When reading about the challenges of sublimation printing, you may encounter banding and ghosting. They are the two most common problems faced by many associate printing experts.

However, when trying to imprint a high-quality image onto a substrate, you may encounter another problem-paper curl. Sub-printing technology requires two main items to work: sublimation ink dye and transfer paper. Purchasing first-class authentic supplies can ensure excellent delivery and quality. However, failure to meet the requirements of the dye sublimation printer can lead to frustrating troubles such as paper curling and material waste.

Let’s dig deeper and understand why paper curl occurs and what you can do to prevent this problem.

Three causes of curling of transfer paper
The top three causes of paper curling in the sublimation printing process are:

1. Poor quality
   Choosing the right roll sublimation paper is one of the most critical steps. Several factors, such as paper quality, smoothness, weight, stiffness, electrical resistivity and thermal resistance, and curl moisture, play a crucial role in determining the seamless delivery of ink to the substrate.

Make sure you buy sublimation paper and heat transfer paper from trusted suppliers to produce high-quality, fast-printing products.

Recommended reading: How to determine the quality of sublimation paper

2. Improper storage
   Many sub-printing companies ignore the importance of proper storage. Putting the sublimation paper in a humid, warm environment will damage its integrity and leave room for curls. It allows the paper to absorb moisture from the environment, makes it stick to the printing tape and prevents it from transferring dyes without curling.

Recommended reading: Printing and storage guide of sublimation paper

3. Faulty fuser
   If your dye sublimation printer is very old and has recently encountered a problem, the possibility of paper curling is higher. Paper curling may be caused by heat and disturbance of temperature control. Keeping less heat is essential because lower temperatures will reduce moisture and eliminate the risk of curling.

How to prevent the sublimation paper from curling?
Our highest quality sublimation transfer paper uses a cutting-edge sublimation substrate made from natural wood pulp. Since paper has a longer fiber length compared with offset paper, paper curl is eliminated and high performance and scalability are ensured.

In addition, you can use double-sided coating, AKA anti-curl coating. It provides better adhesion to the substrate and ink ribbon and reduces curling.

In addition, if you want to increase productivity and protect your dye sublimation printer from damage, always make sure that you purchase high-quality dye sublimation printing consumables from the heat transfer paper manufacturer.