Printing on mugs is as simple as printing on clothes. Now it has become a trend to print your favorite photos or tattoo design on your mug. You can even do it easily at your home.
There are two different and easy methods to print on mugs at home. One is the iron method, where you need an electric iron, and another one is the heat and press method, where you need a heat press machine.
This article will describe every single thing on how to print on ceramic mugs at home. You just need to read this carefully to understand the whole thing.
How Do You Print on Ceramic Mugs?

Nowadays, a printed mug has become a nice and soothing present to surprise anyone. You can easily enchant anyone by gifting a printed mug on a special day. You will be happy to know that you can easily print on ceramic mugs.
Method-1: Using a Sublimation Printer to Print on Mugs
- First of all, you have to select an image or text to be printed on your mug.
- Secondly, you have to put the selected text or image on a sublimation printer. Yes, you must sublimate a paper for it; otherwise, the whole thing will be spoiled. You can easily buy Sublimation paper from the market. It is really obtainable and cost-effective. You must know what a sublimation printer is. The sublimation printer is a printer that allows you to transfer your printed image or text onto anything through heat and press.
- Thirdly, you have to sit the printed portion of the paper on the mug. Yes, in such printing, you have to use a special ink that is hardly removable. Make sure that you have placed the design in the correct position. For example: if you have to place the design in a corner or in the middle, then obviously check it properly. Some designs look nice from the corner, and some look nice in the middle. So check this properly while placing your design.
- Fourthly, you have to set the design (image or text) using heat-resistant tape. It is the most important part of your printing. You will try to tape the white portion of the paper rather than on the image or text part.
- Now you have to press your iron or heat press machine smoothly on the printed part of the paper. You have to do it until the paper turns brown color.
- Lastly, you have to remove the paper and the tape while the heating and pressing are over.
- Put your newly printed mug away from any detergent or any dishwasher.
Method-2: Printing Your Mug in a Printing Company
This is the easiest method so far. Just choose a suitable printing company or page from a website. Or you can manually visit a printing company with your design. If you do it online, send your prospective design to the company and give them direction on where to set it. Rest of the things they will do properly. You will just need to pay, that is it.
How to Print on the Mug at Home?

As mentioned earlier, you can print on mugs by applying two methods: the iron method and the heat press method. The procedure of printing has been described in the previous answer. The difference is in the case of the iron method, you will use an electric iron to press on the design, and in the case of the heat press method, you will use a heat press machine to press. But it is better to use a heat press machine instead of iron. Because using iron is a little bit risky.
How to Screen-print on Ceramic Mugs?
Screen printing is also easy to do on ceramic mugs. For this, you need several things like a transferred sheet pattern, heat-proof tape, scissors, definitely a mug with a mug press, and finally cool water to sink.
- First of all, you have to cut the transferred paper sheet half-inch shorter than your mug size; for example, if your mug is 7 inches long and 6 inches around, then you must cut the pattern of the sheet 6.5 inches long and 5.5 inches around. You easily this paper sheet online or market it with a mug press.
- Now sit the sheet properly along with the heat-proof tape. Must make sure the sheet is ripple-free and straight.
- You need a mug press to set your mug into it at the proper temperature.
- You have to wait until the beep of the timer. After the timer beeps, you reduce your mug from the press.
- Now you have to sink the mug into cool water and peel off the transferred sheet from the mug. You have to do this carefully because that might be warm after removing the mug from the press.
- After peeling off the sheet, you will get your design mug shining and shimmering.
- Keep your mug in cool water for 5 minutes.
But before all these, you must select your design first, which you want to print on your mug.
How to Print on Cups and Mugs?
If you want to print on cups, then it is better to follow the screen printing method, and there are so many cup printing machines available in the market, purchase one of them that fits your budget. As the cup is smaller than the mug, so it is better to avoid iron while rubbing the design. Because it is so risky.
You can also buy a transparent sticker to put on the cup and mug. These stickers are very simple to apply. You just need to sit the sticker on the cup or mug properly and press them a little bit hard. Then peel it off and see the design seated on the cup or mug.
Printing on a mug is easier than printing on a cup. You can do it easily with any extra equipment, you have to make sure that you have a sublimation printer and paper at your home. You are being informed about how to print mugs at home in the previous answers.
How to Print on Porcelain Mugs?
The process of printing on porcelain mugs is the same as the process of printing on ceramic mugs. You can either choose an iron or heating machine to print at home or a printing company to print your customized design on the mugs. But first, you have to choose your design properly to get your mugs printed.
What Do You Use to Print on Mugs?
You definitely use sublimation paper to print on mugs. This paper absorbs the ink properly and prevents messing things up. This paper is specially made for transferring arts from one surface to another. So you must avoid using regular papers while printing on mugs.
How to Print a Photo on the Mug at Home Without Iron?
If you use a heat press machine to take photos on a mug at home, then you don’t need any iron. But in this case, you must have a heat press machine at your home. You can also use a transfer paper sticker to avoid both.
How to Print on a Glass Mug?
You can print on a glass mug through several methods, such as Screen printing and then Pad printing.
You need a pad printing machine for pad printing, and you can use 2 to 6 colors to have a nice and clear image. For mug printing, it is ok.
You can also go for the primer printing option; in this method, a special ink is used, which is extremely health-friendly. It just needs a primer before starting printing; that is it.
FAQ
Can You Print on a Ceramic Mug?
Yes, obviously, you can print on ceramic mugs using the Iron or Heat press method. You either use the screen printing method to print on the mug. All these can be done at home.
How Do You Make a Diy Print on a Mug?
You can make a DIY print on a mug applying the same iron or heat press method. You can also select a sticker and then cut it according to your design. After that, you can set that on the mug with transparent paper, then press using your heat machine. In the case of the iron or heat press method, you have to print your image or design on a sublimation paper, then set that on the mug with heat-proof tape. Now press your iron or heat machine on the mug.
How Do You Transfer a Picture to a Ceramic Mug?
As it is mentioned, you need sublimation paper and a printer to transfer a picture to a ceramic mug by heating and pressing; these things are specially made to make things transferable.
What Do You Need to Print on Mugs?
You need several things like an iron or heat press machine, sublimation paper and printer, heat-proof tape, and scissors to print on mugs. These things are a must before starting printing on mugs.
How Do You Transfer Print to Ceramic?
You transfer print to ceramic by using sublimation paper and printer. These are the main things to make your print transferable to ceramic. You need to print your customized design or print on sublimation paper, then set that on a mug and press properly with an iron or heat machine. This is how you transfer print to ceramic.
How Do You Personalize a Mug?
You can personalize a mug by selecting your image or text for it. There are so many software or website that provide much information to customize your mug. You can design your mug from those websites. In the case of pictures, you have to select that particular picture from your pc or laptop. After selecting your design or picture, you have to print that on a sublimation paper, then set that on a mug and press. Another thing you can do is you can visit a printing company and give them your design, rest of the things they will do properly.
Conclusion
A printed mug is a kind of aesthetic thing to be experienced. Printing mugs has become an enchanting hobby. If you want to surprise your loved ones, you can easily choose a printed mug as a present. A picture or text on a mug expresses your feelings for your loving people. At the same time, it may open up a new idea for businesses to earn.
Now you have a detailed idea of how to print on ceramic mugs at home. It is your turn to utilize the knowledge and start something new.