Sublimation printing is a popular business to earn a lot by spending little. If you have regular printer and you want to start sublimation but low in budget, now you will learn how to convert regular printer into sublimation printer. You have to follow a few steps and you will get your own sublimation printer to print images. This printer works effectively for both if you are going to start a small business or using this printer in your home craft.
In this article we will learn the most inexpensive, easiest, and simplest way to convert to sublimation. In this regard Epson EchoTank printers are best printers to convert into sublimation printers. Other Epson printers may not perform the function properly because of ink cartridges and a special chip to check. You have to buy chips again and again so it becomes very expensive.
Here are few steps to convert regular printer into sublimation printer
If you are using a brand new printer then you must make sure that the ink tanks are filled with ink before turning on the printer. Filling the ink tanks before turning on the printer is the most crucial part because if you turn on the printer without adding ink in the ink tanks the performance of the printer is badly affected.
Sublimation ink
In case of used printer you have to completely flush out the regular ink from the printer. Once you have flush out all the ink from the printer then fill ink tanks with sublimation ink. The choice of sublimation ink is also very important. In the market there are a lot of inks available, and you have to make a wise choice to choose the best ink. During filling of the ink make sure that the bottles are straight and tension free. The bottles should not squeeze to avoid any splatter. Be care about the ink bottles color and ink tanks color of the printer. Carefully fill ink tanks. The ink automatically stops once ink tanks are full of ink.
After filling the ink tanks turn on the printer and wait for the ink to charge. There are tubes inside the printer besides the ink tanks, and when you charge ink tanks these tubes break air pockets and ink enters into the printhead. So perform this step of charging ink tanks very carefully for your printers entire performance is based on this step.
Sublimation Paper
Paper that is used in sublimation is also known as transfer paper. Regular printer uses paper which is not used in sublimation. For sublimation you have to buy special sublimation paper. The image is first printed onto the sublimation printer and then transferred to the required material.
Sublimation Printing
Once you have done with inks now you printer is ready to sublimate. Sublimation is a vast field and it allows you to print on a large number of materials easily. The difference between the sublimation and regular printing is that in regular printing the image is printed onto the surface of the material. It does nor make any bond with the material molecules. While in sublimation printing the ink is infused into the required material making strong bonding with it. The regular prints may peel off or fade after a few washes but sublimation prints are long lasting and are water resistant.
Limitations of convert regular printer into sublimation printer
The only limitation of sublimation is that it works best on the material which have maximum percentage of polyester in it. This is because the polyester opens pores when is heated giving space to the ink to enter into these [pores and sits down deep into the fabric on cooling making permanent prints. you can sublimate mugs, t-shirts, keychains, coasters, medals, phone case and photo frames with your desired images.
FAQs
1.Which printer is best to convert into sublimation printer?
Sublimation process helps you to earn more by spending little. If you have a regular Epson printer you can easily change this into sublimation printer. The main difference between regular printer and sublimation printer is the use of Ink. Sublimation ink or dye sublimation is the pigmented ink which makes strong bond with fabric and penetrates into the fabric therefore it lasts for longer and is water resistant.
Epson EchoTank are the best printer to convert into sublimation printer. Other Epson printers use ink cartridges and they require special chip for recognition so you have to buy new chip every time which makes it costly. Therefore Epson EchoTanks are preferred to convert into sublimation printers.
2.Can we use Sawgrass printers for sublimation?
Sawgrass printers are specially designed for sublimation. You have to change nothing for sublimation. You can use these printers right after opening the printer. But these printers are relatively costly as compared to Epson printers, therefore users prefer to buy Epson printers.
3.Which type of ink is used in Epson printers?
Epson printers use pigmented ink for sublimation. Regular ink can not use for sublimation. But if you are using your old printer as sublimation printer you have to flush out all the ink from the printer ink tanks to fill sublimation ink. If there is left any drop of regular ink in the printer it may affect the performance of the printer and also image quality.
4.Can we use regular paper for sublimation?
For sublimation special type of paper called transfer paper or sublimation paper is used. The regular paper is the poor carrier of the sublimation ink. So if you use it during sublimation it will affect the quality of image.
5.Can we sublimate something which has no polyester?
Sublimation is done best on materials with maximum content of polyester. If you want to sublimate something which has no polyester in it then there are sprays available in the market which are used widely for sublimating materials which has least or no polyester.
6.Can we use sublimation printer as regular printer?
When you convert regular printer into sublimation printer it will work as sublimation printer only. You can not use it as regular printer any more.
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