Hi Iain,
When I started my business 4 years ago, I began with sublimation printing. I used CorelDraw 12 back then but found it tough going. As CorelDraw 8 is even older, I’d guess you’ll have problems from the word go. The ICC profile was a real pain in CD12 and I ended up only doing vector images as I could never get a photo to print properly. I was running it on a Vista platform which may have contributed to my problems.
One piece of advice I can give is don’t scrimp on your equipment. I unfortunately purchased a mug machine, press and the Epson printer as a package which looking back, was very cheap. The mug heat platen came loose after about 3 months, the press was sometimes hit and miss and the printer developed a problem with spraying yellow around the edges of images. All this plus the problems with photos led me to give it up after a couple of years.
In reply to your original question, I don’t have any experience with SubliEVO but from the site it looks ok. If you’re already familiar with CorelDraw, I’d suggest upgrading to a newer version. Depending on where you’re purchasing your equipment from, your supplier will more likely be familiar with the newer versions so if you get stuck and need help with things, they’ll be better placed to help.
Definitely look for a supplier that provides back up and technical advice – this is invaluable.
Hope this helps.