Sawgrass or Epson sublimation printer?

A frequently asked question in desktop sublimation printing is: what's the difference between Sawgrass factory-made sublimation printers and the Epson printers with Inktec sublimation ink in our Sublistart systems. Should you avoid converted solutions and stick to the factory Sawgrass, or choose the more economical Epson? What is the difference in printing speed, resolution, and color accuracy? Read our blog post to learn all the differences between the two printers so that you can make an objective decision before purchasing.

The economical solution: Epson printers

Epson printers use piezo printhead. Sublimation ink manufacturers started developing ink for this technology about 20 years ago and this trend has remained to this day. There are countless sublimation ink manufacturers, but – being the first in Hungary to bring sublimation printing to desktop Epson printers in 2005 – we now use only the best ink and other supplies for our SUBLISTART system.

The old refillable cartridge printers are a thing of the past, they have been replaced by reliable ECOTANK printers, i.e. refillable tank printers. This solution put an end to ink cartridge-, chip-, and other well-known problems. Just pour your sublimation ink in the tank and you get a stable printer for continuous use.

Sadly, there are countless sublimation systems and sublimation inks of questionable quality on the market. Thanks to our nearly 20 years of experience and excellent brands, our sublimation system with Inktec SubliNova Smart ink provides error-free and high-quality printing, as the composition and viscosity of the ink formula perfectly correspond to the quality of the factory ink of the Epson printer.

It is a misconception that with sublimation ink the printer can dry out, print streaks, or cause other problems. This may be true with other, cheaper Chinese inks, but not with our Inktec ink and Epson printer! Even after several weeks of shutdown, printing can be resumed almost immediately without the nozzle drying out.

With a high-quality and stable sublimation printer, color accuracy is a given, which is why we provide professional ICC color profiles as well, created by us specifically for our printer-ink system. The color profile will enable you to achieve spot-on, vibrant colors. Another unique advantage is that we provide separate color profiles for ceramic and textile objects. It is necessary because different surfaces have different base colors as well as different levels of reflection. Ultimately you get a stable, reliable system that produces beautiful, color-accurate prints!

Epson only comes with a basic Windows or Mac driver and no additional printing- or graphics software. You can create your design in the popular Adobe, Corel, or other graphics software and send the work to the printer from it.

In summary, the Sublistart system – with the assurance of our almost two-decade experience and hundreds of customers – provides you with the same quality as a factory-made one, so don't be afraid to choose this printer-ink system!

Premium factory-made sublimation printers from Sawgrass

Sawgrass as a brand was the original and only manufacturer who patented the sublimation ink technology suitable for desktop printers. That was a long time ago, but we still call their printers “factory sublimation printers” and for a good reason. Their impeccable quality matches their title.

Since Sawgrass SG500 A4 and SG1000 A3 printers are factory sublimation printers, the printer and the ink both come from the same brand and make a complete, easy-to-use system which of course provides perfect print quality. These printers don't use refillable tanks but factory ink cartridges, which are incredibly easy to install, without ink pouring. As expected, the downside is the price, which is several times the price of the previously mentioned Inktec ink of the Epson sublimation systems.

While Epson comes with a traditional Windows or Mac driver without any additional printing- or graphics software, Sawgrass provides professional software. In addition to the printer driver you also get print management software and their own cloud-based design/printing software!

In summary, Sawgrass offers a factory solution to the fullest, with premium quality. There is no noticeable difference in print quality and stability compared to Epson, but in print speed, there is! Undestandably this comes at a correspondingly higher cost in both short-term and long-term.

Let's see the numbers!

* According to our prices in February 2025.
** Printing speed of our cheapest Epson model: Epson L1230. There are faster Epson models as well in our range.

Detailed comparison

• Initial cost

In terms of cost, our Sublistart system with the Epson printer–Inktec ink combination beats the Sawgrass system by far. Not only is the Epson printer much cheaper, but we also add three times the amount of ink in the system compared to Sawgrass. This is a huge advantage especially when starting a small business.

• Printing cost

This may be the most important aspect, as the cost of the ink – as an ongoing cost – determines how profitable your business can be while keeping up with your competitors' prices.

In general – although it depends on the color coverage of the print – you can expect ink consumption of around 10-20ml/m², which means 1-2 ml for an A4 sheet. 

Sawgrass' original ink cartridges – being a patented product – are quite expensive, but of course, this is relative. They are sold in 70 ml and 31 ml cartridges.

Inktec SubliNova Smart inks have an outstanding price-performance ratio. They provide excellent color accuracy and printer stability, and you can get them in 100ml bottles at an extremely reasonable price which is only a fraction of even factory Epson inks, not to mention Sawgrass' sublimation inks, which are more than ten times more expensive!

• Installation

As for Epson, filling up the ink tanks takes a bit more time, about 5-10 minutes, while for Sawgrass all you need to do is to put in the ink cartridges.

• Software

Our Sublistart systems with an Epson printer and Inktec sublimation inks only include an Epson driver and the ICC profile. You will need graphic software as well, like Adobe or Corel. (Although at this line of work, it's very likely you already have one.) 

Sawgrass provides more in this aspect: a complete software package, a customer account at their website, a driver, Print Utility printing software, and a free online editing program with tons of mockups. Since Sawgrass was created for this purpose only, it offers more when it comes to software.

• Color management

For our Epson printers, we provide color profiles specifically created for each printer type by our expert colleagues. You need to set up this ICC profile in your graphic software for which we provide an easy-to-follow, step-by-step tutorial. The result is perfect prints: vibrant and spot-on colors.

Sawgrass comes with Sawgrass Print Utility printing software which includes the color profile. No need to set it up either in Windows or your graphic software. Sawgrass also provides perfect colors for desktop printing, therefore they are equal in this aspect.

• Resolution

Epson's resolution is 5760×1440 dpi, while Sawgrass printers have a resolution of  4800×1200 dpi. Technically speaking, in most cases, you won't see the difference, but since Epson prints with smaller ink drop technology and thus has higher resolution, Epson won this round, even if only by a little.

• Printing speed

This is a somewhat difficult aspect to compare because you can find several models of varying printing speeds in our Epson range. Let's see for now the entry-level A4 L1230 model, but you can find 2-3 times faster models in our range.

Epson L1230 is not famous for its speed, but its 2-minute/A4 speed in high-quality photo mode is sufficient for an average gift shop. (It is not worth considering other factory print settings and speeds, because the color profile has been optimized specifically for this setting.) Those who need faster printing can still get 3 Epson printers for the price of one Sawgrass printer or can choose a more expensive and faster Epson model.

In comparison, Sawgrass is extremely fast. It prints an A4 photo in excellent quality in about 20 seconds. This is more than enough for continuous, large-volume production for your webshop or store. So Sawgrass won this round by a wide margin.

• Maintenance

Preserving the good condition of Epson printers' printhead only requires checking the nozzles 1-2 times a week and performing head cleaning if necessary. Shutting down for several weeks is not recommended because Epson does not perform stand-by cleaning. But even if the printer has been turned off for 1-2 weeks – although this is not recommended – in our experience, it can be restored with some cleaning.

Sawgrass isn't a miracle-maker either, you will need to perform nozzle-checks 1-2 times a week with this printer as well. However, due to the factory cartridge system and the professional gel sublimation ink, it requires less maintenance and is less prone to drying out during extended downtime. Note that – unlike Epson – Sawgrass performs automatic cleaning in standby mode, but this results in more ink being used. Considering the ink price of Sawgrass printers, our Epson-Inktec system wins this round, since its maintenance is much more economical.

• Warranty

The Epson printers originally have a 1-year factory warranty, but since we are using a product from an external ink manufacturer, the warranty conditions change. You don't need to worry though, because we have worked out a solution so that you get a 1-year warranty for this system as well. In fact the administration process is faster than the factory one, so in the end, you'll be provided with better conditions.

Sawgrass printers come with a 2-year warranty. The bad news is that the procession time is slow, as all coordination is done with the manufacturer in the United States. They ask for a lot of information and in our experience, they are not the fastest.

In summary, since the warranty administration of our Sublistart system is fast, but only 1 year, and the warranty of Sawgrass is 2 years but the turnaround time is slow, the results of both brands are similar, but Sawgrass wins because of the 2 years.

In summary

To sum it up, with the combination of the Epson ECO-TANK printer and the professional Inktec SubliNova sublimation ink, you get a stable, color-accurate, and extremely economical printer with minimal maintenance. The cheaper entry-level A4 Epson models unfortunately print slowly, but you can always go for a more expensive and faster model.

Sawgrass is a premium quality printer designed for sublimation, with excellent software, minimal maintenance, convenient ink cartridges, and most importantly, excellent printing speed with a great print quality close to Epson's. The downside is that the ink cartridges are very expensive, so definitely consider this before making your decision.

You can find both systems in the Sublimation printers category at our webshop. If you are looking for a complete package of sublimation machines and supplies, including an Epson printer and Inktec inks, check out our Sublistart sublimation systems!

Want to see for yourself?

You can test both systems in our showroom with the help of our expert colleague so that you'd have first-hand experience before purchasing.

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