How To Produce Custom Sublimation Magnets
One easy way to get yours or others images on a metal surface is with magnets. And if you’re looking to create permanently custom magnets with vivid colors, sublimation is the definitive way to accomplish this. Let’s dive into how Unisub’s sublimation magnets are customized to produce your own colorful items in multiples.
First up is to prepare your images within the imprint area of your magnets. If you own graphic design software, you can download the PDF template at HeatPressNation.com to make the prep work easier. Just import your image onto a template, scale down and organize it below the bleed layer, then select both this layer and your image to create a clipping mask. This allows you to prepare your images more carefully to the smaller size of these magnets. If you want, you can copy and paste enough duplicates of the image to fit inside the document, or paste those of the template to prepare different images for your magnets.
With your images ready, print the document through your sublimation printer. Sawgrass users will need to print through Sawgrass Print Manager with these settings: Substrate to Polyester, Paper to your paper’s profile, leave Mirror checked, and the Color Mode in the Color tab to Photographic or Vivid depending on your document’s level of color saturation. Once ready, go ahead and click Print. Now we can turn on the heat press and set it to 75 seconds at 400 degrees Fahrenheit with medium pressure. Though if you’re pressing multiple magnets, you’ll need to add 4 seconds for each additional magnet, leaving our total time at 95 seconds for 6 magnets. Once the machine’s heated up, cover its lower platen with a sheet of parchment paper and add your printed transfer on top facing up. Remove the protective film on each of your magnet bases, place them on each printed image white side down, then tape them in place with strips of heat tape.
Flip the items with the paper side up, cover them with another parchment paper sheet and press. After 80 seconds, open your machine and let the items cool for at least 30 seconds. Afterwards, quickly peel each magnet base from the transfer and they’ll now be permanently displaying your images thanks to sublimation. Attach the included adhesive magnets to the back of each one and they’ll be ready to go on any metal board, wall, or pole. You can learn more about sublimation magnets and other blanks on our YouTube channel, or at HeatPressNation.com.
