All-over printing or sublimation is a printing process where your design is printed on paper with dye ink and then transferred directly onto the fabric with heat. Sublimation lets you cover all of the garment with your design instead of, for example, DTG printing that has a smaller area to work with.
Due to the peculiarities of the sublimation process, graphics may shift up to 2 inches when printed. Because of this, we don't recommend using designs that require precise placement.
Printful carries two types of products that are printed using sublimation:
- Sublimated products. These products are pre-made, so your designs are transferred on a ready-made product. Sublimated products, might show white streaks and creasing that are most common near stitching (for example, the sides of a towel).
- All-over print products (also referred to as cut & sew products). In this case, your designs are printed on fabric, which then gets cut and hand-sewn into the product you ordered. These products don't have white streaks.