Many people are looking for the “best software for sublimation printing”. The truth is, there isn’t one. Just like there isn’t one piece of hardware that is best either. Sublimation is a process that simply needs to be printed by the right combination of hardware and software.
Finding the best software for sublimation printing can be difficult. There are quite a few options on the market. If you’re new to sublimation printing, it might be hard for you to figure out which software is the right one for you. This guide will help you get started with your research.
Photoshop and Creative Cloud
Adobe Photoshop is an industry-leading raster (pixel-based) image editor used to create unique graphics and edit photos. It’s packed with many useful tools for resizing, color adjusting, and retouching images. Photoshop used to be a program you could buy from Adobe and use to your heart’s content. But since 2013, it’s a part of a monthly subscription-based service—Creative Cloud. Photoshop is included in multiple subscription plans.
Creative Cloud is a marvelous collection of apps for experienced designers and a great investment if you’re planning on expanding your business or employing designers. Creative Cloud offers many useful features like storing and sharing your projects and even working on them at the same time. It’s the perfect graphic design environment.
Creative Cloud could seem overwhelming or impractical. That’s because even the slightest change to an image—like a decoration on a sales banner—or even just opening software-specific files like PSD (Photoshop Data file) requires a subscription to access the editing software.
If you’re testing the waters and don’t want to invest in Photoshop, or just want to try something a little different, you might be interested in these free alternatives.
Gimp
Use it for: DTG, all-over print, poster & canvas printing, sublimation, UV printing, photo editing
No list of free Photoshop alternatives would be complete without Gimp. This software has established a strong presence in the graphics editing world and has built a strong community. It’s the perfect software for editing small files and creating simple designs.
Price: Free
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
File format: PSD, JPEG, PNG, GIF, PDF, EPS
Color space: RGB, CMYK (only with a plugin)
| PROS | CONS |
| Multifunctional Multiple languages Pre-sized templates Document history Text filters and effects (e.g. Warp) A large community that offers support Many tutorials online | A little slow Different UI than Photoshop Different hotkeys than Photoshop White residue around designs with transparent background The Brush tool isn’t very smooth Isn’t suited for professional designers |
Adobe Illustrator:
This is another fantastic piece of software from Adobe. It is a vector graphics editing tool and designing software that was initially designed for Apple Macintosh. It is a companion product of Adobe Photoshop, where Photoshop primarily focuses on digital photo enhancement, Illustrator helps in typesetting and making logo graphic design.
It provides you with various tools from adjusting layouts to draw and edit your design. It is compatible with Inkscape that exports designs in the native format of SVG supported by Adobe illustrator. This is a great tool for sublimation designing.
Adobe illustrator has two subscription plans, $9.99 for personal use and $33.99 for enterprise use.
Pixlr:
Pixlr is an online photo editor that is liked by many designers. The most important thing about this software is that you can edit photos directly from your browser for free. This editor can edit almost any image format be it Photoshop (PSD), JPEG, PNG or any other.
This software gives you smarter tools to enhance your photo and is very quick. You can edit and create content easily to print fantastic designs for your printing shirts business.
Pixlr also offers its subscribers millions of stock contents that help a lot in improving designs and helps them stay updated with the latest trends.
Pixlr has a free version and two subscription plans of $4.99 per month and $14.99 per month.
CorelDRAW
Rounding out our list of the best sublimation software available to you in 2021 is CorelDRAW.
I like CorelDRAW! It’s a very capable piece of software, and will assuredly handle everything you throw at it. And want to know my favorite part about CorelDRAW?
No subscription model?
You pay a flat price. No monthly subscription, no package deals. Just one price, and it’s yours. And that’s nice.
But CorelDRAW doesn’t quite make the top of my list, and that’s for a couple of reasons.
For starters, in my experience, CorelDRAW tends to work better with vector images than it does raster images. Don’t know what those are? Well, vector images are basically mathematical representation of images. Rather than drawing a circle, you’re telling the computer a formula for drawing a circle. Then no matter the resolution, the computer can accurately draw that circle, since it’s just using a math formula.
Raster images on the other hand are the more traditional way of thinking about images. They’re a bunch of pixels, where every pixel has some color. They’re also what is most commonly used when it comes to photography and pictures on the web.
CorelDRAW is great, for vector work!
I think CorelDRAW is fantastic if you’re working with vector artwork. And maybe you are working with vector artwork! But I, and most other sublimation designers, tend to work with raster images more frequently. Because of this main reason, I believe that CorelDRAW is better served for those that like their artwork represented by vectors.
Conclusion
In the world of PC-based photo editing, there are a handful of programs that stand out. These applications have tons of features and provide a ton of creative potential. If you haven’t checked them all out already, I recommend you spend some time checking out the best software for sublimation printing below….
Sublimation printing has been an extremely popular printing method for t-shirt transfers. It is a process where the ink used to print on the t-shirt transfers directly into the fibers of the shirt giving it a very vibrant and long lasting look. If you are planning on creating your own t-shirt designs, you might want to know which software is best for sublimation t-shirts.