Full Colour Photo Print Mugs
Printed full colour mugs are a spectacular way to showcase innovative brand designs, using the entire outside of ceramic and bone china mugs as a canvas. Printing on mugs has evolved from limited text based single colour designs, through to multi-colour screen printing, and now full colour (dye sublimation) based print processes.
This print process isn’t just for ceramic mugs – we can also print full colour onto certain bone china models, luxury travel mugs and a variety of other products to reproduce your design in stunning quality.
What is dye sublimation or dye sub?
Dye sublimation is the process used to professionally apply full colour images and other artwork onto mugs. To perform this print process products, you need a dye sublimation printer, which will print your design in reverse onto a special paper. The paper is then applied to the body of the mug, and affixed using tape, clamps or another method to ensure a tight and even fit.
The prepared mugs are then put through a kiln and the sublimation process takes place. Ink in the paper transforms from a solid directly into a gas, and then affixes to the polymer coating on the side of the mug, reproducing the original artwork.
What’s the difference between screen printing and dye sublimation?
Screen printing requires a vector file and a block colour logo. The vector file is used to burn the design into a mesh ‘screen’ and then ink is passed over the mesh and applied to ceramic in different passes according to the number of colours in the design. In our UK factories, we have machines which can screen overprint several different colours in one fluid motion, which means that they can be produced quicker and at lower cost for you!
Dye sublimation on the other hand, can be used to print artwork including bitmap graphics, photos, gradients and any other type of images with more than four colours. In this case, we require a high quality .jpg .png .tiff or other raster file so that your design is faithfully reproduced on our mugs.
What can you print on full colour mugs?
Just like it says on the tin, full colour mugs can be used to print images, gradients, bitmap / raster files and any other type of artworking, including standard vector graphics which would ordinarily be too difficult, time consuming or costly to print via screen printing.
How long do full colour mugs last?
Our standard photo mugs are tested to 250 dishwasher cycles, however Duraglaze mugs are available for purchase which have been tested to hold your design for over 2000+ professional washes. Duraglaze mugs have a very high-quality polymer coating applied to the outside.
Cheap photo mugs
The cheapest photo mugs in our range are the standard Durham or Cambridge mugs which offer great colour reproduction at a budget friendly price.
Disadvantages of full colour mugs
The polymer coating applied to dye sublimation mugs is not as smooth as the coating on screen printed products, which means that they sometimes pick up stains a little easier. To avoid this happening, soak or rinse mugs after use to remove any coffee or tea residue after having a cuppa.
Quick delivery times
Mugstore offer photo / dye sublimation mugs within a 10 day and shorter lead time, depending on artwork approval and event dates. Enquire via our website, chat to us live or phone us to check what is possible.