl!
Do you have any advice on why my cameo 4 plus wouldn’t be cutting around the design accurately? We have even tried to recalibrate my machine but it just isn’t cutting good at all. Any advice?
Hi Kassi! My advice is limited since we don’t make the cutters, but I have had experience with a sticky AutoBlade which led to inaccurate cuts. Sometimes the brand new blades don’t cycle through the settings like they should, so keep a close eye on your blade setting. After that, I would suggest re-calibrating which I know you tried- so next I’d check for any software and firmware updates which are typically my cause of something going funny with cutting. I hope that helps! If not, hopefully Silhouette Support can provide a solution.