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If you are just starting to build up the materials needed for sublimation printing, I would advise you to prioritize getting the best sublimation paper. An essential in the process, sublimation paper is designed to release your sublimation ink onto your chosen substrate in the most effective way.
If you are a beginner to the world of sublimation printing, it can be hard to know what to buy, so I’ve put together this guide of the best paper choices on the market. Though they’re just my opinion, I think all of these make for a markedly higher standard of sublimation print, and are all worth the extra investment.
What sublimation paper should you use for the best results?
The A-sub 125 GSM is the ideal paper to use in an Epson or Sawgrass printer. It absorbs the colors very well and has a high transfer rate onto a wide variety of blanks like t-shirts, mugs, tumblers, wood, etc.
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Even though everyone likes a good mystery, it is better to be upfront while listing sublimation papers. Therefore, we shall start with a quick list and what each paper type is best for:
Now that you have the list, you can always go and check all of the brands of sublimation paper individually. Keep reading for further details on each sublimation paper pack.
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Starting from a competitive price point for the smallish 4” x 9.5” sheets, A-SUB’s line of sheets are highly competitive and – in my mind – the best sublimation paper set on the market today. With compatibility ranging from top-of-the-line sublimation printers through to Epson’s range of convertible printers, this paper is ideal for any situation.
As for the substrate, this paper works really well with blended fabrics, polyester, and polyamide. While the company urges you to try the same on hard substrate, I would recommend sticking to the fabrics for now, especially if you are a newbie. The ink-based compatibility is also extensive, with SawGrass Sublijet UHD, Hiipoo, and Cosmos ink variants working seamlessly with the same.
You can choose from an extensive array of sizes such as 8.5” x 11”, 8.5” x 14”, and 13” x 19”. Plus, there is an option to opt for the number of sheets you want to get for each size, with the stacks ranging between 110 to even 150 sheets per the preferred size. This makes your life easier in case you always follow highly specified printing instructions with a focus on size.
You can pick anything between 75 GSM to 140 GSM, depending on the substrate you are looking at. However, these paper sheets have a standard drying time of 60 to 120 seconds, which you must keep in mind for perfect design infusion.
Do note that 75 GSM paper is the lightest and precisely meant for fabrics and faded images. You can use 90-100 GSM sheets for glass, metal, and even ceramic substrates.
All this makes for a fantastic set of sublimation paper options. And whilst your choices to get more expensive at the higher end, A-SUB remains the best sublimation paper manufacturer on the market
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Beaver’s TexPrint lineup of sublimation paper sheets is definitely one of the market leaders. Today, I shall focus specifically on the Beaver TexPrint DT heavy paper stack, boasting 110 sheets and a sheet size of 11” x 17”. Boasting quick drying speeds and a range of alternative sizes, TexPrint paper is a top-notch line sublimation paper.
This paper stack works best with Sawgrass printers such as the Sawgress SG500. You can easily get your hands on sheets with basic weights ranging from 105 GSM to all the way up to 140 GSM. The 105 GSM and 115 GSM sheets are the most popular. Ink-wise, TexPrint DT works well with pigment-based and sublimation ink variants. As a professional, I would urge you to test the same with the likes of InkTec and Mutoh inks over anything else.
The TexPrint transfer paper is resistant to off-settings and smudging, which ensures top-notch printing. The transfer rate is anywhere between 95% to 98%, depending on the substrate you are using. The coating dries up quickly and even keeps bleeding out of the question. It lacks a lot of tackiness, which can work well if you want something that’s peelable or rather removable.
It is more expensive, even at the cheaper end of the spectrum, than other contemporary sublimation paper ranges; but I think that this line of great sublimation paper is worth the extra cost!
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For highly detailed and vivid colors that transfer directly to your choice of t-shirt or other substrate, consider HTVRONT’s range of sublimation paper. Also known for their ink ranges, this brand delivers great quality with tremendous value for money.
You can own any inkjet printer, and this sublimation paper will work like a charm. I tested it with one of my all-time favorites — the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500 — and everything, right from the print quality to the transfer rate, was impeccable. Do note that the HTVRONT sublimation paper works equally well with printers from HP, Canon, Epson, and more.
Naturally, you can expect the best results with the HTVRONT sublimation ink, especially if you plan on working with light-colored fabrics, including bags, t-shirts, and pillows. If you have any substrate where the cotton content is less than 30%, this paper type is the one to go with. Plus, the uniform 125 GSM basis weight makes the sheets acts like heavy paper, making it highly usesful for sublimation blanks other than fabric.
One issue I did encounter was that the heavier paper did cause jams more frequently, which was frustrating to encounter. They’re still rare, but it was noticeable. I still recommend the HTVRONT sublimation paper, for tremendously vivid colors at a great price per page!
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I always recommend Hiipoo sublimation ink to people just starting out in sublimation, as I find it’s the best sublimation ink on the market. Whilst I don’t rate their range of sublimation paper quite so highly, it’s still ideal for common substrates such as polyester.
The variant that I choose comes with 110 sheets, each of 120GSM. Each sheet was 8.5” x 11”, making it useful for mugs and medium-sized t-shirts. As it is a 120 GSM paper type, the pressure and temperature requirement would be on the higher side. This would ensure that the ink transfer is optimal. The transfer efficiency of Hiipoo’s sublimation paper is close to 98%. This ensures that almost every bit of the ink gets infused with the substrate. The ink dries almost immediately after it gets out of the printer.
Even though the tackiness was more than adequate for me, you might even want to try those heat-resistant tapes to keep the paper aligned with the substrate. I have had the paper go through some significant curling in the past. Still, for getting started in sublimation printing with reliable sublimation paper, you could do a lot worse – just be sure to have some tape on-hand…
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With a 98% transfer rate and an affordable price point, the Printers Jack range of sublimation paper is the best budget range on the market. Each sheet costs around 15 cents, which is why I recommend it to those on a budget.
Despite it’s affordable price, this sublimation paper boasts excellent substrate compatibility. You’ll be able to use it on nearly every possible material, from plates to phone cases. You can choose between 8.3” x 11.7”, 8.5” x 11”, 13” x 19” paper sizes, among a few other variants depending on your preferences. Printers Jack allows you to get 105 GSM, 120 GSM, and 125 GSM versions of each. The maximum temperature for any use case is 374°F (at 120 GSM).
Any higher than that, however, is where the issues arise. Bleeding is a likelihood at higher temperature ranges, which can be unfortunate for more specialist materials. For most standard applications, however, Printers Jack’s range is ideal for sublimation on a budget!
Now that I have listed five of my go-to brands of sublimation paper, here is a list of what I usually consider while selecting:
Always look for a paper that’s compatible with most printers, like Epson, SawGrass, and more. And even though some brands might promise top possible performance with their own sublimation inks, nothing beats a paper that can work with other dye- or even pigment-based inks.
Depending on the substrate you want the design to infuse with, you can pick sublimation papers with varying GSM or basis weights. You can start as low as 70 GSM if you are a newbie and looking for some affordable options. You can go as high as 140 GSM if you want to print hoodies and on thicker substrates.
The company is the world’s best types of sublimation paper supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
On closer inspection, you can find sublimation papers with either high-release or low-release coating. While the high-release sublimation papers work with thicker ink coats, the low-release ones are meant for light-colored substrates and work perefect with thinner coats.
The size of the paper you choose is important, depending on the substrate you choose. And if you like a paper better than others, it is important to see if you can get your hands on different sizes of the same, especially to get the desired surface-to-print fit.
Apart from these factors, you also need to consider the transfer rate (higher the better), drying time (lower the better), heat resistance, brand reputation, and even the price before purchasing.
Basis weight is the weight of the paper type, based in “grams per square meter”.
What is considered heavy paper?Anything from 120 to 150 GSM is considered “heavy” paper, that’s generally thicker. For thicker materials such as hoodies or or bags, a heavier-GSM paper is more suitable.
Across the range of different options, the best sublimation paper for one may not be the best for all. I hope my breakdown of my recommendations were insightful, and you now have the right materials for your next sublimation project!
For more top product recommendations, including the best heat press machines for beginners, stay tuned with my here at the Cranky Press Man!
This detailed review will show you which is the best sublimation paper.
We compare six (6) sublimation papers and show you the actual printed transfers, final pressed images so you can see for yourself what the differences are, and the cost of each sheet of paper. Our detailed comparison and review of the most commonly used sublimation papers will help you decide which sublimation paper is the best.
There are many sublimation papers to choose from and doing the research can take hours and days. You can read the reviews on buyer’s feedback, read the reviews on sublimation groups, and listen to the pitches from the manufacturers themselves. All this information can make your head spin and you may be more confused than getting closer to finding which paper to get.
After you spend so much time doing the homework and researching which sublimation printer is the best one, which ink to use, what heat press for sublimation to get, then you know choosing the right sublimation paper can play a big role in what your final, pressed sublimated projects will look like.
But don’t just trust the word of the reviewers or people who use them. See for yourself with our detailed sublimation paper review. This comparison and review of the sublimation papers should help you decide what the best sublimation paper is based on actual printed transfers and final pressed sublimation blanks.
We have several reasons for doing this comparison and review of the most widely used sublimation papers.
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To help you choose which is the best sublimation paper, we are comparing the six (6) most popular sublimation papers that a lot of sublimakers use.
The six papers we purchased to use for our comparison testing are: Printers Jack for Light Colors, A-Sub 105G, Epson DS Transfer Multi-Use Paper, Koala Sublimation Paper, HTVront, and Texprint-DT Sublimation Paper. We used the 8x5x11″ size for this testing.
1 – Sublimation Papers Used For TestingThe backside of this sublimation transfer is blue so there is no confusion as to which side is the one that you print on. This is a plus because if you’ve ever made a mistake on printing on the wrong side of the paper, it is a complete waste of time, paper, ink, and sublimation blank.
In the US, it is available in three sizes: 11×17”, 13×19”, and 8.3×11.7”. You can choose which size to get according to your sublimation blanks, printer, and heat press.
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A Sub is available in 105g and 125g weights. The 105g is thinner than the 125g paper. The thicker paper is made for designs with deep, heavy colors while the lighter paper is for designs with lighter colors.
We chose the 105g because it was in stock and the 125g was out of stock at the time of our purchase.
The backside of this paper has a faint A-Sub watermark. This is helpful because you can see which side to print on.
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This Epson DS Transfer Multi-Use Paper came with our sublimation printer, the F170, so we decided to test it.
It has a matte surface and feels as thick as the Texprint DT Heavy paper. According to the epson website, it is made from Alpha Cellulose Paper with a thickness of 4.5 mil and weighs 85gsm. It is made for a wide variety of sublimation substrates including textiles and hard substrates. It also has a high ink transferability.
The backside of this sublimation paper is not marked and it is white, just like the front, printable side. The only difference is that the front is brighter white. So you will have to look hard to figure out which is the front and which is the back.
Swing Design
To figure out what side is the front (printable) side of a sublimation paper, compare the front and back. The brighter, whiter side is generally the printable side.
If you print on the back side, then your image may not transfer or if it does, it will be dull.
The backside of this sublimation paper is blue so you can quickly tell which side is the printable side. There seems to be a newer version of this paper now as the packaging that’s available is different and the back has a watermark instead of the color blue. The manufacturer said it is the same except for packaging.
One thing we noticed with this paper is that it is the thinnest of the six we tested.
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This paper is what we have been using for our business for years because it has given us consistent results. We have been happy with the colors and have not had any problems with getting it from our suppliers. But since there are other sublimation papers available, we are always open to trying new papers…which is one of the reasons why we are doing this comparison testing.
It has the Texprint watermark on the back so we always know which side is the printable side. It comes in multiple sizes including the small mug sizes (3.5×9” and 4×9.5”), letter, legal, tabloid (11×17”) and 13×19”.
In 2021, Texprint DT Heavy is the new name for Texprint-R paper. They are the same exact paper and the only difference is the name.
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Heat Press Nation
The backside of this sublimation paper is watermarked so you won’t confuse which is the printable side. We used the 125g weight for this sublimation paper comparison test.
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The design we used is our original creation using Adobe Photoshop 2022, 300ppi, and in RGB color mode. This RGB format is what you will be using for your own sublimation designs in order to have the best pressed outcome.
Although there are other design softwares you can use for sublimation, Adobe is our favorite as it is capable of handling professional photography images that we use for our sublimation designs.
Below is the screenshot of the image we used to compare the sublimation papers. We made it so it is bright, colorful, vivid, and has a wide range of the colors.
Image used for sublimation paper comparison, ©SublimakersAcademyAnd the below image is the actual jpg image we sent to the printer to print on the sublimation papers we tested.
For this comparison, we chose to use a hard substrate: an 8×12-inch white aluminum that’s made for sublimation. We used this because we have a few leftover from a sublimation project.
It has a bright white surface which, in our own personal business experience, sublimates well and is very affordable.
We used our Epson SureColor F170 Sublimation Printer for this paper comparison. This printer is an actual sublimation printer rather than an inkjet printer converted for sublimation.
It is affordable and comes with a warranty and tech support from Epson. We’ve been using this printer for a couple of years now and have been happy with it’s performance. We haven’t had any problems with it at all so we haven’t called their tech support. See the full review of the Epson F170 Printer so you can see other images of our test prints from this printer.
It is equipped with the Epson Sublimation Ink that is designed for this printer. It is the only ink that is recommended by Epson to be used for this printer. As a side note, this is also the same ink that is used in the F570 Sublimation Printer. It works well with the ICC profile that Epson supplied in their printer driver.
Now let’s compare the prices of each sheet of paper. Just remember that prices can fluctuate based on many factors such as availability, additional shipping costs, and where you purchase your papers from.
For this comparison chart, we used the actual cost of the current price of the paper divided by how many sheets each pack contained. Remember that prices can fluctuate so always check current prices to do your own calculation/comparison.
Sublimation PaperCost Per Pack*Sheets Per PackCost Per Sheet*A-Sub $1911017 centsEpson$3620018 centsHTVront1612013 centsKoala$1917011 centsPrinters Jack$1610016 centsTexprint$1911017 cents*Prices may vary, increase, and change without notice. Prices are from May 2023.After printing the design on our test papers, there were not any big differences that caught our attention at first glance. Judge for yourself, can you spot any major differences on these printed sublimation transfers?
–updated images coming soon–
We have a GeoKnight DK20S Swing Away Press that we use for our business and is also what we used for this testing. This has been a workhorse and is Made in the USA!
If you’ve noticed, there can be a wide range of recommended heat press temperatures and pressing times for the same sublimation blanks. For example, the manufacturer’s website recommends 325°F for 70 seconds for these aluminum blanks.
It all comes down to finding what time and temperature works for you because it all depends on type of heat press, humidity of your environment, and amount of substrate you’re pressing at one time.
So for us and based on our experience with pressing these coasters, we found that 300°F for 50 seconds with a medium pressure is what works. We pressed one 8×12″ aluminum at a time.
After pressing the images on the blank sublimation coasters, let’s study and compare them to each other.
First, let’s take a look at the color bars. As you can see in the image below, all the colors look pretty much the same and nothing makes one stand out more than the other. The reds are reds instead of having an orange tint, and the blacks are black instead of dark brown.
–updated images coming soon–
Based on testing the six sublimation papers: A-Sub, Epson, HTVront, Koala, Printers Jack, and Texprint DT Heavy, we found that Texprint-R seems to be the best sublimation paper
Texprint DT Heavy, made by Beaver Paper (a Koehler Paper Group) and made with a Clay coating to accept the sublimation colors of the sublimation printers. We’ve been using this brand of paper for several years and we still believe it’s the best based on the sublimated images.
–updated images coming soon–
*DISCLAIMERS: Any prices mentioned above are the price at the time of the original publication. These can vary, can fluctuate, and can change at any time. Please check the retailer for current prices.
We make every effort to make sure the above information is correct and up to date by doing our due diligence when performing our research. However, typos can occur and unintended mistakes happen. We are not responsible for any incorrect data published here.
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