Do you love those funky and fun-loving keychains, photo frames, item organizers, decorative pieces, and many other acrylic items on the internet? But cannot buy those because they are low quality and can cost you a lot? Don’t worry, we have the perfect solution for you guys. You can make all these things at home with minimum effort and cost via sublimation on acrylic. This might interest you that you can have completely personalized and customized items with your own designs on them all with the help of a simple procedure known as sublimation on acrylic.
We can assume that you might have liked this idea but wait how are you going to do this sublimation work on acrylic. You do not have to panic as long as we got your back. We researched deep into this matter, analyzed everything closely, and brought to you a simple, easy, and fun way to do sublimation on acrylic. Yes, you heard this absolutely right. We penned down a step-by-step guide that can help you learn the procedure with all the crucial details and important factors to consider.
How to do sublimation on acrylic?
Sublimate different acrylic items to create your online brand or business. Before you start to learn the procedure, we will recommend you to clear all the distractions from your surroundings and divert all your attention to this guide because the better you understand the greater experience you can have.
Let’s dive into the guide to learn and understand the process.
Procedure: Sublimation on acrylic
Prevention is always better than cure so before we get to the procedure of sublimation on acrylic, we added some precautions and safety measures because the heat press machine operated at high temperature and can also cause an accident in case of negligence.
The precautions you must always follow while sublimating on acrylic are as follow:
👉 Wear a heat-protected glove
👉 Stay away from heat press machine while sublimation
👉 Carefully work with cables and wires
Let’s start with the first step of the procedure.
Step #1: Gather all the required material
The first step of sublimation on acrylic is to gather all the materials that you will require during the process. It is better to gather them all before starting the procedure so you do not have to stop during the procedure to lower your productivity and break your flow. Here are the materials you need for sublimation on acrylic: (Links attached for ease)
- Sublimation paper
- Sublimation ink
- Sublimation printer
- Heat press machine
Let’s get to the second step of the procedure.
Step #2: Making custom designs
The next and second step of sublimating procedure on acrylic is to create your own custom design for attractive and stylish keychains, photo frames, or anything you like. There are different software for designing different products such as adobe photoshop, canva, and many other. There are endless designs that you can create with designing software for sublimation on acrylic. You can make abstract designs, repeating patterns, typography, and many other options are available.
If you do not know how to design or are concerned about the style then there is no need to worry because you can also download a design from the internet such as flowers, shapes, or anything that you like. Another option you can use ad designs are cartoons, superheroes figures, and anything trendy available on the internet.
Step # 3: Printing on a sublimation paper
The third step of the sublimation procedure is to print the design you made or choose in step number 2. The step is very easy and simple as you just have to transfer the image or design from a laptop or computer to the printer via a USB, SD card, or wireless connection. There are other options also available for transferring images to the sublimation printer.
While transferring the image from the source, you are required to make sure the accurate size of the design because enlarging it with printer settings can spoil the quality of the design. Adjust the settings of the sublimation printer and click on the print button to print the design on sublimation paper.
Step # 4: Setting heat press machine
The next step you have to follow is setting up the heat pressing machine and all the other items so you can sublimate with a flawless experience. First, you have to tape the design you printed in step number 3 to the acrylic blanks or disc.
You can use white acrylic, black acrylic, or transparent acrylic according to your needs and requirement of the design.
Place the taped acrylic disc and design in the heat-safe paper and then use the Teflon sheets to cover it. It is important to follow all these procedures because the heat press machine uses high temperatures that can take damage the acrylic sheets or blanks.
Step #5: Sublimation on acrylic
The second last step of the procedure is to use the heat press machine. You have to heat the heat press machine at a temperature of 250 degrees to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are confused about the temperature, you can also check the instruction or manual guide of the heat press machine and sublimation printer. Carefully place the acrylic disk with all the sheet preparations into the heat press machine and wait for 1 minute.
Step #6: Remove the acrylic blank
The second last step of the procedure is to remove the acrylic blank from the heat press machine. This step is very crucial and you have to pay full attention to the step. After removing the acrylic disk or blank from the heat press machine apply some weight on it for best results and let it cool down. Remove the paper and sink the acrylic item in water for 30 seconds so the glued paper can easily come off.
Conclusion:
Sublimation on acrylic is an amazing idea as there is a huge demand for acrylic items in the market such as keychains, photo frames, stickers, awards, trophies, decoration pieces, and many more. If you learn and understand the procedure we explained above and ace it by practicing every day then you can open your own customized acrylic business to earn you some extra money. A lot of people are doing this around the globe and have received huge success. If you provide quality work and attractive design to the people then in no time you will also have your own business that is also fun to do.
We think this much motivation is enough to make you excited for a sublimation business. We summarized everything related to the procedure so you can revise all the factors to keep them in your mind for a long time. The first step of the procedure is to get all the materials and then start creating a design that will attract people and urge them to buy. Next, print the design on sublimation paper, put it in the heat press machine for a while and you are all done. We wish you the best of luck with sublimation on acrylic.
