There is a lyric in a song written by 80’s British Pop band James that reads, “If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor.” The lyric can be interpreted along all the obvious lines such as income, free time or love life (or lack thereof). If we’ve seen the “best” that’s available, the absolute best that can be achieved, how can we afterward accept anything less? This is especially true when we’re speaking about the final imprint quality on sublimated products. For any who have compared the final quality of our own sublimated products to those we’ve seen in trade show booths, it can get frustrating when we can’t seem to hit the mark with the graphics we’re using. There is often a disconnect between the graphics sublimation decorators are currently accepting and those graphics that will yield the “best results” on the end product.

When it comes to the science-meets-art world of dye sublimation, there are a few missteps that will lead to a wasted product. There are, of course, the “user” errors which are usually chalked up to experience as we try to ignore our wastage factors. There is no one to blame but ourselves if we’ve printed to the wrong side of the paper, transferred a plaque image upside down or accidentally mirrored a transfer print destined for a glass tile. It is quite another story when the wasted product comes as a result of a blurry, pixilated or discolored final image. These types of mistakes can be avoided; you should be getting the highest-quality images.

While we could fill books about sublimation and graphic styles, techniques and editing, we’ll approach this extremely broad topic from a few, specific directions. Rarely are end users provided with any sublimation graphics education or even a cheat sheet containing recommended file formats. As a result, the potential quality of your end products might never be realized. We’ll approach the topic linearly by first discussing common image and graphic types. Next, we’ll talk about what specifications to look for in your graphics. Last, we’ll provide you with multiple links for obtaining quality graphics, joining support forums and obtaining further graphics training (both free and fee-based).

A large, high-resolution image is critical on products like this new JP “wavy” mural kit where the coating shows the finest detail.

Sublimation allows for an extremely detailed, full-color graphic to be imprinted onto most of the hundreds of ready-to-decorate blank substrates available from your dealer’s catalog. Hard substrates like coated woods, plastics, metals and ceramics are more conducive to showcasing detailed images than softer substrates like polyester fabric because of the smooth surface and dense coating. Just as with other printing technologies, there are a variety of image and graphic formats the typical sublimation user will come into contact with regularly. In the sublimation world, you should always be working in RGB format to match your computer and peripherals. All elements of your design should be in RGB color mode, no matter the graphic type used. In the simplest breakdown, we can usually categorize the file or graphic as either a bitmap/raster type image, a vector-based image or an application-specific graphics file. Let’s take a look at each type:

Bitmap/Raster-Type Images
We often associate bitmap files with photographs and other flattened, single-layer images—many of which contain millions of colors. A bitmap or raster-type image is made up of specifically mapped pixels or squares, each of which is a sampled portion of the overall graphic. In other words, the image is a “map of bits,” and the more bits that make up the graphic, the higher the resolution or dpi (dot per inch). Bitmap image types include TIFF, JPG, GIF, PNG and more. A 96dpi image at 5” x 7” would be considered a very low-quality graphic versus a 300dpi image at the same size. This image type is further categorized by its print size (the dimensions of the image at the resolution needed for output).

Of the three types of graphic files we’ll discuss, bitmaps are usually the most cumbersome of the group. When editing a bitmap image, you’ll need a professional piece of bitmap editing software such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel PhotoPaint. These programs will allow you to edit a bitmap image along hundreds of lines. Tools are included for common bitmap adjustments such as brightness, contrast, gamma, color balance, tone curve, special effects and resolution. Before you jump in head first, keep in mind the following tips when performing standard bitmap editing:

1. Bitmaps are made up of a single image layer—when you are adjusting for color, brightness, tone or most any other element, your changes will affect the entire image. For example, if you use the color balance tool to beef up the red value of a subject’s sweater in a bitmap image, red will be beefed up across the entire image.

2. As your decoration area grows, the size and resolution of your image will need to increase by the same relative proportions. If a customer wants the same photo on both a keychain and a 9” x 12” photo panel, you will need a photo formatted to the size and resolution of the larger product or the photo panel. It is much easier to downsize an image than to enlarge it properly, and the better quality image you have up front, the easier it will be on you when it comes to output. While it is possible to get some excellent enlargement and resampling results from photo-editing software like Photoshop, all bets are off if you’re working with a low-resolution image to begin with. There is very little you can do with a poor quality graphic, and your end product may very well suffer as a result.

Vector-based graphics allow the decorator to quickly and easily resize and recolor the graphic for any size product or print area without losing quality. When working with bitmap images on hard substrates, aim for graphics as close to 300dpi at the size of the largest substrate you’re producing to help avoid a pixilated or blurry final imprint

Vector-Based Graphics
If bitmap image editing can be tedious, vector-based images are a breeze by comparison. The borders of vector image elements are comprised of individual points, and each set of points contains a uniform fill color, no matter the size of the graphic. You might be working with vector images as you import clip art or create your own custom shapes within the print design. Even inputted native text is considered vector-based art. Common file types associated with vector-based graphics are EPS and WMF. Opening your vector/layout software like CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator, you can quickly create vector elements with a number of tools. For example, choose the polygon shape tool and draw out a square on the page in front of you. With the object selected, click on an available palette color like standard red. From this point on, no matter how large or small you make that square, it will have the same, uniform red within the four points of the square.

Vector elements can be resized and re-colored without worrying about quality loss. While it is an easy process to recolor individual elements within vector graphics, in order to do the same with a bitmap it would first have to be converted into a vector format. While this can be done though your graphics software, the bitmap logo would need to be of the highest quality (e.g. high resolution, no noise or pixels visible) and contain few design elements. Even with a quality bitmap-to-vector conversion, the final result is a copy of a copy. Better if the customer had given you a vector to begin with. You usually can’t convert a typical bitmap photograph into a vector image, as there are too many individual colors and shapes to process with any accuracy.

Application-Specific Graphics Files
In addition to the more universal, native bitmap and vector graphic styles which can be ready by software already installed on the computer, there are also the application-specific file types created when you save a Corel or Adobe design in its own file designation. It is important to keep in mind that your customers may not be able to open these files if they don’t have the same graphic design software, so these file types are best used internally (PDF is a safe, universal export format to use for e-mail proofs and reviews). Additionally, you can accept files from customers as long as you have the correct software and version number to open the customer’s artwork. Interestingly, a CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator type file can be composed of both vector and bitmap elements.

What Should You Look For In A Graphic?
Whether accepting art from customers, using your own graphics or purchasing royalty-free designs online, it is important to first look at the style and quality of the graphics you’re working with. It is an excellent idea to create an artwork specifications guide so your customers can know exactly what types of files you will accept “for the best possible results.” When asking for bitmap images, 300dpi at the size of the product is ideal, especially for hard substrates. The harder the substrate, the more important the quality of the image. T-shirts are forgiving because the image surface is not as dense and reflects light differently. On the other hand, ChromaLuxe photo products have a hard coating specifically designed to take the high resolution and detail of a quality photograph. Unfortunately, it will just as easily take a bad graphic, so pay attention to resolution, sharpness and color quality. If it looks bad on your screen, chances are it will look bad on the product.

When you’re working with customers and spot color graphics, it is important to discuss the dye sublimation process with them and any color limitations they might face with non-white substrates. Additionally, if the customer needs you to hit specific Pantone colors, you should practically insist they deliver a vector-based logo, because it is practically guaranteed you’re going to need to change the logo fill colors to account for the sublimation process.

Sources For Graphics
We meet more and more people at trade shows and our open house educational events who are actively looking for new graphics sources. Not every business owner has the time or wherewithal to go out in the field to take their own, royalty-free photographs, so luckily there are a number of places to find high-quality graphics you can use in your sublimation business. In addition to the graphics you create yourself or the digitized graphics supplied by your customers, an office scanner can be a productive tool. Because a scanner takes custom input from you on how you’d like the final image, you are able to scan a customer’s picture or graphic to fit the largest product. Treat the purchase of a scanner much like you would a digital camera. For example, optical zoom quality is more important than digital zoom. The all-in-one printer/scanners often do not have the functionality to pick up fine photo detail, so you may need to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a quality scanner if you have the need.

There are an abundant number of websites that specialize in what is called stock or royalty-free art. Usually fee-based, members can browse large catalogs of photographer and artist-supplied graphics arranged by style, image type, keyword, orientation and size. There are other sites that allow you to download and use artwork free of charge as long as you credit the photographer or artist. Still others feature public domain artwork that anyone can use with no restrictions.

Some of the fee-based and subscription graphics sites have a huge variety of top-quality photos and line art. The cost varies from reasonable to exorbitant. It costs about $5 for a medium-size bitmap on iStockPhoto.com which you can use for marketing purposes only. If you want to sublimate that image onto salable product(s), it can easily cost $100 or more and place a number of restrictions on the graphic’s use. Pay special attention to the license you’re purchasing and what you are allowed to do with each photograph you purchase for your use. Most sites have helpful licensing FAQs so you’re not left wondering whether you’re breaking any copyright laws. Three of the more popular subscription-based sites are iStockPhoto.com, ShutterStock.com and Corbis.com. For graphics and templates specific to the sublimation industry at very reasonable prices, check out UnisubGraphics.com

While a search for “public domain photos” will often yield mixed results, you can take advantage of being a tax payer and visit a number of public domain photo sites owned and operated by the US Government. These include catalogs of photos taken over the years (historic and recent) by numerous government agencies such as NASA, National Park Service and NOAA. For a list of these photo sites, point your browser to www.usa.gov/topics/graphics.shtml. While not all photographs contained on these government sites are of sufficient size and quality for a large tile mural, there are little or no restrictions on their free use.

Additional Resources
For those who’d like to delve deeper into the world of graphics in general, you need only choose your direction. Both Corel and Adobe list multiple training resources on their corporate website. For a helpful forum where you can bounce Corel questions off of experts and other users, navigate to CorelDRAW.com. GraphicDesignForum.com (one of the oldest graphics forums with over 20,000 members) and AllGraphicDesign.com both cover a variety of topics from design to editing to printing. Additionally, there are some quality sources for platform-specific, self-paced education such as CorelDRAW Unleashed (www.unleash.com) which devotes over 1,000 pages on an interactive DVD to CorelDRAW X4 training and comes complete with easy-to-follow videos.

If you’re interested in anything related to digital photography, you’re bound to find value on the photography site, GeoffLawrence.com. Whether you’re interested in shooting techniques, style suggestions, lighting, editing and more, this seems to have it all. There are over 50 free, full-length project tutorials that cover a variety of photography topics.

It is important when planning for a sublimation product that you pay special attention to the graphics and artwork you’re using. While you may have a lot of wiggle room on quality when imprinting a soft substrate, poor quality graphics cannot only ruin a substrate, they can hurt your business. Aim for quality and be a stickler with your artworks spec sheet. Remember that many sublimation products display the finest detail, so it stands to reason that the better the image quality in your original design, the better the final product. For those seeking images conducive to a sublimation product, there are a number of photo depositories available online that offer both free and fee-based images. A number of savvy business owners also use graphic sites for inspiration, whether they’re browsing an online catalog of available images or they’re bouncing an idea off a fellow forum member.