The Short Answer
If you're looking at getting into sublimation printing, here's what you need to know straight away: you need a printer fitted with a piezoelectric print head, filled with sublimation ink. In practice, that leaves you with two realistic options. Either you buy a dedicated sublimation printer such as a Sawgrass, or you convert an Epson EcoTank by filling it with sublimation ink instead of the standard Epson ink it ships with.
That probably raises more questions than it answers, so let's go through everything properly. By the end of this guide, you'll know exactly which sublimation printers suit your needs, what to avoid, and how to get set up without wasting money on the wrong kit.
Why Can't You Use Any Inkjet Printer?
This is the most common question beginners ask, and it's a fair one. On the surface, sublimation printing looks a lot like regular inkjet printing. You load special paper, print a design, and transfer it onto a product using heat. So why can't you just pour sublimation ink into whatever printer you already own?
It comes down to the type of print head inside the printer, and there are two fundamentally different technologies used across the major brands.
Thermal Print Heads (Canon and HP)
Canon and HP printers use what's called a thermal print head. This works by rapidly heating tiny resistors inside the print head, which causes the ink to form a small vapour bubble. That bubble forces a droplet of ink out through the nozzle and onto the paper. It's an effective system for regular ink, but it's a disaster for sublimation ink.
Sublimation ink is specifically designed to convert from a solid to a gas when exposed to heat. That's the entire point of the process. So when a thermal print head heats the ink to create droplets, it can trigger the sublimation process right there inside the print head. The ink begins to turn to gas where it shouldn't, causing clogs, misfires, and eventually complete print head failure. It's not a case of getting poor results. The printer will stop working altogether, and since most Canon and HP printers have the print head built permanently into the machine, that means the whole printer is ruined.
Piezoelectric Print Heads (Epson)
Epson printers work differently. They use piezoelectric technology, which relies on tiny crystals that flex when an electrical charge is applied to them. This flexing action pushes ink through the nozzle mechanically, without any heat whatsoever. Because there's no heat involved in the ink delivery process, sublimation ink passes through the print head exactly as it should, staying in its liquid form until you apply heat during the transfer stage.
This is why Epson printers are the go-to choice for sublimation conversions. It's not a marketing preference or brand loyalty. It's simple physics. Piezoelectric heads and sublimation ink are compatible. Thermal heads are not.
What About Laser Printers?
Laser printers are a completely different technology altogether. They use powdered toner fused onto paper with heat and pressure, not liquid ink. You cannot put sublimation ink into a laser printer. The two systems have nothing in common. If someone has told you that you can do sublimation with a laser printer, they're either confused or thinking of a different process entirely, such as toner transfer, which produces very different results.
Dedicated Sublimation Printer vs Converted Epson EcoTank
Once you understand that you need a piezoelectric print head, the next decision is whether to buy a purpose-built sublimation printer or convert an Epson. Both approaches work well, but they suit different situations and budgets.
Sawgrass: The Purpose-Built Option
Sawgrass is the most recognised name in dedicated sublimation printers. Their two main models are the SG500, which prints up to A4 size, and the SG1000, which handles up to A3. These machines are designed from the ground up for sublimation. They arrive with sublimation ink already installed, come with ICC colour profiles tailored to their ink and hardware combination, and include Sawgrass Print Manager software that simplifies the printing workflow.
The colour accuracy you get out of the box with a Sawgrass is genuinely impressive. Because the ink, profiles, and software are all designed to work together, you can start printing accurate, vibrant transfers almost immediately. For someone who values consistency and doesn't want to tinker with settings, that's a real advantage.
The downside is cost. An SG500 typically sells for around £400 to £500 in the UK, while the SG1000 sits at £700 to £800 or more. The bigger ongoing expense, though, is the ink. Sawgrass printers use small cartridges that are relatively expensive to replace. If you're printing regularly, the ink costs add up noticeably over time.
Converted Epson EcoTank: The Value Option
The alternative, and the route most UK beginners and small businesses take, is converting an Epson EcoTank printer. The EcoTank range is Epson's refillable ink tank system, designed to hold far more ink than traditional cartridges. The ET-2810 is the most popular model for sublimation conversion, and it typically costs around £200.
The key advantage here is running cost. Each EcoTank colour reservoir holds around 70ml of ink, compared to the small cartridges in a Sawgrass. When you fill those tanks with sublimation ink, your cost per print drops significantly. For anyone planning to print in any kind of volume, this difference really matters over months and years of use.
The trade-off is that you need to handle the conversion yourself. That means sourcing sublimation ink separately, filling the tanks, and installing the correct ICC colour profiles so that your colours print accurately. Without the right profiles, your prints will look washed out or colour-shifted. It's not difficult to do, but it does require a bit of research and care. Alternatively, you can buy a pre-converted starter bundle, like the ET-2810 starter bundle, where all of this has been done for you before the printer even leaves the warehouse.
Which Should You Choose?
For most people starting out in sublimation in the UK, the converted EcoTank is the better value proposition. You get a capable sublimation printer at roughly half the upfront cost of a Sawgrass, and your ongoing ink costs are substantially lower. The Sawgrass makes more sense if you need guaranteed colour accuracy for commercial work from day one and you're happy to pay a premium for the convenience of everything being set up and supported by a single manufacturer.
A4 vs A3: Choosing the Right Print Size
Sublimation printers come in two main format sizes, and picking the right one depends on what you plan to print.
A4 Printers
A4-format printers include the Epson ET-2810, ET-2850, and the Sawgrass SG500. These handle the vast majority of popular sublimation products comfortably. Mugs, phone cases, coasters, mouse mats, small chopping boards, keyrings, and standard-sized t-shirt chest prints all fit within A4 print dimensions. If your product range centres on these kinds of items, an A4 printer is all you need.
A3 Printers
A3-format printers, such as the Epson ET-16150 or Sawgrass SG1000, open up larger products. All-over t-shirt prints, big cushion covers, larger tote bags, and oversized plaques all require a print area bigger than A4 can provide. These printers cost more to buy and use more ink per print, so they only make financial sense if you're regularly producing larger items.
The practical advice for most beginners is to start with an A4 printer. You can produce a huge range of products and learn the process without a large outlay. If you find that your business grows and your customers start requesting larger items, you can add an A3 printer later. Many established sublimation businesses run both sizes side by side, using the A4 for everyday products and the A3 for bigger orders.
Key Specifications to Look For
When comparing sublimation printers, there are a few technical specifications worth paying attention to. You don't need to obsess over every number, but understanding the basics helps you make a sensible choice.
Ink System
A refillable ink tank system is strongly preferred over cartridges. The EcoTank range is built around this concept, and it's one of the main reasons these printers have become the default choice for sublimation. Refillable tanks hold more ink, cost less per millilitre to refill, and produce less plastic waste. If you're comparing models and one uses cartridges while another has refillable tanks, the tank system will almost always be cheaper to run.
Print Resolution
The Epson EcoTank range offers a print resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi, which is more than sufficient for sublimation work. At this resolution, your printed transfers will be sharp and detailed, with smooth colour gradients. You don't need to chase higher resolution numbers. The bottleneck in sublimation print quality is rarely the printer's resolution. It's much more likely to be the quality of your artwork, your ICC profiles, or your heat press technique.
Paper Feed Path
This is something many beginners overlook, but it matters. Sublimation paper is slightly thicker and stiffer than regular copy paper, and it has a coating on one side that receives the ink. Printers with a rear paper feed are generally better for sublimation because the paper follows a straighter path through the machine. Front-loading trays that pull paper around tight curves inside the printer can cause jams or misfeeds with sublimation paper, particularly with heavier weight sheets. Most EcoTank models have a rear feed option, which is worth using.
Connectivity
Modern EcoTank printers offer both USB and Wi-Fi connectivity. Either works fine for sublimation. Wi-Fi is convenient if your printer sits on a different desk or in another room, but USB gives you a more reliable connection if you're printing large, high-resolution files. Having both options available gives you flexibility to set up your workspace however suits you best.
Starter Bundle vs DIY Conversion
If you've decided on an Epson EcoTank, you've got one more choice to make: do you convert the printer yourself, or buy a ready-made starter bundle?
The DIY Conversion Route
With a DIY conversion, you buy the printer from any retailer, then purchase sublimation ink separately from a sublimation supplier. If the printer has already been filled with Epson's standard ink at the factory (some models ship with ink bottles in the box that you pour in during setup), you'll need to flush that ink out of the system before adding sublimation ink. This involves running cleaning cycles and printing waste pages until the standard ink is fully purged, which uses paper and takes time.
Once the sublimation ink is installed, you then need to download and install the correct ICC colour profiles for your specific ink and printer combination. These profiles tell your computer how to translate the colours in your design file into the right combination of ink outputs so that the final sublimated result matches what you see on screen. Without them, colours will be noticeably off.
The DIY route is cheaper in terms of outright cost, but it comes with a bit of hassle. If the printer was already filled with standard ink, you waste that ink during the flush process. And if you install the wrong profiles or skip a step, your first prints may come out looking wrong, which can be disheartening when you're eager to get started.
The Starter Bundle Route
A starter bundle is a brand-new printer that has never been filled with standard ink. The supplier fills the ink tanks with sublimation ink before shipping, so when it arrives at your door, it's ready to print sublimation transfers straight away. Most bundles also include a supply of sublimation paper and the correct ICC profiles, either pre-installed or provided for easy setup.
The bundle approach costs slightly more than buying everything separately, but it removes the guesswork entirely. There's no flushing, no wasted ink, no hunting for the right profiles online. For beginners especially, this is the approach that causes the fewest headaches. You unbox the printer, connect it to your computer, load the profiles if they're not already installed, and start printing. It's the closest thing to a plug-and-print experience you'll get with a converted Epson.
This is the route most of our customers take, and it's what we'd recommend to anyone who wants to start producing sublimation products without spending their first weekend troubleshooting ink flushes and profile installations.
A Quick Word on Ink and Profiles
Whichever route you take, it's worth understanding that sublimation ink and ICC colour profiles work as a pair. The profiles are calibrated to a specific ink formulation, so if you change your ink brand later, you'll need new profiles to match. Sticking with one ink supplier and their recommended profiles keeps your colour output consistent, which matters a great deal if you're producing products for customers who expect repeatable results.
Cheap sublimation ink from unknown suppliers might save a few pounds per bottle, but if it doesn't come with proper ICC profiles, you'll spend far more time and materials trying to get your colours right. Buying from an established sublimation supplier who provides tested profiles for your specific printer model is always the better long-term decision.
So, What Should You Actually Buy?
If you've read this far and you're still not sure, here's the straightforward recommendation. For most UK beginners and small sublimation businesses, an Epson EcoTank ET-2810 filled with quality sublimation ink is the best starting point. It's affordable, the running costs are low, the print quality is excellent for sublimation work, and it handles all the most popular product sizes comfortably.
Buy it as a starter bundle if you want the easiest possible setup. Go the DIY route if you're confident with following instructions and want to save a few pounds. Either way, you'll have a capable sublimation printer that can produce professional-quality transfers for mugs, t-shirts, phone cases, and dozens of other products.
Start with A4, learn the process, build your product range, and upgrade to A3 only when your business genuinely needs it. That's the approach that works for the vast majority of people getting into sublimation, and it keeps your initial investment sensible while you find your feet.
If you have already decided on an Epson EcoTank and want help choosing between specific models, take a look at our guide to the best sublimation printer for beginners, which compares the ET-2810, ET-2850, and ET-2862 side by side.