If you are looking for coffee mug sublimation templates and designs, you have come to the right place. Here you will learn how to sublimate a design on a mug and I am offering you FREE sublimation templates and designs for the mugs.
Mug Sublimation
Sublimation is a fantastic way to permanently transfer a design to a mug of your choice. When done correctly, the result is a clear, rich and precise transfer that stays on forever.
I love using sublimation on mugs because it’s really quick and I don’t have to fuss with a cricut machine or cricut design space to create my designs. In fact, you don’t even need a cricut mug press! I just use my little countertop oven and a silicone sleeve to help with the design transfer onto the mug.
What Size Template for 11 oz Mug Sublimation?
Most sublimation mugs are 11 oz. and if you want the sublimation design to wrap around the mug, the design will need to be about 3.5″ x 9″
I prefer smaller sublimation designs, one on each side of the handle. The free sublimation designs in this post are for any oz coffee mug templates.
FREE Coffee Mug Sublimation Templates
Here are two blank template. The most commonly used for sublimation is 11oz mug and 15 oz mug, so I have included both for you in the downloads.
Download Blank Coffee Mug Sublimation Templates Here
What Is Sublimation?
To put it simply, sublimation is a process that transfers dyes onto different types of fabrics and materials. An image or design is created on a computer or tablet and printed onto sublimation paper using sublimation ink. The printed design is then placed onto the t-shirt, mug, socks, hoodie etc. and using a heat press, the design is permanently transferred to the material using heat and pressure.
It may seem a little complicated, but I assure you that it isn’t. Basically, sublimation is a process where heat and pressure are used to transfer the ink at a molecular level, resulting in a permanent transfer. No matter how many times you wash scrub or soak the item that you sublimated – the transfer will remain intact. Amazing, right!?
Software Needed For Mug Sublimation
With my free sublimation mug designs, you don’t need any fancy or expensive software. Sawgrass CreativeStudio is a good program but I prefer to use Silhouette Studio for my sublimation designs. Others enjoy using a program called adobe illustrator, it really is personal preference and which yields the best results for you.
I like to create my mug sublimation template in Canva. With Canva, I can easily create different designs and download them as .png file format with a transparent background.
When I think of a mug design, I start with Canva and it doesn’t take long before I have a fantastic sublimation mug template.
Don’t miss my free download of coffee mug sublimation template.
Coffee Mug Sublimation Templates
The size of the mug, will determine what size your sublimation design needs to be. Here I will cover some common measurements for sublimation mugs.
What size template for 11 oz mug?
The typical height of an 11 oz mug is 3.74″
What size template for 12 oz mug?
Usually a 12oz mug measures roughly 4″ tall and
What size template for 15 oz mug?
The average height of a 15 oz mug is about 4.5″
Why Use Sublimation Vs. Other Methods?
There are many ways to transfer a design onto different products; screen printing, transfer vinyls, direct to garment printing among others.
But sublimation is unique in that the cost of materials is low and the results are high quality, brightly colored and permanently transferred images/designs.
Let’s consider screen printing for example. To get started you will need large open spaces for the equipment, proper ventilation, costly screens and materials.
How about direct to garment printing? To get started with direct to garment printing you will first need a large DTG printer, which are thousands of dollars at a minimum. The maintenance and repairs can also be very costly.
And this is where sublimation comes in! To get started with sublimation, you can get all of your materials for less than a thousand dollars. All you need is a printer, sublimation ink, heat press, sublimation paper and designs.
If you have those things, you can get started with sublimation right away – and I can speak from experience that this technique is very beginner friendly. My very first t-shirt I ever sublimated turned out perfectly. I love sublimation!
Sublimation and Quality
Sublimation printing offers a significant quality advantage over the other methods I have mentioned.
Screen printing can be very limiting in its colors and complexity. Not to mention the repeated process of printing the various colors for the design.
Sublimation printing does not have those limitations. Because sublimation works by transferring the design from the paper to the item, the only limitation here is the quality of the printed design from your computer. With sublimation printing you can transfer high quality, brightly colored images and designs directly onto your desire t-shirts, mugs, blankets etc.
The only small limitation to mention regarding sublimation printing is that most printers cannot print white ink. So it is best to sublimate on white or lightly colored shirts. There are some printers that will print white ink, but I have never tried them because I haven’t had the need for it.
Supplies For Mug Sublimation
Along with the general supplies needed for sublimation like a printer, sublimation paper and heat source(oven or heat press), you will need something to hold the design tightly to the coffee mug while the image is being transferred.
My favorite tool for that are these silicone mug wraps. They are super inexpensive and work VERY well. Highly recommend.
I use a countertop over for sublimating on coffee mugs, the one I own is here.
Free Coffee Mug Sublimation Designs
As promised, here are my FREE coffee mug sublimation designs! Just click the link to download them – totally free! Enjoy!
Supplies For Sublimation
Trust me when I say that getting started with sublimation is quite simple. Yes there are some supplies that you need, but they are easy to get your hands on and very simple to use.
-
Sublimation Ready Printer
You can use a printer designs for sublimation like this one, or you can convert an ink jet printer to support the sublimation ink, like this one. I have this Epson printer and haven’t had a single issue with it. A sublimation printer is a necessity for sublimating on mugs and other items.
-
Sublimation Ink
It is very important to note that you must use sublimation ink in order to sublimate. You can’t use the ink that comes with the ink jet printer, for instance – in fact, make sure you don’t put any of the ink jet ink into the printer you plan to use for sublimation. My favorite ink is by Wokok and I get one from amazon.com
-
Sublimation Paper
Another essential. This special paper has a specific coating that allows the sublimation process to work, don’t skip this – it is essential. My favorite sublimation paper can be found on amazon here.
-
Heat Press
This is what you will use to press and heat your designs to aid in the transfer. Heat presses come in a lot of different sizes, so make sure you get one with a heat plate large enough to handle the designs you want to do. This is the one that I have, although it isn’t the most high quality, it definitely gets the job done. A lot of people love this one too. An iron will NOT work for this, so I don’t recommend trying it.
-
Design Software
You will need a design software to create your images and designs to be printed. I like using Silhouette Studio because it is a free program that you can download from their website. I also have been enjoying using procreate on my iPad, and that is a great option as well.
-
Designs
You can definitely create your own designs and text using the softwares I mentioned above, but you can also buy designs that have already been made for you – which is awesome! Etsy, creative fabrica and design bundles are some of my favorite places to get designs.
-
Butcher Paper
Butcher paper is used to protect the t-shirt from the heat plate and also to place between the t-shirt to help the dyes to not get pressed onto the backside of the shirt. I get mine in a big roll on amazon, super cheap.
-
Lint Roller
T-shirts and other materials can come with all sorts of lint and dust on them. A quick 3 second lint role can go a long way to making sure your design is crisp and as high quality as possible.
I hope you found my free coffee mug sublimation templates useful!