Let's Talk PRINTERS! - Sublimation Tutorials

Let’s talk about printers and what to look for when you’re shopping for one.

What Printer Should I Buy?

That’s a loaded question huh? There are SO MANY different kinds of printers…regular printers, large format printers and commercial printers.

Here’s a basic list of what to look for when shopping for a printer. (You may or may not be concerned with some factors)

- Brand (Some folks like a brand name, some don’t care)
- Output size (The max size you can print up to)
- Price (Find what’s in your budget)
- Maintenance (Does this require a lot of upkeep)
- Speed (How fast can I print off prints)
- Ink Specifications (Do I need special ink/expensive ink)

For most small businesses producing a few prints a week(small is relative) a beginner/standard Epson or Sawgrass will work fine. For more advanced businesses, those producing hundreds of prints a week, or large prints, will most likely need an advanced/large format printer.

Can I convert my printer and how do I do that?

Yes and no. As we talked about before, some sublimation inks may void your warranty. If you’re over that part, (or you’ve got an extended warranty through the vendor) I’ve also recently learned that HP (and some Brother) printers use a thermal process for their inks, so adding sublimation ink to an HP printer is a recipe for disaster.
This means that the drops of ink that come out are heated. You surely don’t want your ink heated before transfer as it can affect the quality and outcome of your design/print.

With that said, if you have an Epson or Sawgrass printer and you can find refillable cartridges or a CISS then YES, you can convert it to a sublimation printer. Let’s find out how to do that.

If you buy the printer NEW, DO NOT PUT IN THE STANDARD PRINTING INK. There’s no reason to do this and it will only make your adding sub ink a longer process.
If you purchase your printer USED, you will want to clean the lines FIRST. While this step isn’t mandatory, it’s definitely encouraged. You don’t know what could have gotten through the lines (dirt, bacteria, impurities) that could have a huge negative effect on your printer overall. Here’s a cleaning kit that looks good https://amzn.to/3a083q6

Once you’ve cleaned out the lines, simply fill your cartridges with the sub ink and place into your printer! Here’s a tip: When filling your cartridges, make sure the venting hole is OPEN. If it’s closed while you’re filling it, you can create pressure and it may pop open spewing ink everywhere.

How to Fill a CISS or Refillable Cartridge

I have found some great videos on how to fill/refill/set up your cartridges or CISS.

Cartridges by Nano Digital Ink: https://youtu.be/lBn2f7-dvUQ

CISS by InkXPro: https://youtu.be/x5I12wbIp-I

How to Set up CISS: https://youtu.be/0MyKYQoYwp4