PriceMyPrint.com — Price faster. Print smarter.

Free Sublimation Pricing Calculator

PriceMyPrint estimates sublimation cost per piece — substrate, paper, ink, and press time — then shows the selling price that keeps the margin you want.

Free. No account required.

Pricing workspace

Sublimation job

1

Your Job

1What are you making?

2

Your Cost

Your Cost

Needs answers

Cost per piece

$—

Total job cost
$—
Sellable pieces
—

Tell us what you're making to see your estimate.

This calculation uses 16 PriceMyPrint estimates.

See what makes up this cost

Cost Breakdown

Each piece of a job carries its own cost. Amounts appear once your answers are complete.

  • Blank

    The undecorated garment or item.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—

  • Printing it

    Transfers, film, ink, thread, or supplies.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—

  • Employee time

    Hands-on time to produce the job.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—

  • Equipment

    Wear and cost of the machines doing the work.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—

  • Running the shop

    A share of rent, power, software, and other fixed costs.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—

  • Mistakes & waste

    The extra pieces you produce so spoilage doesn't shrink the order.

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $—
3

What Do You Want to Charge?

Target Margin

%

Price per piece

$—

4

Price Check

Price Check

Finish your job answers, then enter the price you plan to charge.

5

Your Shop Costs

These are the shop numbers PriceMyPrint used to calculate this job. PriceMyPrint estimates are shown below. Premium lets you replace them with your shop's actual numbers.

This calculation uses 16 PriceMyPrint estimates.

Review Shop Costs

Printing it

  • Ink cost per printed square inch

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $0.0020 / printed sq in

  • How much of your paper ends up as artwork

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    85%

  • Paper cost per square inch

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $0.0010 / sq in

  • Tape and consumables per item

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $0.0800 / piece

Employee time

  • What you pay per hour

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $18.00/hour

  • Employer labor costs on top of wages

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    15%

  • Seconds handling paper per item

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    8 sec

  • sublimationPrepSecondsPerItem

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    20

  • sublimationPressCycleDurationSeconds

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    45

  • Seconds loading and unloading the press

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    30 sec

  • sublimationFinishingSecondsPerItem

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    15

  • Minutes of setup per job

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    5 min

Equipment

  • Printer cost per printed square inch

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $0.0005 / printed sq in

  • Press cost per hour

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $1.50 / hour

Running the shop

  • Shop overhead per productive hour

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    $12.00 / hour

Mistakes & waste

  • Waste allowance

    PriceMyPrint Estimate
    3%

Make this accurate for my shop

This calculation uses 16 PriceMyPrint estimates.

Premium lets you replace these with your actual labor, materials, speeds, equipment and overhead, and uses them automatically on future jobs.

Pricing a product with multiple decorations or several items? Price the complete job.

Want to see the math behind these numbers? How PriceMyPrint calculates job costs.

New to sublimation pricing? Read the sublimation pricing guide.

Not sure what your shop costs to run per hour? Work out your overhead and break-even.

What is the True Job Cost of a Sublimation job?

True Job Cost is the PriceMyPrint way of adding up everything a job actually costs your shop before any profit is added. It is an educational framework, not a formal accounting standard. For sublimation work it includes the blank or substrate, ink and transfer paper for the printed area, protective paper and tape, print handling, press cycles, a share of the printer and press, allocated shop overhead, and remakes.

Once you know that number, pricing becomes a decision instead of a guess: True Job Cost leads to a selling price, the selling price leads to estimated profit, and profit divided by price is your margin.

True Job Cost = Materials + Active Labor + Equipment + Setup + Allocated Shop Overhead + Expected Waste

Substrate and printed area

The blank is often the biggest single cost in sublimation. A polyester shirt, a mug, and a tumbler each carry different blank costs and handling time, so the calculator changes the estimate when you switch item.

Ink and transfer paper are used by printed area. A larger design costs more per item even on the same blank.

Press cycles and dwell time

Each press cycle ties up the press for the dwell time, plus loading and unloading. If you can press several items together, the cycles are batched and press time per item drops.

Long dwell times on hard goods limit how many pieces the press can finish in a day, which is why press time is charged as equipment time, not just labor.

Press cycles = Quantity ÷ Items pressed at once (rounded up)

Consumables, handling, and waste

Protective paper, heat tape, and wraps are used on every press. Trimming, taping, and positioning transfers are active labor.

Ghosting, shifting, and breakage on hard goods mean remaking pieces. PriceMyPrint adds an expected waste allowance so remakes are priced in.

How target margin sets the price

PriceMyPrint prices from margin, not markup. Margin is the share of the selling price you keep; markup is added on top of cost. A 50% markup on a $10 cost gives $15. A 50% margin needs $20.

Use the calculator above to see what shirts, mugs, or tumblers cost your shop and what to charge at the margin you want.

Selling Price = True Job Cost ÷ (1 − Target Margin)

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to answer?
What you are making, how many, what each blank costs, how large the printed design is, and how many items you can press at one time.
Does it cover mugs and hard goods?
Yes. Shirts, mugs, tumblers, and signs each carry their own prep, press, and finishing times, so switching the item changes the estimate.
Why does design size change the price?
Ink and transfer paper are charged by printed area, so a larger design costs more per item even on the same blank.
What if I press several items at once?
Tell it how many go in the press together and it batches the press cycles, which lowers press time and cost per item.
Can I use my own costs?
Yes. Open "Adjust costs" to replace wage, ink, paper, consumables, timing, equipment, overhead, and spoilage with your own numbers for this session.
Do I need to sign up?
No. The calculators are free and work without an account.

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