Best Sublimation Printers for Beginners

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The best sublimation printer for beginners isn't the cheapest one. It's the one that gets your first mug right without a week of forum threads about ICC profiles. That usually means a printer built for sublimation, with ink, drivers and a warranty that already account for what you're doing.

Beginners also tend to underestimate how fast they'll want to make shirts. So we've weighted ease of setup first, then running cost, then room to grow. Every pick below is a real model currently sold in the US.

Quick picks

Comparison table

The best sublimation printer for beginners: our picks, reviewed

1. Epson SureColor F170: Best Overall for Beginners

Who it's for: first-timers who want mugs, tumblers, coasters and small shirt prints without a conversion project.

The F170 arrives as a sublimation printer, filled with Epson's own T49M dye-sublimation ink, with Mac and Windows drivers built for it. That removes the two biggest beginner headaches: mixing up inks and chasing color profiles. Its 150-sheet tray takes paper 8.5 inches wide, and its 140 mL bottles refill through auto-stop nozzles, so you can't overfill a tank. It's small (10.2 lb) and connects by Wi-Fi, USB or Ethernet.

The limit you'll hit first is width. 8.5 inches covers mugs, 20 oz skinny tumblers and chest logos, but not an adult shirt front. It's also locked to Epson ink, which is pricier than third-party refills.

More detail in our Epson F170 review.

2. Brother SP-1: Easiest to Learn

Who it's for: beginners who'd rather design on a phone than learn desktop design software.

The SP-1 is designed around Brother's free Artspira app. It offers 100+ sublimation-ready designs, templates and fonts, previews your design on the product in AR, and sends the job wirelessly to the printer. That's the shortest path from "I bought a printer" to "I made a mug" in this list. Hardware is solid too: legal-size printing at up to 1200 x 2400 dpi, a 100-sheet tray, a 2.7-inch touchscreen, and a 2-year limited warranty listed by US retailers.

The cost is ink. The 47 mL SP01 cartridges run out much sooner than bottle systems, so a beginner who turns into a weekly seller will pay for that convenience.

3. Sawgrass SG500: Best Support

Who it's for: beginners who plan to sell and want someone to call when colors look wrong.

Sawgrass pairs the SG500 with its own software (Sawgrass Print Utility and the MySawgrass Design Tool) and free one-on-one onboarding, according to authorized retailers. Color management happens in the software, so a red on your screen comes out red on the mug without you touching an ICC profile. Printers bought on or after October 1, 2025 get a 3-year or 100,000-print warranty, plus lifetime tech support from Sawgrass.

You'll pick an ink system at setup: SubliJet UHD for standard sublimation, or VersiFlex, which can also decorate light cotton with VersiFlex Light paper. That choice is permanent. Ink costs more than Epson's bottles because it comes in 20 or 31 mL cartridges.

4. Epson EcoTank ET-2400: Cheapest Way to Start

Who it's for: curious hobbyists on a tight budget who accept the risks.

A brand-new ET-2400 filled only with sublimation ink is the lowest-cost way into sublimation. Hiipoo lists the ET-2400 by name for its sublimation ink, and several EcoTank sublimation inks claim to work without separate ICC profiles. It's a small printer that fits anywhere.

But beginners should know exactly what they're signing up for. Epson warns that non-genuine ink can cause damage not covered by the warranty, the conversion can't be undone, and there's no manufacturer support for sublimation problems. If you've never sublimated before, troubleshooting color on a converted printer is the hardest version of the learning curve.

Read our EcoTank sublimation conversion guide before you buy one for this.

5. Epson SureColor F570: Skip-the-Upgrade Pick

Who it's for: beginners in skill only, who already know they'll sell shirts at volume.

Most beginners shouldn't start here. But if your plan is a shirt business, buying an 8.5-inch printer first and upgrading six months later costs more than starting wide. The F570 prints rolls and sheets up to 24.4 inches wide, has a built-in cutter and 4.3-inch touchscreen, uses the same 140 mL bottles as the F170, and comes with a 1-year on-site warranty.

It's 84 lb and a premium-tier purchase, so be sure about the business before you buy.

A note on timing: Epson has announced the SureColor F370, a 13 x 19-inch factory sublimation printer, for November 2026. If you want adult shirt fronts without a 24-inch machine, it's worth waiting to see.

Sublimation printing for beginners: what you actually need

The printer is roughly half your startup list. Here's the full kit:

1. Sublimation printer with sublimation ink (one of the picks above).
2. Sublimation paper. Regular paper won't release the ink. A-SUB, Hiipoo and your printer maker's own paper are the usual starting points.
3. Heat press. A flat press for shirts and coasters; a mug or tumbler press (or convection oven with wraps) for drinkware. Our sublimation heat press guide covers both.
4. Heat-resistant tape to stop the transfer from shifting.
5. Protective paper (uncoated butcher paper or parchment) above and below the transfer.
6. Sublimation blanks: polyester shirts, poly-coated mugs, tumblers, coasters.
7. Lint roller for shirts. Specks of lint block the dye and leave blank spots.

New to the whole process? Start with our explainer on what sublimation printing is.

Three starter setups

Paper, tape and blanks are ongoing costs in every tier. Budget for practice blanks: most beginners ruin a few before their settings click.

Your first project: an 11 oz mug, step by step

A mug is the classic first project because the blank is cheap, the transfer is small and the result is obvious. Here's the workflow every printer above follows.

1. Size the design. An 11 oz mug wrap is about 3.5 x 9 inches; pre-cut mug paper in that size saves trimming.
2. Mirror it. Turn on mirror or flip horizontal in your design app or print dialog.
3. Print on the coated side of the sublimation paper, using your printer's or ink maker's recommended paper setting. Don't worry that colors look dull.
4. Let it dry for a minute, then trim with a small margin.
5. Wrap and tape. Wrap the print tightly around the mug, ink side against the coating, and secure it with heat-resistant tape so it can't shift.
6. Press. Use a mug press, tumbler press or a sublimation oven with a shrink wrap, at the time and temperature your mug supplier lists.
7. Remove carefully. The mug is extremely hot. Use heat-resistant gloves, peel the paper straight away, and let the mug cool.
8. Check and adjust. Faded spots usually mean the paper wasn't tight; blurry doubles (ghosting) usually mean it shifted. Fix one variable at a time.

Then move on to flat items like coasters and shirts, where a flat press takes over.

Buying guide

Factory printer or conversion?

For beginners, we recommend a factory printer. The extra cost buys matched ink, working color out of the box and a warranty that covers sublimation. A conversion is fine as an experiment, but it combines the steepest learning curve with the least support.

Start one size bigger than you think

Most people start with mugs and move to shirts within months. If shirts are even a maybe, consider the SG1000 or the upcoming 13 x 19-inch F370 instead of an 8.5-inch printer. If they're not, 8.5 inches is plenty.

Look at ink cost, not printer cost

A printer that costs less but uses small cartridges can cost more within a year. Epson's 140 mL bottles are the cheapest factory option here; Brother's 47 mL cartridges and Sawgrass's 20/31 mL cartridges cost more per print.

Software you'll actually use

If you've never used design software, the Brother SP-1's Artspira app or Sawgrass's Design Tool will save you hours. If you already use Canva, Photoshop or Cricut Design Space, any printer works: just remember to mirror the image.

Mac, Windows or phone?

Check compatibility before you buy. Sawgrass lists Windows 10 or macOS 13 with an Intel or AMD processor for the SG500. Retailers list the Brother SP-1 for Windows 10/11, macOS 11–14 via AirPrint, and iOS and Android through Artspira. Epson ships Mac and Windows software for the F170, but check its support page for the newest OS versions. If you design mostly on a phone or iPad, the SP-1 is the most natural fit.

Print regularly

Inkjet heads can clog when idle for long stretches. Plan to print something at least weekly, or choose a printer with automatic maintenance like Sawgrass's.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting to mirror the design. Text comes out backward.
• Judging color on paper. Prints look dull until pressed. Press a test before reprinting.
• Using cotton shirts. Standard sublimation needs polyester, ideally 100% and white or light colors.
• Too much pressure or time. This causes ghosting and yellowing. Start from your blank supplier's settings and check our sublimation temperature chart.
• Mixing inks. Never put sublimation and regular ink, or two different ink brands, in the same printer.

How we chose

We didn't test these printers ourselves. We compared manufacturer specs and product pages, authorized-retailer listings, ink makers' compatibility notes, and recurring themes in beginner questions and owner feedback in crafting communities. Ease of setup and support carried the most weight, then ink running cost, then room to grow.

FAQ

Verdict

The Epson SureColor F170 is the best sublimation printer for beginners: it's factory-ready, cheap to run and easy to set up. Pick the Brother SP-1 if you want the app to hold your hand, or the Sawgrass SG500 if you're starting a business and want the best support. Compare every option in our full list of the best sublimation printers, or match a printer to a press in our sublimation printer and heat press bundle guide.