5 Must-Haves for Metal Printing

If you’re new to metal printing, you may think there are a lot of materials needed to get started. And although that is true, there are really only 5 main things that you actually need.

I’m going to cover the 5 things that I believe are most important when getting started. These 5 things will enable you to start creating metal prints today and get your business up and running. I always recommend these items to beginners in my Metal Print Community.

To start, this is probably the most important piece of equipment you will need when getting started. A sublimation printer is similar to a regular inkjet printer, except it uses sublimation ink. You cannot use regular ink when sublimation printing; it will not work.

My favorite printer is an Epson SC F570 Sublimation Printer. This is what I have used from the very beginning. They are great quality and work amazingly well. I have not had any issues with mine and have done thousands of prints the past few years

Once you’ve purchased a sublimation printer, you will then need paper to print on. Like the ink, you cannot use regular inkjet paper. You must use a sublimation paper. This is a special paper that can hold a lot of ink and can be placed in a 400-degree heat press for a few minutes. It also tends to be thicker than regular paper.

The paper I recommend starting with is the Epson DS paper that comes with your heat press. Once you have used that up, I recommend upgrading to the SubliPro Sublimation paper. This is a higher GSM paper that holds more ink, gives better quality, and dries faster after printing (very helpful).

If you’ve printed your image onto your sublimation paper, the next thing you will need is a heat press. I recommend getting a clamshell press to start. These are the ones that are flat on the top and bottom, and you press down in place.

Your press must be at least 1 inch larger on each side than the metal you are printing on. So if you print 12×12 inch panels, you should get a 14×14 inch press.

My favorite press for beginners and starting your business is the HPN 16×20 inch Heat Press. This size allows you to plug into most wall outlets and print a bunch of common sizes. Any larger and they become more expensive a draw a lot more power. I do not recommend that when getting started.

This is where your art actually comes to life. It is very important when choosing metal blanks that they have a sublimation coating. This is a polyester coating on top of the aluminum (or any sublimation product) that allows the ink to transfer into it. you cannot use regular sheets of metal.

When choosing metal blanks, quality is very important. Not all metal blanks are made the same. The more you spend per blank, the better the quality tends to be.

Chromaluxe makes the best blanks in the industry. They are also the most expensive. I do not recommend starting out with these in the beginning, unless you start with the really small sizes.

My next favorite, due to the lower price and still good quality, is IllumiPix Metal Blanks. These have a very similar look to Chromaluxe but are a bit less expensive. They do scratch easier, but you should be touching them anyway. I think if you’re starting out, these are a good option.

Once you’ve finished making your metal prints, you’ll likely want to hang them on your wall. There are a few options for doing this, depending on your price range.

The first are small hanging mounts. I really like these for getting started because they are good quality and fairly inexpensive. They tend to be easy to get and are lightweight, which is really nice when shipping metal prints.

The next option, which most people ask about, is the Chromaluxe French Cleats. These are large frames that go on the backside of your prints. They tend to be a few inches smaller than they print on each side, so you dont see them when they are hanging on the wall. These cost a lot more money, but are what most art galleries and professional companies use.

If you want to keep learning more about making metal prints and starting your business. I wrote “The Metal Print Handbook” to keep you from wasting thousands of dollars and tons of time. I put everything I know into this digital handbook, and I believe you will find it very helpful.