Most dye sublimation t-shirts start out white in colour, allowing a blank canvas for your design. Your design, and background colour are then printed onto the t-shirt.
We have 2 ways we produce our dye sublimation t-shirts.
The first is done here in the UK, allowing for a rapid 10-12 day turnaround time. The garments are pre-made (specifically for sublimation printing). They are laid flat onto the print bed and printed. When using this production method we advise against designs with large areas of solid black, as generally this will appear faded, and may not print over seams well. This issue is limited just to printing black – so we suggest using another colour if large solid coverage is required. This is industry standard.
The other way we produce sublimation t-shirts is using a process called cut and sew. This is done overseas, so has a lead time of 5-6 weeks. Additionally, due to the bespoke nature of production, 25 units is considered a sample order (we cannot provide single unit samples). As the panels are printed prior to the t-shirt construction, we’re able to get perfect print coverage, so printing in black isn’t a problem. With this process we can Pantone match ensuring colours are exactly as you need them.