Free Sublimation Designs: Top 7 Image Sources
Are you looking for free, vibrant, and stylish sublimation designs? You have come to the right place! For every amateur or seasonal crafter, long-lasting print is the first priority.
And you can ensure that only with high-quality transferable images. Thankfully, there are a handful of websites present that offer tons of the latest HD designs for free.
No matter whether you want to print mugs or t-shirts, using a low-quality image won’t produce the desired look. As you need colorful prints with amazing detailing, first check how to get the right design.
Here you will find some of my favorite sublimation design sources, which will help you get sharp prints on any object. Whether you are looking for a 300 or 1200-DPI design, this guide has got you covered. So, dive in!
Best File Types For Sublimation
The file type is very important for a high-quality, sublimated print. You can use PNG, PDF, EPS, SVG, PSD, and TIFF files for Dye sublimation. All of these file types ensure the image is of high resolution. If you need to enlarge the design, these file types won’t distort it, resulting in a polished print on your material.
While downloading a design, just make sure you are saving it with one of the mentioned file types. Getting the right file type with high resolution is the key to printing amazing-looking designs on any surface you want.
Here are Some Sources of Free and Cheap Sublimation Designs
There are a handful of online sources to find sublimation designs. You can get SVG, JPG, PDF, clipart, and more printable file types from these sources. And the best part is some of these platforms offer free high-resolution designs.
Here I have discussed my 7 favorite sources to find sublimation designs that I have been using for the past 12 years. Take a look.
1. Design Bundles
Design Bundles is the first one on my list. It’s because you can get a wide range of designs for sublimation printing on this website. Starting from SVG files to patterns, fonts, textures, monograms, clipart, and more are available here. Design Bundles offer both paid and free products.
No matter which one you choose, you will get commercial licensing to create products with the designs you are downloading for personal use and sale. If you are looking for a go-to source for unique and high-resolution printable images, Design Bundles is the right place for you.
2. Glitter Moon Shine
Glitter Moon Shine is the perfect source of free sublimation designs for small businesses. You can download PNG, DXF, SVG, and EPS file types from its website.
All designs come with commercial licensing that allows you to use those without any copyright issues.
Both free and paid designs are available on the website. Every design is well-curated by experts and comes with HD quality. You can either use graphic design software to customize the design or print it directly on your material.
3. Creative Fabrica
Creative Fabrica is my other favorite. It’s because of the variety of designs it offers. You can download fonts and graphics, along with creating your own art.
Both the free and paid libraries are vast enough to find the best designs as per your requirements.
- The high-quality image zip files are easily accessible on the website.
- You can even download 3D SVG images from Creative Fabric.
So, whether you want to print t-shirts or a metal surface, this sublimation design source is a good choice to opt for.
3. SoFontsy
As the name suggests, SoFontsy is most popular for providing unique fonts and designs in SVG, DXF, EPS, AI, JPG, and PNG formats. You get bundles or individual premium-quality images from its huge collection.
Even for easy access, the website has categorized sublimation designs. So, whether you need a digital pattern or a template for printing mugs and cans, SoFontsy has got you covered.
Though most of the striking designs come at different prices, you can find weekly dumps of freebies from the website. And, no matter which designs you pick, you will get a commercial license with it for complete ownership.
4. Etsy
Etsy offers a design collection that you won’t find anywhere else. That’s why it’s my fifth favorite. All the designs available on this e-commerce platform are paid for.
I mostly use it to get tumbler bundles, as they incorporate more than 175k designs in one set. And the best part is all designs come with vibrant looks and high-quality SVG files.
Hence, zero distortion is ensured while transferring the image to your preferred surface. Just like the other online sources in this guide, Etsy also offers long-lasting designs and commercial licensing for each one.
5. HungryJPEG
HungryJPEG is another most used source of sublimation design. You can find trendy designs, high-quality premium bundles, graphics, fonts, crafts, and more on its website.
Though the brand name only contains ‘JPEG,’ you can get SVG, PNG, and all other printable file types on this platform.
HungryJEPG offers both free and paid designs. However, its freebies library is not as huge as Design Bundles or Creative Fabrica.
So considering your requirements, decide on the online source you are going to use. But whenever you need the latest and sleek designs, you can turn to HungryJEPG.
6. Jennifer Maker
Last but not least, Jennifer Maker is here to elevate your crafting business as a whole.
Not only high-resolution sublimation designs, but also you’ll get a handful of tutorials, guides, and step-by-step instructions to create different products on Jennifer Maker.
Link: https://jennifermaker.com/resource-library/
Password: craft
The website includes a vast collection of sublimation designs for tumblers, shirts, ornaments, and more. So, you get multiple choices while downloading the best-fit designs for your requirements. What’s more, you will find all sorts of free and paid HD file types that come with commercial licensing. So, pick your design and start crafting.
Bonus: Sublimation Software to Use
Whether you want to edit, crop, change file type, or modify the ICC profile to improve the color tone and quality of your image, you need graphic design software for high-quality sublimation printing.
After downloading a design from your go-to source, these tools enable you to edit (e.g., add a background, change fonts, use RGB color mode, etc.) and get a printable image. Without these tools, you can’t customize your design or ensure the accurate representation of the image you have already downloaded.
Some of the best free and paid sublimation software programs are-
- Adobe Photoshop
- CorelDraw
- Silhouette Studio
- Adobe Illustrator
- Cricut Design Space
- Affinity Designer
- Canva
- Inkscape
- GIMP
- Microsoft Word
- Procreate
Note: Some of these tools come completely free of cost or allow a free trial period. You can use the paid tools also to get access to all premium design tools.
What Sublimation Images Can You Print?
You can basically print any image with sublimation. Whether you want to print a photo taken on your phone or downloaded from online sources, you can get an exact print of it with sublimation.
Also read: If you are new to sublimation check out our guide on how to print sublimation images.
I generally recommend using 300 DPI or higher image resolution to ensure high-quality prints with good detailing.
But you can use your phone camera to take any picture and print it on your preferred surface. It will be as good as a downloaded design. Always remember 300 DPI sublimation prints provide clear designs equivalent to 4800 DPI prints on an Inkjet printer.
And a 400 DPI sublimation print matches the quality of a 6400 DPI print on an Inkjet printer.
Hence, taking a photo of any object you want and getting it sublimated on t-shirts, phone cases, mugs, keychains, etc., has never been this easy. For example, I have printed a photo of my kid on a mug and some old photographs on t-shirts after scanning through my phone. And it produced amazing results without any quality compression.
Final Thoughts
All the sources I have shared above offer modern-looking and high-resolution designs. You can print those on ceramic, plastic, metal, glass, and fabric surfaces. Whether you want a stylish lampshade on your bedside table or a bundle of customized t-shirts for a client, these sublimation design sources will get you what you are looking for. That’s all; leave a comment if you’ve further queries. Thanks for reading!
