Sublimation printer has made it easy to print custom designs on fabric (t-shirts, sportswear, banners, flags), polyester (keyrings, cards, mouse mats, cushion covers, phone cases), ceramic (mugs, tiles), and MDF (wood made of wood fibers). Notably, sublimation doesn’t work well on pure cotton and black background. But you can use it on mixed fabric (cotton and polyester). Dye sublimation printers are considered climate-friendly.
By using the Sublimation printer you can also design custom shirts for the online business and custom logo shirts of your business for your team.
Sublimation printer use ink to transfer quality designs with vibrant colors on special paper then you can easily transfer the print onto your product (fabric, ceramic, polyester, and MDF) with a heat press. The paper should be removed once the print cools down.
There are so many sublimation printers available of different brands and various prices, picking the right one is little stress full. After reviewing around 20+ sublimation printers, we have selected the 2 best sublimation printer for heat transfer that is also in high demand and affordable price.
Sawgrass sublimation printer SG500
The Sawgrass sublimation printer is specially designed for dye sublimation prints. Its special design maximizes quality and minimizes costs. It comes with a 2-year warranty and lifetime tech support. Bonus, with this sublimation printer you will receive print manager software to do all graphic edits and create designs, plus you would be able to get access to a creative studio that contains a vast variety of designs.
A Sawgrass sublimation printer is best to start your small personalized business at home, or you can use it as a hobby to do some creative designs. As it helps create vibrant, colorful images on products profitably, quickly, and easily.
Sawgrass is the leader In the market for making sublimation printers for over 26 years. This is the entry-level printer which is upgraded from SG400 to SG500, they sell 2 other models for larger organizations high in cost, large in size, and print for larger areas like bedsheets.
You will receive access to the creative studio with the printer. Using creative studio you can enjoy a vast variety of designs. You can also upgrade the creative studio for weekly updates and a full directory of designs. The sublimation printer features and specifications are as follows:
Set-up:
A Sawgrass dye sublimation printer is the easiest to set up. Simply plug in the cord and push the power button. Insert the ink cartridges and papers in paper try. Then download the sawgrass print manager app on your computer. You can set up this printer with mac and windows.
Due to its easy setup and medium cost, efficient editing software, and quality prints sawgrass printer is considered to be the best sublimation printer for beginners.
Connection:
It comes with multiple connectivity options including ethernet, USB, and wifi. You can also print using phones and tablets but you won’t be able to do it perfectly with missing color and printing profiles.
Ethernet connection:
Remove the packaging and orange tape> plug the cable>plug the power cord> turn on the power button>open the front cover and insert the ink cartridges> 7-minute initial charge>put the paper into the printer tray, shiny side down. Then download ‘print manager software’ on your computer.
Download sawgrass print manager onto the computer:
Download sawgrass print manager> open and click sawgrass print manager.pkg>follow the process on the screen> when asked, enter the computer password to allow the program to start>once downloaded sign in by clicking the downloaded software
Wifi connection:
Simply connect the wifi using the navigation menu on the front side of the printer.
Push menu button>go to system setting>interface stting>network>LAN network>wireless LAN>wireless LAN easy setup>SSID auto search> select network>enter password
Read the detailed guide to set up the sawgrass sublimation printer.
Sawgrass Print manager software for print settings:
Sawgrass sublimation printer has its own color management software called the print manager. It works like Photoshop tools like adobe, canvas, and coral draw.
Sawgrass print manager also allows to change the print setting of logos, digital designs like color management, sizes, and overall editing and supports the workflow from digital printing to physical designs on paper to objects.
Ink:
The Sawgrass sublimation printer sg500 comes with 4 starter ink cartridges including yellow, black, magenta, and, cyan each containing 31 ml of ink.
The printer is specially designed with an upgraded version to minimize the use of ink, so you don’t have to buy the ink too often. Only required new ink once or 2 times in a year as it can generate thousands of prints with full cartridges.
Refilling ink cartridges would be difficult but you can still do this using syringe (make sure no bubbles are there in the syringe) and compatible refillable cartridges. It is necessary you must find out some quality sublimation ink.
Paper size and prints:
The Sawgrass printer comes with 100 sheets of paper. It can print on 8.5 x 14 inches paper sheets with different sizes and quantities. You can increase the paper size by using the bypass tray that allows 8.5 x 51 inches of paper sheets. A bypass tray helps do the printing job that is not possible with the main printer tray. It would be a costly process.
Print quality:
The print quality of the sawgrass sublimation printer is fantastic. Prints come up with accurate colors as they were on the original design. So, we can rate it 10/10. Its print speed is quite high. It can print a full page print in between 40-45 seconds. Due to its print quality, we consider it the best sublimation printer for t-shirts and overall prints. It produces the best print quality whether it is on fabric, polyester, ceramic, or MDF.
Maintenance:
Sawgrass printer has its own automatic maintenance cycle that worry-free solution. It gives peace of mind. As you don’t have to go through daily lengthy cleaning and maintenance processes.
It is the main problem with other sublimation printers that if you don’t do regular maintenance, the ink head will dry out and the motherboard will be damaged. In the case of sawgrass, you don’t have to worry about this. You can also use the printer occasionally without any problems. The sawgrass virtuoso sg printer just takes care of Itself. This is the best sublimation printer for beginners due to its easy setup and automatic maintenance system.
Pros and cons
| Pros: | Cons: |
| ?Automatic maintenance ?High-quality sublimation prints ?4 starter ink +100 paper sheets ?Fast speed Free editing software ?USB, wifi connection ?Easy to use | ?Price ?Paper size ?Works with Sawgrass ink cartridges |
For the best sublimation and heat press bundle, you may check out the following link.
Read the detailed review of the Sawgrass sublimation printer sg500 for more print quality samples and bundle detail.
Epson sublimation printer Ecotank 4760
Epson Ecotank sublimation printers, are inkjet printers and can be converted easily into sublimation printers just by using sublimation ink rather than Epson ink bottles. It produces great sublimation prints. You can easily refill its cartridges with sublimation ink. No need to buy new cartridges every time. Once it is converted, there will be no warranty or tech support. Device overview and build quality are as follows:
Set-up:
The setup is not really easy for any eco-tank printer. But the good thing is it comes with a setup guide. It has a small touch screen. Just follow the comprehensive instruction guide and set up the printer using a small touch screen.
Connectivity:
Almost all printers have the same connectivity options including wifi, USB, and Ethernet. You can easily connect the printer to your computer or mac with Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
It comes with no warranty and zero sublimation ink and paper sheet. It also comes with a paper-holding tray.
Ink:
You need to buy sublimation ink separately to convert the printer into a sublimation printer. Its cartridges are refillable.
Digital design editing and setting software:
To edit your design before print, or change the size and colors you have to use some other tool like Adobe Photoshop, adobe illustrator, coral designs, and more. Epson heat transfer printer doesn’t have its own graphics editing software. So, it would an extra expense to buy such tools to edit your graphic designs.
Paper size and prints:
It supports 3.5 x5 to 8.5 x 47 inches paper size with various print sizes.
The printer speed is slow. It can take up to 2-3 minutes for a full-page print.
Print quality:
The print quality of the Epson sublimation printer is great. It actually prints in a more vibrant and sharper color texture as compared to actual print designs. We gave it 8 /10 stars as compared to the sawgrass sublimation printer.
Maintenance:
You cannot leave the Epson sublimation printer without regular cleaning and maintenance, if you do, you will see print head ink blockage and mother damage. So, the Ecotank sublimation printer’s downside is it requires lots of maintenance and work. It doesn’t come with an automatic maintenance system. You will have to do lots of maintenance work for the eco tank sublimation printer you will buy.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons: |
| ?Refillable ink cartridges ?Low-cost ?Quality prints ?Support various paper sizes ?Detailed setup guide | ?Maintenance issue ?No warranty ?No free ink or paper ?Low printing speed ?Doesn’t come up with editing software |
Epson vs sawgrass sublimation printer:
The Sawgrass sublimation printer comes with free sublimation ink, automatic maintenance, and graphic editing software for color management. On the other hand, the Epson sublimation printer comes with none of these advantages. Both Sawgrass and Epson have the same multiple connectivity options.
The only advantage Epson has over Sawgrass is paper printing size as Epson can print up to 8.5x47 inches paper sheets, and to print larger size paper with Sawgrass you need to buy a bypass tray, otherwise, it can only print 8.5x14 inches. The Sawgrass sublimation printer is cheaper than Epson 4760 sublimation printer.
Comparison chart:
| Name | Free ink and paper | Connectivity | Price | Max Paper size | Maintenance | Editing software | Link |
| Sawgrass SG500 | ✅ | USB, WIFI, ethernet | $424 | 8.5x 14 | Automatic | ✅ | see now |
| Epson eco-tank 4760 | ❌ | USB, WIFI, ethernet | $629 | 8.5 x 47 | Manual(require daily) | ❌ | see now |
Conclusion:
Both sublimation printers work best in quality. We tested the best Epson eco tank printer for sublimation. We tested Epson 4760 because it comes with a paper-holding tray, on the other hand, Epson 2720 sublimation printer has a small capacity to hold the paper. The Epson workforce wf is an old version of the Epson printer.
You may read our guides on affordable best inkjet printer under $100 if you are looking for a cheap solution for daily black-and-white, color printing needs. And the best portable photo printer to print outstanding photos. Let us know in the comments, what is the best sublimation printer to buy, what do you suggest? Share your experience with us.
