A sublimation printer is a computer printer which uses heat to transfer dye onto different materials such as plastic and fabric.
So sublimation is actually the process of heat and thermal printing. Many of these printing devices are used for photo printing, mug and t- shirt designs, to name a few.
If you’re looking to buy a dye sublimation printer for your business, home or studio, there are some salient features that you should keep in mind before choosing the most suitable model for you; which we’ll look to cover throughout this guide.
For instance, if you have a label or sticker printing business, you should instead consider a vinyl sticker printer. Check out our detailed guide on buying the best printer for vinyl sticker printing, to help you choose.
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Choosing the Best Sublimation Printer [Buyer’s Guide]
Please make a note of these important hallmarks while buying a colored dye sublimation printer for your t-shirt, mug and other photo printing on different items.
- Price: You will need to be careful while buying a printer at an affordable price which is efficient and qualitative at the same time
- Quality: The quality of the ink as well as the way in which the printer ejects color on the material is quint-essential
- Uses: The sublimation printer should be able to serve a wide range of functionalities at a significant standard
Sublimation Printing vs Heat Press Printing
Many people think that sublimation and heat press is the same. However, there are some slight differences, we think we should make that clear.
For instance, heat press printing uses heat and pressure to apply prints to t-shirts. While in sublimation printing, different dyes are printed on a transfer medium with the help of a high-quality inkjet printer.
The sublimation dyes are then transferred to sublimation papers onto the desired object with the help of a commercial heat press.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ’s]
Q1. Can you use any printer for sublimation?
Ans. For sublimation printing, the most popular printers are the Ricoh and Sawgrass models. As they are specifically designed with sublimation print heads. However, they can be somewhat expensive and therefore unaffordable for most people.
Fortunately, there are a lot of great Epson color inkjet printers which can also be used for sublimation printing. As you can simply buy refillable ink cartridges and separate sublimation ink and place it in their compartment.
And there you go, you now have a cheap solution for your sublimation printing needs, with an Epson inkjet printer. Bare in mind, it is better to use large format inkjet printers for the sublimation process.
Q2. How much does a sublimation printer cost?
Ans. With the advent of technology in our everyday lives, sublimation has become quite popular for acrylic, plastic and vinyl printing. Sublimation is a very low cost printing solution and it can be very profitable too, especially for small business and startups. With a low startup cost. Depending on the image size, a sublimation compatible inkjet printer with sublimation ink costs in the range of $300 – $600 for 8.5 x 14 inches and around $1,660 for 13 x 19 inches. Imaging costs are no more than $0.01 per square inch. Whereas high quality, industrial level heat press and sublimation printers cost anywhere between $1,500 and $6,000 US dollars.
Q3. What is the best printer for sublimation?
Ans. We have analyzed all the available sublimation printers and have concluded that the Epson Workforce WF-7110 is the best sublimation printer. It is a high quality, affordable wide-format inkjet printer which can print sublimation paper sheets of up to 13 x 19″ inches.
It also has a very high resolution of 4800 x 2410 which ensures high-quality image printing and can also be used for heat transfer purposes too. It also has a large 250 sheet tray, which is enough for large scale printing productions. Making the Epson Workforce WF-7110 a great choice at under $200.
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