This means print quality suffers tremendously because you cannot setup an ink profile. But the bigger problem with Brother printers is that no one is making sublimation ink for them and no one is making “replaceable” cartridges for them. Most Brother printers do use piezo printing technology. Some people have successfully used Brother printers for sublimation. As you can see, these are not for hobby sublimators.Ĭonclusion: HP Printers Cannot Be Used for Sublimation Can I Use a Brother Printer for Sublimation? How much are these printers? HP’s entry level industrial sublimation printer is about $7,000 USD, and that doesn’t include inks. They are huge, expensive, industrial printers made for the job. This special line of printers can print onto sublimation paper or directly onto fabric. HP does have a line of printers that CAN and DO support sublimation ink, and UV ink. This makes nearly all HP printers incapable of printing a clear image using sublimation ink because the ink would essentially bake onto the paper or gas out of the cartridges during the printing process. That’s because most HP printers disperse ink onto paper using the thermal heat process. If you have a HP home or office printer you will not be able to convert it for sublimation. – Link to check supply of EcoTankson amazon you can sometimes find these printers cheaper, refurbished, right on the epson site clearance section.īut there is more to learn, especially about all the different Epson printers and we put it in a nice table for you below…so let’s dive in…. and anything in between, the Epson EcoTanks are capable of sublimation.
Some of the easiest models of Piezo Printers capable of sublimation are the Epson EcoTank Series and whether it’s the EcoTank 2700, 2800, 3750, 4700, 15000, 16000, etc. Easiest Printers to Convert to Sublimation In short, thermal printers will NOT work with sublimation ink, but Piezo printers WILL work for sublimation. Printers use either thermal (heat) technology or what’s called Piezo (pressure) technology. Let’s clear the air when it comes to what printers can and cannot be used as a sublimation printer…and WHY.įor the most part, whether or not a printer will be capable of producing sublimation transfers for a heat press application comes down to the printing technology. We know how confusing it can be to see a printer feature that says: “uses sublimation technology” or “can be used for heat transfer” but these statements mean different things to different hobbyists.