The 6 Best Sublimation Printers for T-Shirts in 2024

Best Overall

Epson Surecolor F570PRO

1
Top choice for sublimation printing on t-shirts, known for its professional quality and reliability.
Best Converted

EpsonWF-7720

2
Excellent converted sublimation printer for t-shirts, offering versatility and high-quality prints.
Best for Beginner

Sawgrass SG500

3
Ideal for beginners in sublimation printing for t-shirts, user-friendly with good print quality.

best sublimation printer for tshirtHigh-quality prints can be made on paper, plastic, and polyester fabrics with the help of sublimation printers, which employ a dye sublimation technique.

Printing a reverse image of the artwork onto sublimation transfer paper is the first step in the sublimation printing process. The substrate is then placed onto the transfer paper, and the paper and substrate are heated in a heat press or similarly equipped device. Sublimation inks evaporate when exposed to high temperatures, becoming permanently embedded in the substrate to produce vivid, long-lasting prints.

sublimation printer for tshirts

CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) inks are commonly used in sublimation printers because they are carefully engineered to generate vibrant colors and to endure the high temperatures required for the sublimation transfer. Printing on textiles for custom apparel and on specific materials like high-performance sports fabrics are just some of the common uses for these printers because of their excellent resolution and print quality.

Sublimation printing is often used to make t-shirts because it produces vibrant full-color prints that won’t break or fade over time. Professionals can produce a wide variety of designs for their brand using this technology on many textiles, such as polyester and cotton fabric and other synthetic materials and mixes that contain at least 50% polyester.

sublimation printer for tshirts

Sublimation printing can also facilitate the creation of one-of-a-kind and customized designs for clothes and promotional products, while it is kinder to the environment than conventional screen printing because it doesn’t necessitate the use of toxic chemicals.

As a whole, sublimation printing is highly sought after because of the excellent quality, longevity, and adaptability it provides. The variety of printers available on the market, however, can make it difficult to choose the ideal one for your needs.

sublimation printer for tshirts

Digital art printing is commonplace among today’s graphic designers and crafters, but sublimation printers may be unfamiliar territory for those now venturing into the t-shirt printing world. So, picking out the best sublimation printer might be challenging. Since this is largely a learning and product guide, we will analyze the best selections based on the printing area, overall printing quality and resolution, ink systems, and ease of use of each machine. As such, we will go through the best options for novices and seasoned pros, both of who are interested in t-shirt sublimation printing, as well as a cost-effective choice for those in need of all-in-one solutions.

Selection Criteria for Sublimation Printers for T-Shirts 2023—Buying Guide

Type of Sublimation Printers

You can either purchase a printer specifically designed for sublimation or modify an existing printer to work with sublimation ink.

Those who want to be able to get in touch with technical help in the event of a printer malfunction will find it simpler to use printers designed expressly for sublimation. However, compared to the ones you have to convert, they are more costly.

Depending on the printer you get, converting a standard inkjet printer to work with sublimation ink is a breeze. Nevertheless, as you will be using third-party sublimation ink, the warranty will be immediately nullified.

Sublimation Ink Quality

It’s important to invest in a printer that can produce crisp, vivid output, both in terms of colors and line graphics.

Sublimation printing makes it feasible to print full-color graphics with gradients and photographic images. When printing, it’s best to use a printer with as many ink cartridges as possible so that you can achieve subtler color transitions and more accurate color reproduction.

Sublimation printers employ either ink cartridges, refillable cartridges, or cartridge-free printing systems to store and utilize dye-sublimation inks. While bulk ink systems save money in the end, they are more difficult to maintain than cartridges.

Sublimation Printer Ease of Use

Look for a printer that won’t require you to spend a lot of time setting it up and learning how to use it. This is essential knowledge for those just beginning their sublimation t-shirt printing careers.

To help you get started with your printer, leading brands like Canon, Epson, and HP provide downloadable apps and user guides that cover the basics of installation and operation.

Sublimation Paper Size

When customizing t-shirts, you will need a range of sizes for yourself or your customers. Needless to say, this will be reflected in the size of the printed area and transfer paper you use.

So, the print size capacity of your printer should reflect that.

Wide format printers, which can print on paper sizes greater than 8.5 by 14 inches, should be used for creating large and even extra-large t-shirts.

Top Product Recommendations for the Best Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts 2023

  1. Overall Best Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: Epson Surecolor F570PRO
  2. Best Converted Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: Epson WorkForce WF-7720
  3. Best Beginner Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: Sawgrass SG500
  4. Best Professional Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: HP Stitch S500
  5. Best Wide Transfer Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: Sawgrass SG1000
  6. Best Affordable Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts: Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer

1. Overall Best Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—Epson Surecolor F570PRO

Epson Surecolor F570PRO

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Sublimation printer
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 10/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 9/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 10/10

About Epson Surecolor F570PRO

The SureColor F570PRO is the first Epson sublimation printer, and it is aimed at small to medium-sized businesses that want to enter the textile printing business. This printer is worth considering if you’re just getting started in the sublimation printing business, want to upgrade your present printer, or want to add a second unit to your company.

PrecisionCore Micro TFP printheads are built inside this Epson printer, and its ability to precisely control the size of individual ink droplets results in graphics with stunning clarity and detail. This is our overall best sublimation printer as it can print at resolutions as high as 2,400 by 1,200 dpi, resulting in exceptionally sharp and detailed output.

The technique of Nozzle Verification Control evaluates nozzle conditions and makes alterations as required. The F570PRO uses dye-based inks, which result in highly saturated colors and sharp text. This makes your images vivid and full of detail, which is especially important when printing on t-shirts.

The printer’s 1.33-inch print head and 800 nozzles per color allow for rapid work turnaround, which is great news if you run a commercial printing business. With respect to dye-sublimation transfer printing speeds, this printer is among the best.

If you want to start a printing company, the ability to print on many types of media is crucial. The F570PRO has a 50-sheet automatic paper feeder and can handle paper up to 24 inches wide, so you can easily print t-shirts up to XXL sizes. The cutter is integrated into the printer for your convenience, saving you time and effort.

This printing machine has high-capacity bottles with an auto-stop, so you don’t have to replace the ink as often, and when you do, you can do so without the mess that you’d get with other setups. Saving money on ink refills is a nice bonus.

When looking for a printer, the last thing you want is to have to deal with a bunch of setup just to get started. Nevertheless, the F570PRO requires no setup because it comes with Windows and Mac OS X–optimized software drivers.

Pros:

  • High-quality photos and text, great for printing graphics
  • Fast speeds
  • Easy-to-refill ink tanks

Cons:

  • High initial cost
  • Can’t print white ink

2. Best Converted Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—Epson WorkForce WF-7720

Epson Surecolor F570PRO

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Inkjet printers
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 9/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 10/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 10/10

About Epson WorkForce WF-7720

The Epson WorkForce WF-7720 multifunction printer can produce wide-format prints and tabloid-sized scans. Epson models with wide-format printing capabilities are useful in and of themselves because of the extra room they give you to work with when creating designs and printing them on t-shirts of a variety of sizes, up to XL. However, keep in mind this will be a converted Epson sublimation printer.

Among the many high-quality productivity and convenience features that this sublimation printer possesses is a single-pass auto-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF). More than 500 sheets of paper can be processed through the WF-7720 thanks to its two 250-sheet paper trays and a single-sheet override tray. This model’s two cassettes can be organized to hold transfer paper with dimensions of up to 13 by 19 inches, as well as 20 sheets of high-quality picture paper.

We should expect this model to be larger than standard inkjet printers, measuring in at 16.5 inches by 22.3 inches by 17.8 inches so that it can handle printing on extra-wide media. Maybe the most visible upgrade to the WF-7720 is the updated control panel. The touchscreen is nearly an inch wider in area, making it simpler to touch icons in a hurry, and the buttons and number pad are bigger and more aesthetically good-looking, as well. Touch controls were incorporated, and Epson also included a set of physical buttons next to the screen for quick access to the most commonly used features. Adjusting the screen’s viewing angle is as easy as tilting it up or down.

The WF-7720 lives up to Epson’s tradition of excellent printing with its superior output. All of the font sizes we printed, from the tiniest eight to the largest 96, turned out well, making them ideal for dye sublimation printing of not just photos but also captions and supplementary line art.

Epson’s WorkForce WF-7720 is a great option for a multifunction desktop printer because it supports sublimation special ink and allows for the same results as expected from the best sublimation printer for shirts.

Pros:

  • High print quality, both for images and fonts of all sizes
  • Wide-format printing, for all t-shirt sizes
  • Wireless printing with Airprint and Mopria print service

Cons:

  • Primarily, this is an Epson inkjet printer
  • Warranty is void once you turn it into a sublimation printer

3. Best Beginner Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—Sawgrass SG500

Sawgrass SG500

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Sublimation printer
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 10/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 8/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 9/10

About Sawgrass SG500

To avoid voiding the warranty on a regular printer by converting it to sublimation printing, the Sawgrass SG500 is a great choice. Sawgrass sublimation printers are high-quality machines with cutting-edge capabilities, making them a great option for both professional and DIY printers. The Sawgrass SG500 is small and convenient, ideal for use with sublimation projects aimed at t-shirt material of all sizes.

If you’re new to sublimation printing and want to get started as soon as you open the box, these sublimation printers are our best options. When you purchase a Sawgrass printer, you’ll also receive a membership to the Creative Studio software. This makes it much simpler to create designs for sublimation prints than with a regular design program, thanks to the thousands of included templates and a free one-on-one onboarding and setup call to make sure you have no trouble getting it up and running.

It offers a simple interface with only the most essential controls up front. The control board has an illuminated electronic display unit, along with actual buttons and lights. It might seem old school, but it does the job in the simplest way possible.

Even though this is a high-quality sublimation printer, and one would expect it to be complicated to set up and use, I was happy to find quite the opposite. It took only a few minutes to set it up and run it for the first time, as everything was straight forward.

This is one of our best dye sublimation printers for professionals as well, as it keeps up in terms of print quality, producing very accurate colors and a good dynamic range while also proving to be relatively cost-effective over time. This Sawgrass sublimation printer is designed to work with special sublimation transfer paper, offering a wide variety of settings to meet the requirements of sublimation printing on t-shirts. This is great if you want to use it professionally with a heat press machine, even though it is more expensive than others that are compatible with them.

Whereas the Sawgrass printer’s ability to use the more expensive Sublijet HD ink cartridges means we got ultra-high-definition prints, this technology comes at a hefty price, if you don’t plan on using it often for commercial-level work.

As noted, the ink is more expensive than low-cost alternatives, which is the single major negative. Yet, sublimation ink does not dry out like inkjet printer ink, so you won’t have to replace cartridges as often.

Pros:

  • High printing quality and speed
  • Customer support for the life of the product
  • Dye from the inks tanks does not dry, so that you can keep it for longer

Cons:

  • High ink cost

4. Best Professional Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—HP Stitch S500

HP Stitch S500

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Sublimation printer
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 10/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 10/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 10/10

About HP Stitch S500

High-volume t-shirt sublimation printing is a breeze with the HP Stitch S500. This is a high-powered dye-sublimation printer, so it can print on a wide variety of fabrics, including cotton shirts with polyester coating, with stunning color and durability.

When combined with HP’s dye-sublimation inks and cutting-edge thermal inkjet technology, the results are prints that are not only bright and colorful but also washable and durable for years to come. Automatic processes for upkeep help maintain high print quality and minimize downtime.

When it comes to high-volume production runs or demanding applications where print quality and durability are vital, the HP Stitch S500 is a dependable and adaptable choice for sublimation shirts and other textiles. You can maintain steady output even when staff is away. As an added bonus, HP PrintOS allows you to remotely monitor printer status, ink use, and substrate material, allowing for more efficient fleet management.

The HP Stitch S500 has a host of high-end extras, including a spectrophotometer for precise color calibration, a built-in cutter for streamlined output, and an intuitive interface that simplifies print job management and status monitoring.

You can print with consistent color more quickly and with less hassle, even when a PANTONE® color is outside of your gamut. You can immediately achieve the closest visual color match by downloading or making your own color profiles in no time.

This is one of the best sublimation printers for both transfer paper and direct-to-fabric printing, so you don’t have to choose which way your business will go in the future.

Pros:

  • High-resolution images can be handled with ease
  • 64-inch print capacity
  • Reliable sublimation printer
  • Can print without direct staff supervision

Cons:

  • High initial cost

5. Best Wide Transfer Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—Sawgrass SG1000

Sawgrass SG1000

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Sublimation printer
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 10/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 10/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 10/10

About Sawgrass SG1000

The SG1000 is one of the Sawgrass printers that don’t need third-party sublimation ink to work, as this is a true sublimation printer. It meets the needs of professional printing while yet being user-friendly for novices.

As you take the Sawgrass SG1000 out of the box, you’ll notice that it’s exactly as small and sleek as the SG5000 we just talked about. Everything you need to get the most out of your new purchase, including a power cord and a USB cable, is included in the package. Setup is straightforward and doesn’t require a lot of time or effort.

The SG1000 is the company’s high-end model because of its greater printable area. While the SG5000 can only print on an area of 8.5 by 14 inches, the SG1000 has an expandable area of 13 by 19 inches, allowing it to make designs for plus-size t-shirts. The right sublimation printer is one that will be inclusive to all sizes, ranging from extra small to extra large, and beyond.

The Sawgrass SG1000 printer is highly recommended if you need high-quality output. The built-in color correction technology is especially helpful for novice users, as it guarantees consistent results when printing. This machine is one of the greatest sublimation printers on the market since it is powered by Sawgrass’ state-of-the-art Ultra High Definition (uHD) printing technology.

This ChromaBlast ink is great if you want to create cotton T-shirts as opposed to polyester fabric. ChromasBlast transfer paper, rather than standard sublimation papers, is required for use with this product. This transfer paper is meant to be used with white or light-colored cotton shirts by pressing the printed design into the fabric.

Pros:

  • The built-in color-correction technology allows for excellent final products
  • Superior print area, measuring up to 19 inches
  • Use it right out of the box

Cons:

  • Creative Studio needs a subscription to unlock all features

6. Best Affordable Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts—Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer

Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer

Selection Criteria

  • Type of printer – Sublimation printer
  • Sublimation Ink Quality – 10/10
  • Sublimation printer ease of use – 9/10
  • Sublimation paper size – 8/10

About Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer

The best dye sublimation printers are not always meant to break the bank, and this sublimation printer for shirts is the proof. The Epson Surecolor F170 makes the sublimation process easy and affordable for people who are now starting to explore working with this special ink.

Incorporating the F170 into your system is simple, thanks to the installation guide provided. Just take it out of the box, plug it into your computer, and start using it.

Although it is an entry-level model, it offers 1200 by 600 dpi print resolution, with the help of 784 nozzles, either on a paper roll or cut sheets of width up to 8.5 inches. Prints can be made in high quality using sublimation for a low cost.

The F170 can print on both hard and flexible materials thanks to its versatile printer driver. Blanks such as clothes, shirts, t-shirts, neoprene, but also ceramic, aluminum, and more can be sublimated using any of these two settings.

However, the F170 does not have the capability of printing without borders. It can’t have any print within 0.12 inches of the edge on either side. This is why you need to check beforehand that the printed designs you’ve created are not too large or too small.

Pros:

  • Low-cost sublimation printer
  • Low ink cost
  • High printing quality

Cons:

  • Does not allow for borderless printing

Conclusion—The Best Sublimation Printer for T-Shirts 2023

If you’re just getting started with sublimation printers for t-shirt designs, you’ll have to decide whether you want an inkjet ink printer converted to sublimation print or a dedicated sublimation printer. The Epson Ecotank ET series and the Canon Pixma Pro series are just two examples of the many excellent alternatives available on the market that fell short of making our top picks.

However, if you are looking for a dedicated machine that can handle your home projects and large business orders equally well, you might want to check our best of list.

The Epson Surecolor F570PRO was designed to dispel the myth that Epson printers aren’t capable of sublimation printing. If you need a wide transfer printer that can print on a variety of materials, this is one of the best sublimation printers available.

On the other hand, the HP Stitch S500 is an excellent choice for businesses who deal with high volumes of orders and are looking to update to a machine that can handle orders without staff supervision and give reliable products every time.

We hope you found our analysis of the best sublimation printer for t-shirts of 2023 to be helpful. Consult our associated guides for further sources of comparable items for the artistic lifestyle.

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