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The Best Large Format Dye Sublimation Printer – Reviews & Buyers Guide

best large format dye sublimation printer

A large-format sublimation printer is a device that can transfer dye ink onto hard substrates and garments. It works by heating the ink &then depositing it onto the surface. Dye sublimation printers are generally used for printing designs and photos on solid objects. If you are looking for the best large format dye sublimation printer, there are plenty of options available for you.

Product

Features

Large format sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2750

  • wireless printing

  • outstanding print quality

  • less waste

  • cartridge-free printing

Large sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2760

  • dramatic savings on the replacement inks

  • impressive print quality

  • zero cartridge Waste

  • modern connectivity

Large dye sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2720

  • all-in-one supertank printer

  • 2-year product protection

  • outstanding print quality

  • voice-activated printing

Large format dye sublimation printer – HP DesignJet T650

  • auto sheet feeder

  • remote and wireless printing

  • climate pledge friendly

Best large format dye sub printer – Epson Expression HD XP-15000

  • wide-format printer

  • fast speeds

  • wireless connectivity

  • ultra-HD photo 

The process for sublimation printing is a bit costlier than other methods. Nonetheless, it lasts way longer & if you do sublimation on shirts or any other materials, it will not peel or crack over time unlike other methods of printing.

Best Large Format Dye Sublimation Printer – Buying Guide

Dye sublimation is used for printing on different kinds of fabrics because it brings about a durable and vibrant image. It’s also used frequently for creating banners and signs, as well as printing artwork and photographs. Here, in this article, we will walk you through some of the factors that you need to know as you go forward with your purchase, including various types of dye sublimation printers & their features.

Factors that you need while buying Best Large Format Dye Sublimation Printer

  1. Printing speed –Thespeed of printing is what most people tend to neglect before buying &when they need the printer to print as fast as possible, they suffer heavily from the speed of printing. If you do not want to have this issue, double-check the speed of printing. While some printers print all the colours equally fast, others print colours that are blank faster than others. The standard speed for the best large format dye sublimation printer should be 10 ISO PPM for colour & 18 ISO PPM for black.
  2. Energy and ink usage –Your printer must be top-notch when it is a matter of resource usage. The lesser a printer uses your resources of yours, the more profitable your business of yours can be. The ink that’s recommended by the brand of the printer is the most expensive. You can rather use a copy. But it damages the printer’s internal system whichis more costly than the original ink. So technically, you should go for the original ink.
  3. Price – Your budget is important in buying sublimation printers. If you see the price is within the budget &meets your requirements and needs, go for that model. But, if you want a printer specifically manufactured and created for sublimation, those can be a bit costlier than the others. Another option is to purchase standard printers & convert them to sublimation printers.
  4. Print resolution – It refers to the specific number of dots which the printers can put in 1 square inch of page space. More vibrant and detailed designs or images can be printed on paper if the number of print resolutions is bigger. If you’re buying a sublimation printer for professional use, go with the one that has 4800 * 1200 dpi. It is the best resolution.

Best Large Format Dye Sublimation Printer Reviews

1. Large format sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2750

best large format dye sublimation printer

• Description:

  • Brand: Epson
  • Colour: black
  • Special feature: Wireless
  • Printing Technology: Inkjet
  • Connectivity Technology: Wi-Fi
  • Recommended usage for the product: home, office

• Performance:This printer, as mentioned earlier, is an inkjet printer. Butthe users can easily buy sublimationink for use with this printer. Hence, it comes under the category of large format sublimation printer.Most of the reviewers from the sublimation shirt and t-shirt printing community recommend this printer model.The Epson company strongly recommends using genuine Epson inks to experience quality printing. Inks that are not formulated for the specific printer and non-Epson inks may cause damage to the device.

• Comparison:With this model, you can save up to almost 90% on ink costs. It uses the four-colour (CMYK) micro piezo inkjet Technology that has a drop-on-demand. The product protection facility provides reliability on which you can count, there is a two-year limited warranty along with registration. Also experience voice-activated, hands-free printing to print various documents and projects.

• Usage:In this printer, 1 set of bottles of replacement ink Is equivalent to almost 80 individual cartridges which produce less waste than the other printers. The bottleset includes ink that is enough to print almost up to 5200 Pagesin colour or 6500 pages in black. It has a colour display of 1.44 inches with easy navigation and setup. The bottles are no-squeeze, auto stop or start and uniquely keyed for filing each colour easily.

• Pros:

  • Rear feed tray
  • Ecofit bottle design

• Cons:

  • Super noisy
  • Small touchscreen

• What’s new?

The best thing is you can Easily print from your Androidtablet, smartphone device, iPhone or iPad of yours. With the Auto two-sided printing feature, you can save up to almost 50% of your paper supply of yours.

• Why should you buy it?

The printer supports operating systems including windows 7 (64-bit, 32-bit), windows 8.1, windows 8, windows 10, Mac OS * 10.6 etc. The maximum print resolution of it is 5760 * 1440 optimised DPI. The customer service and technical support are also compatible and it is a great option.

2. Large sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2760

best large format dye sublimation printer

• Description:

  • Brand: Epson
  • Color: White
  • Special Feature: Wireless
  • Printing Technology: Inkjet
  • Connectivity Technology: Ethernet, USB

• Performance:Yourhome business of yours will need A printer that is easy to use, affordable, fast & has great features. This is why the Epson company developed this great model that has an innovative and thoughtful cartridge-free solution. It uses easily Refillable and High-capacity ink tanks. Now worry less about running out of ink& save money on replacement ink.

• Comparison:As a largesublimation printer, it will be very useful for the home businesses of the users. The model features a convenient colour display, a flatbed scanner of high-resolution, auto-duplex printing and outstanding print quality, which makes it a perfect family printer too.

• Usage:The high-capacity ink tanks are equivalent to cartridge-free printing. By using thiseco tank model, the users can help reduce the amount of waste of cartridges that end up in landfills.

• Pros:

  • Built-in copier and scanner
  • 2-year product protection

• Cons:

  • The touchscreen is unresponsive at times & small
  • A bit costlier

• What’s new?

This model has a unique heat-free precisioncore Technology & the Claria ET pigmented black ink produces extremely sharp text & impressive graphics and coloured photos on virtually any type of paper.

• Why should you buy it?

With this printer’s hands-free wireless printing, users can print easily from their smart devices of them with the help of an intuitive app called Epson Smart panel. Also, the package includes up to two years of ink& has each replacement ink set which makes the users stress-free.

3. Large dye sublimation printer – Epson EcoTank ET-2720

best large format dye sublimation printer

• Description:

  • Brand: Epson
  • Recommended usage for the product: home office
  • Special feature: wireless
  • Connectivity Technology: Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi
  • Colour: white 

• Performance:This printer model has got innovative cartridge-free printing. There are High-capacity ink tanks which means no more expensive or tiny ink cartridges. The exclusive eco-fit bottles of ink from Epson make filling Worry-free & easy.

• Comparison: This Printer can also be used as one largedye sublimation printerif needed. The user will need to purchase the sub ink separately & once they switch to sublimation, they can use it only as a sub printer. They cannot switch back & forth between inks.It is very easy to use and of course affordable. There are also convenient colour displays and one high-resolution flatbed scanner that make it an ideal home printer.

• Usage:The printer has a unique heat-free micro piezo technology that produces impressive graphics, coloured photos and sharp text on virtually any type of paper. The colour display and flatbed scanner can be used for navigation and easy document copying.

• Pros:

  • Space-saving and compact design
  • 2-year limited warranty
  • Works with Alexa

• Cons:

  • Doesn’t print front & back
  • Can get jammed sometimes

• What’s new?

Among many new features, wireless Technology is the best one. The users can experience voice-activated and hands-free printing easily from their smart devices of them with the help of the intuitive application named Epson smart panel.

• Why should you buy it?

There is also a worry-free 2-year warranty period with the registration of the product that includes full unit replacement if needed. Most of the features require internet connections to the printer, plus an email or internet-enabled device. Actual costs and savings will vary considerably along with usage conditions, print volumes and print tasks.

4. Large format dye sublimation printer – HP DesignJet T650

best large format dye sublimation printer

• Description:

  • Brand: HP
  • Colour: black
  • Connectivity Technology: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi
  • Special feature: stand and roll cover included
  • Recommended usage for the product: presentations, maps, posters

• Performance:This model is capable of easily customising and creating stunning CAD documents, roll-up banners, signs etc with the software of free poster creation from HP. It uses up to almost 95% less ink while being maintained. It means that the users get up to almost 100 extra pages of A1/D each month vs the competition. It is ideal for technical line drawingsand provides accurate line-quality &crisp posters, text &detailed map Prints. it is popular among construction professionals, geographic firms, engineers and architects.

• Comparison:Design professional quality, beautiful posters for free with this printer. No experience in graphic design is required for producing high-resolution, beautiful posters in minutes. The users can choose from templates that are professionally designed or millions of premium and free pattern designs, vector graphics or photos. Connect your physical and digital worlds with a huge variety of interactive, rich digital experiences with the linkreader of HP. Print and create directly to your large format HP printer of yours with the included HP click software or integrate it into your rip software workflow of yours.

• Usage:Avoid waiting by your HP wireless printerwith its high-speed printing. It is as fast as twenty-six seconds per plot of A1/D. Try to be more productive by saving time from job preparation to the final print by getting your projects print faster in 2x speed. Manage your plotter and print your jobs virtually anytime and anywhere with the smart app of HP. The bright office inks of HP plot up to almost 65% more gamut & 31% more accuracy of line. Print with confidence and you will get the results that you expectwith a true print preview and an intuitive driver.

• Pros:

  • Climate pledge friendly
  • Auto sheet feeder 

• Cons:

  • No separate trays

• What’s new?

This Printer can be easily converted into a large format dye sublimation printersand the users can save much space with the smallest plotters inthe world in this model that is designed to fit their office of them. The model uses almost up to 95% of less ink which is very competitive with other contemporary plotter printers. There are up to 13 by 19 inches wide format sheets & up to 36 inches large format wide media rolls using the included sheet feeder accessory that is automatic. Other media handling includes an automatic horizontal cutter, media bin, automatic roll or sheet switch etc.

• Why should you buy it?

The printing speed is up to twenty-five seconds PPM on A1/D size & 76 A1/D size prints each hour. It also has an onboard memory of 1 GB. With the HP click, users can enjoy poster creation & easy-to-use job submittal tools. Last but not the least, it features a design that is more sustainable & reduces emissions of CO2 up to almost 7.3 tons each year by using almost 30% of recycled plastic while being manufactured.

5. Best large format dye sub printer – Epson Expression HD XP-15000

best large format dye sublimation printer

• Description:

  • Brand: Epson
  • Color: black
  • Printing Technology: inkjet
  • Special feature: auto-duplex
  • Connectivity Technology: Ethernet, Wireless

• Performance:The users can take the printing of photos to a whole new level with this expression photo wireless wide-format printer. It delivers Pro-quality, borderless and brilliant prints that are up to 13 * 19 inches. There are individual inks of Claria photo HD of 6 colours that include all-new grey and red inks. It offers enhanced B&W photo printing and a ca wide colour gamut fifty-sheet, large rear speciality tray can make printing projects of Pro quality easier than ever, even on cardstock.

• Comparison:The printer features convenient wireless connectivity, a front tray of 200 sheets and auto two-sided printing. Stacks of documents can be printed in a breeze with it. It accommodates various types of finishes of paper &borderless sizes that vary from 4 * 6 inches to 13 * 19 inches. This printer model is almost 30% smaller than its predecessor of it and hence it fits easily on your desktop of yours.

• Usage:The printing speed is also quite satisfactory. The Printer can print documents at 9.0 ISO pages per minute for colour and 9.2 ISO pages per minute for black. It can also print borderless photos of 4 * 6 inches in almost as fast as twenty-seven seconds. The users can easily print from their smartphones, Android tablets,iPhones and iPad and it also is compatible with Ethernet networking.

• Pros:

  • Ultra HD photos
  • Wide-format printing

• Cons:

  • Power cord does not fit properly
  • Slightly heavier

• What’s new?

For this particular model among large format dye sublimation printers, only genuine cartridges from the Epson brand are compatible. Other brands of supplies and Ink cartridges aren’t compatible & even if mentioned as compatible, they may not function well or at all. It periodically provides updates of firmware to address various issues of minor bug fixes, performance or security & ensures that the model functions as designed.

• Why should you buy it?

The sound pressure level of the printer is 49 DB (A). The users will never have to run out of inks as the printer features the technology of dash replenishment which, as activated, keeps track of the orders and ink usage of the printer more from when the user is running low. The ink saturation seems pretty beautiful too. Along with that, this model also comes with good technical support and customer service to fulfilthe needs and requirements of the customers as soon as possible.

FAQs

1. Which printer is the biggest one for sublimation?

For performing a larger format sublimation, you can rely on the model Epson SureColor F6370. This printer offers a print size that is much bigger than the other similar printers. It is up to 44 inches wide & The Print speed of the printer can be up to almost 680 square feet each hour.

2. What are some of the best printer models for sublimation printing?

Some of the best printer models for sublimation printing include Epson SureColor F170. This printer model has a desktop Dye-Sub that makes home printing way easier. Next is HP Stitch S500. It has a flexible and efficient Dye-Sub design. Then there is Sawgrass SG500, the Dye-Sub printer which has a perfected design. There is also Mimaki TS100-1600.

3. Which printer is better for sublimation: Sawgrass or Epson?

The Sawgrass printers are known widely for their consistent results and great customer service of them. While the Sawgrass inks and printers are way more expensive than the printers and ink of the Epson company, the customer service they offer is fantastic. They will log in to your computer of yours remotely if you need any help in setting up your colour profiles of yours or if you’re facing any kind of issues.

4. How are sublimation printers different from inkjet printers?

Inkjet printers are capable of printing liquid ink on top of the paper. On the other hand, sublimation printers can permeate the materials with ink vapours. Sublimation printing is suited best for printing graphics on plastic substrates.A dye sub-printer specialises in designs of graphics, whereas the more common inkjet printers can be used for printing spreadsheets, correspondence &other kinds of standard text documents. Though the quality of the image of the top inkjets is better than that of the dye sub-printers, the latter can produce more colour mixes &natural-looking shades.

5. Can I use all the Epson EcoTank printers for sublimation?

Yes. Any model from the Epson EcoTank printer’scategory may be used for sublimation printing.One of the most importantthings that should be considered is that the printer uses piezo Technology &that it has got fillable tanks. Otherwise, which model from the ecotank printers you will choose solely depends upon the extra features that you would like. Also, some models from different printer companies are not compatible with the different kind of ink that is needed for sublimation. They are designed only for a specific kind of ink and hence they can’t be used in large format dye sublimation printing.

6. What are some of the disadvantages of sublimation printers?

The sublimation items must get a print area that is light-coloured or white. Dark-coloured or black surfaces cannot be sublimated. The items may loose colour due to the effects of UV rays over the months if it is exposed to direct sunlight permanently. The printheads may get clogged if they aren’t used frequently.