1. Glitter Gradient Ceramic Mug 

*Get it here: 

Fit for any Barbie morning routine, this Glitter Gradient Ceramic Mug not only holds your favorite brew but does so in glitzy style. To sublimate, print your design on sublimation paper using your Sawgrass printer, secure it around the mug with heat-resistant tape, and use a Tumbler Press for 190 seconds at 385°F with Medium Pressure. 

2. Sequin Pencil/Makeup Case 

*Get it here:

A  travel bag that is just as glamourous as you! This fun sequin bag is perfect for travel make up, pencils or other items that you need throughout your day. While sublimation on sequins can be tricky, we’ve made most of the steps a breeze with PrintMate’s color and substrate profiles so you can be confident you’re getting the best print for any project. Upload your design, select the metal option and press print. Once you have your design, secure it onto the white sequins (make sure every white side is showing!) with heat resistant tape. Use a Flat Press for 45 seconds at 385°F with Medium Pressure. 

3. Makeup/Pencil Case – White Glitter 

*Get it here:

Not into sequins but still know someone who loves to shine? The White Glitter Makeup/Pencil Case is a stunner. Sublimate with ease using your Sawgrass printer, ensuring your design covers the entire surface. Be sure to prep any substrate by lint rolling first. Use a Flat Press for 60 seconds at 385°F with Light-Medium Pressure. 

4. 12 oz Stainless Steel Stemless Wine Cup – White Glitter 

*Get it here: 

Whether it’s a cozy night in or a celebration, the White Glitter Stemless Wine Cup or the Silver Wine Tumbler add a touch of glam. For this substrate, use an Oven for 5 minutes at 350°F with a shrink wrap for even pressure. 

5. 20oz Stainless Steel Rainbow Sparkle Bottle 

*Get it here:

One of the most trendy substrates of the season. Stay hydrated in style with the Stainless Steel Rainbow Sparkle Bottle. A tumbler press for 80 seconds at 350°F with medium pressure is the ticket to a personalized work of art ready for any small business shop, bridal party, or gift for your bestie.

Why Choose Sawgrass Sublimation Printers? 

Owning a Sawgrass SG500 or SG1000 sublimation printer opens a world of possibilities for your small business or crafting endeavors. These printers offer precision, color accuracy, and the ability to handle various substrates. With Sawgrass, you can create personalized gifts for the holidays, start your small business, and earn extra income.  These printers were purpose built for sublimation and include self-maintenance features that help keep you printing with less maintenance that you need to do yourself. 

Sublimation: The Special Touch 

Sublimation is more than just printing; it’s the art of infusing your designs into substrates, creating vibrant, long-lasting prints. People love personalized items, and with sublimation, you can cater to that demand while expressing your creativity. 

In this season of giving, make it extra special with the glitter, sequins, and sparkle of sublimation. Explore the magic of personalization with Sawgrass Ink – where every print tells a unique story. Happy Gift-Mas! 

Understanding the Two Options

If you are reading this article, it is likely you are looking for more information to settle the confusion between the different types of cleanings that can be done on your Sawgrass Printer. You’ve probably wondered when you do each and what they accomplish.  This will focus on the differences between the commonly used head clean, and the more involved head flush.

Performing a Head Cleaning

First, let’s discuss the head cleaning. This is a commonly used simple cleaning that can be done to help eliminate missing nozzles you see on your Nozzle check. One thing to understand is that the nozzle check is not a clean, but instead it is a diagnostic tool to check the health of your print head. The head clean is the actual cleaning that can be used if you have missing nozzles. We normally start with head cleans because it is the easiest, and gentlest, way to remove any ink that may be clogging your nozzles or lines.  

With both the head clean and the head flush, you’ll specify which head you want to clean.  The black and cyan nozzles are separate from the magenta and yellow nozzles.  Though pushing ink through the head with these functions is normal, you don’t want to add extra stress to the print head by doing a clean or flush on a head that isn’t having issues.  You can choose either head, or you can clean both if needed.  

During the head cleaning your printer will say on the LCD screen that it is being performed. The head clean will generally use a small amount of ink for each clean and can be performed 2-3 times. If errors continue after that, then that would be when you will want to contact the care team to see whether the next step will be head flushes or something else.   

Performing a Head Flush

The head flush is just as simple to perform as the head clean, but is a more involved process that cleans inside of the actual print head. The flush will “flood” your print head with ink to help remove any dried or congealed ink from the print head. This can be helpful for missing nozzles as well as for banding issues. Head flushes can be done up to 5 consecutive times, but most of the time you will not have to perform all 5 for issues to clear (remember if our care team asks you to do 5, then you should do all 5!). Each time you do a head flush the printer will clarify that you will want to do the flush as it says, “this will consume a considerable amount of ink” This amount is naturally about 4-5% of each cartridge. Yes, that is a significant amount of ink, but it’s NOT going to be 20-50% of a cartridge as some sources say. After each head flush, it is worth printing out another nozzle check to see if the issues have gone away. 

The Difference

The easiest way for me to explain the difference is to think about it in terms of cleaning your carpets.  A head clean is like vacuuming; it’s going to pick up any dirt or debris sitting on top of the carpet fibers or near the top.  A head flush is more like using a carpet cleaner; it’s going to use a different process that allows the cleaning to go all the way to the bottom of the fiber to remove dirt.  While a head clean will remove debris near that surface that would cause a clog; head flushes will thoroughly clean out the head and anything that may be caught.  

That’s about it! Similar sounding cleans and functions, but one is more powerful than the other. If you are having any issues at all, do not hesitate to reach us at care.sawgrassink.com! 

What you need to complete a feed belt cleaning

Cleaning a paper feed belt for the first time may seem like an intimidating process, but truthfully it is one of the easiest maintenance processes one can perform on their printer. Its simplicity stems from the few ingredients required as well as the fact that it requires removing nothing from the printer.
To begin, the first thing you need is a lint free cloth, like an eyeglass or screen cleaning cloth. You can also use a coffee filter instead and it works just as fine! The main reason you want to use something lint free rather than like a normal cleaning rag is so no fibers from the cloth are left over, like there would be with a tissue or rag or regular cloth. Lint free is always the way to go!  The second thing you would need is Denatured Alcohol.  If you are unable to get denatured alcohol, you can use 90% or higher Isopropyl alcohol instead.  

Why a feed belt cleaning may be needed

The main purpose of this cleaning is to remove rollers marks or ink smearing on prints. This would normally appear as lines that are in the same place in all prints, but are not evenly spaced on the page.  A dirty or damaged feed belt can also result in a SC 57000 error message. While cleaning the feed belt is a good troubleshooting step, it’s smart to include an inspection of the feed belt in your monthly maintenance.  It’s a good idea once a month to check the feed belt for any dirt or lines.  If you see a significant amount, you can go ahead and clean the belt.  This will prevent issues later.

Completing a feed belt cleaning

The cleaning process is fairly simple to complete. The first step is to turn off and unplug the printer. This is to prevent the printer from thinking there is anything wrong as we perform the clean. Remember; it’s okay to turn the printer off to perform cleanings! We will be turning it back on once finished. Next, grab the Isopropyl and dab the lint free cloth, just enough to where it absorbs. The liquid, you don’t want it to be dripping soaked, but enough to where you can see it do the work. Open the top cover of the printer and wipe down the feed belt (The paper feed belt will look like a black shiny strip of film or plastic.) Now, take the lint-free cloth, add some alcohol to it and gently glide the cloth along the paper feed belt. There’s no need for too much pressure here as we don’t want to dent or scratch the belt. Remember to wipe it again with another lint-free cloth to remove excess moisture as well. 

You’ll need to rotate the belt to clean all sections. We’ll need to access the back of the printer to rotate the belt.  To open the rear door, press the two gray tabs inwards. You should now see some gray colored rollers. Once you have wiped and cleaned the visible part of the feed belt these rollers help rotate the paper feed belt. Gently press down on the gray rollers to rotate the paper feed belt but try not to slide the gray rollers back and forth as this can cause a paper misfeed. This will allow you to clean all parts of the feed belt and not just what is currently visible. Just like before once finished you can then repeat the same steps with the isopropyl, until the feed belt has been fully cleaned. 

Once finished, close the back cover until it clicks into place and wait 15-30 minutes for the belt to completely dry.  Just a note, these are two very important steps.  If the latches to not click into place, you can end up with print skewing.  If you turn on the printer and print before the belt is dry, then it can cause issues with your paper.  It’s always best to let it thoroughly dry before using it! 

A few tips and tricks

Remember when cleaning your feed belt that patience is key. You can always leave the printer off for an hour to be sure the belt is dry before printing too. Any eyewear section of a drugstore should have an eye glass cleaner or lint free cloth. Lastly, if the gray rollers slide out of place while you’re maneuvering them, make sure to place them back into place gently. Again, sliding them back and forth can cause a paper feed error so make sure you proceed with a gentle touch! With little pressure, you will feel the gray rollers located at the rear of the printer become unstuck.

That’s all the steps for cleaning your feed belt during trouble shooting or maintenance.  Please reach out to our Care Team if you need further assistance.  Happy Printing!

Skill Level: Intermediate

Tools & Supplies to Make It:

• MySawgrass+ Membership
• Sawgrass SG500 or SG1000 Printer
• Convection Oven
• Shrink Wrap
• 8.5”x11” or larger sublimation paper
• 34 oz Stainless Steel Tumbler
• Denatured Alcohol and a lint free cloth
• Heat Tape 

How to Create It:

• For your product, select the 34oz Stainless Steel Travel Tumbler.  It can be found under Drinkware.  
• On the Create Your Design Panel, click on Designs.  Click on the filter icon and then select Thank You and click apply.  
• Choose the World’s Best design.
• To move your image to one side of the tumbler, use your mouse to lasso around the images and select them all as a group.  Then, use the resize icon on the group to reduce the size. Use the move icon to slide your design to the correct place on the tumbler.
• Click on the text and using the text box in the left panel, change it to the name or title of whoever will be receiving the tumbler.  
• To repeat the text on both sides of the tumbler, use your mouse to lasso around the images and select them all as a group.  Then, click the duplicate button from the top row of the tool bar on the right.  
• Move the new copy to where you want it and then use the preview button to check your alignment.  Adjust as needed.
• When your design is finished, hit the Save & Print button to move to the product details page.  
• You’ll be prompted to name your design, put it in a Category folder, and then then hit save.  
• On the Product Detail page, you’ll give the project a name and add a description, then hit print. 

How to Print It:

• You should get a popup that asks if you want to open Sawgrass Print Utility.  You will need to click Open Sawgrass Print Utility.  If  you are not seeing this, you’ll need to disable your popup blocker.  
• In the Sawgrass Print Utility, start by scrolling down and making sure  your print orientation is set to Landscape.
• For this project, you can use the preset Stainless Steel Tumbler.
• Make sure that the media size and type match what you have in the printer. On the Color Management Tab, we suggest having the Color Mode set to Vibrant.
• When you’ve confirmed all of your settings, Hit Print.

How to Press It:

• Turn your press on and set the temperature to 380 degrees and the time to 480 seconds.  
• Prepare your tumbler by using denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth to remove any dust or fibers.  
• Wrap your design around the tumbler and tape it tightly in place with heat resistant tape.  
• Place the tumbler in a shrink wrap bag and use a heat gun to create pressure.
• Place your item in the oven.
• Close the door and wait 480 seconds before opening the oven and removing the tumbler.

Tips & Tricks:

• For items in the convention oven, remove the shrink wrap and paper as soon as possible.  This makes it easier to remove and less likely to stick.
• Fill the tumbler with candy, gift cards, and other treats to make it even more special.  

Skill Level: Basic

Tools & Supplies to Make It:

• MySawgrass+ Membership
• Sawgrass SG500 or SG1000 Printer
• 15”x15” or larger Flat Press
• 8.5” x 14” or larger sublimation paper
• Plywood Placemat
• Denatured alcohol and a lint free cloth
• Heat Tape 
• Blowout Paper

How to Create It:

• Log into MySawgrass and from the Landing Page choose Design.
• For your product, select the Plywood Placemat.  It can be found under Home Decor.  
• On the Create Your Design Panel, click on Designs.  Click on the filter icon and then select Christmas and click apply.  
• Choose the Treats for Santa design.
• The image seems to be sized perfectly for the area, but if you wanted to reduce or enlarge the image size, use your mouse to lasso around the images and select them all as a group.  Then, use the resize icon on the group to reduce the size.  It should stay centered.
• You can change any text by clicking on the text and then using the text box on the left to change it.  
• When your design is finished, hit the Save & Print button to move to the product details page.  
• You’ll be prompted to name your design, put it in a Category folder, and then then hit save.  
• On the Product Detail page, you’ll give the project a name and add a description, then hit print.  

How to Print It:

• You should get a popup that asks if you want to open Sawgrass Print Utility.  You will need to click Open Sawgrass Print Utility.  If  you are not seeing this, you’ll need to disable your popup blocker.  
• In the Sawgrass Print Utility, start by scrolling down and making sure  your print orientation is set to Landscape.
• For this project, you can use the preset Hardboard Sign/Plaque.
• Make sure that the media size and type match what you have in the printer. 
• On the Color Management Tab, we suggest having the Color Mode set to Vibrant.
• When you’ve confirmed all of your settings, Hit Print.

How to Press It:

• Turn your press on and set the temperature to 400 degrees and the time to 60 seconds.  Pressure should be medium.
• Prepare your placemat by using denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth to remove any fibers or dust.  
• Place your design face down on the placemat and tape it down.  
• Place the placemat on the lower platen of the press with the printed page on top. 
• Place a piece of blowout paper on top.
• Close the press and wait 45 seconds before opening the press and removed the printed placemat.

Tips & Tricks:

• Always check your blanks for a plastic film.  This blank often has one, and it should be removed before pressing.  It helps keep the surface clean and eliminates the need to wipe it with alcohol.  
• Though this is a little long for letter paper, you could make this work on an SG500 by extending the paper tray to accommodate legal paper or by moving your design in slightly to fit on your letter paper.

Skill Level: Basic

Tools & Supplies to Make It:

• MySawgrass+ Membership
• Sawgrass SG500 or SG1000 Printer
• 15”x15” or larger Flat Press
• 8.5” x 11” or larger sublimation paper
• Ceramic Ornament
• Denatured alcohol and a lint free cloth
• Heat Tape 
• Blowout Paper

How to Create It:

• Log into MySawgrass and from the Landing Page choose Design.
• For your product, select the 3” Circle Ceramic Ornament.  It can be found under Holiday.  
• On the Create Your Design Panel, click on Designs.  Click on the filter icon and then select Christmas and click apply.  
• Choose the Treats for Santa design.
• To reduce the image size, use your mouse to lasso around the images and select them all as a group.  Then, use the resize icon on the group to reduce the size.  It should stay centered.
• To change the text color, with the elements selected, click on the black swatch on the left panel.  Then, go below and find the color you’d like for the text.  We used white, which is hex code FFFFFF.
• Add a background by selecting Elements on the Create Your Design panel, and then going to backgrounds.  We used Hex Code e50e19.
• To add a photo to the other side, choose Side 2 from the bottom panel.  Choose Upload file and then Upload image.
• Browse for the image you want on your computer and then add it.  
• When your design is finished, hit the Save & Print button to move to the product details page.  
• You’ll be prompted to name your design, put it in a Category folder, and then then hit save.  
• On the Product Detail page, you’ll give the project a name and add a description, then hit print. 

How to Print It:

• You should get a popup that asks if you want to open Sawgrass Print Utility.  You will need to click Open Sawgrass Print Utility.  If  you are not seeing this, you’ll need to disable your popup blocker.  
• For this project, you can use the preset Ceramic Coaster.
• Make sure that the media size and type match what you have in the printer. 
• On the Color Management Tab, we suggest having the Color Mode set to Vibrant.
• In the Design Files section, add spacing to give the two sides distance to make it easier to cut them apart for sublimation.  
• When you’ve confirmed all of your settings, Hit Print.

How to Press It:

• Turn your press on and set the temperature to 400 degrees and the time to 120 seconds.  Pressure should be light.
• Prepare your ornament by using denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth to remove any fibers or dust.  
• Place your design face down on the one side of the ornament and tape it down.  
• Place the ornament on the lower platen of the press with the printed page on top. 
• Place a piece of blowout paper on top.
• Close the press and wait 120 seconds before opening the press and removed the printed ornament.
• When cool enough to touch. Flip ornament over and repeat the process for the other side.

Tips & Tricks:

• Light pressure is a must for ceramics to prevent cracking.  Though a silicone pad is not required, one can help protect the ornament while pressing.
• Ornaments make a great name tag for a gift.  You can date them, so each recipient has their own collection of ornaments from you that they receive through the years.  

Skill Level: Intermediate

Tools & Supplies to Make It:

• MySawgrass+ Membership
• Sawgrass SG500 or SG1000 Printer
• Convection Oven
• Shrink Wrap
• 8.5”x11” or larger sublimation paper
• Enamel Coffee Mug
• Denatured Alcohol and a lint free cloth
• Heat Tape 

How to Create It:

• Log into MySawgrass and from the Landing Page choose Design.
• For your product, select the 12oz Enamel Mug.  It can be found under Drinkware.  
• On the Create Your Design Panel, click on Designs.  Click on the filter icon and then select Christmas and click apply.  
• Choose the Cup of Cheer design.
• To move your image to one side of the cup,  use your mouse to lasso around the images and select them all as a group.  Then, use the resize icon on the group to reduce the size. Use the move icon to slide your design to the correct place on the mug.
• To have the design on both sides of the cup, with the image selected, click the duplicate button from the top row of the tool bar on the right.  
• Move the new copy to where you want it and then use the preview button to check your alignment.  Adjust as needed.
• When your design is finished, hit the Save & Print button to move to the product details page.  
• You’ll be prompted to name your design, put it in a Category folder, and then then hit save.  
• On the Product Detail page, you’ll give the project a name and add a description, then hit print.  

How to Print It:

• You should get a popup that asks if you want to open Sawgrass Print Utility.  You will need to click Open Sawgrass Print Utility.  If  you are not seeing this, you’ll need to disable your popup blocker.  
• In the Sawgrass Print Utility, start by scrolling down and making sure  your print orientation is set to Landscape.
• For this project, you can use the preset Stainless Steel Tumbler.
• Make sure that the media size and type match what you have in the printer. On the Color Management Tab, we suggest having the Color Mode set to Vibrant.
• When you’ve confirmed all of your settings, Hit Print.

How to Press It:

• Turn your press on and set the temperature to 380 degrees and the time to 480 seconds.  
• Prepare your tumbler by using denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth to remove any dust or fibers.  
• Wrap your design around the cup and tape it tightly in place with heat resistant tape.  
• Place the cup in a shrink wrap bag and use a heat gun to create pressure.
• Place your item in the oven.
• Close the door and wait 480 seconds before opening the oven and removing the mug.

Tips & Tricks:

• For items in the convention oven, remove the shrink wrap and paper as soon as possible.  This makes it easier to remove and less likely to stick.
• This can also be done in a mug press.  Because of the lip on the enamel mug, you can use a silicone wrap to complete an even surface.  You would then drop this into the mug press upside down. 

We understand that life can be frustrating especially when you just bought a fantastic new sublimation printer, and it doesn’t seem to be working right. Or, you have orders to produce and your printer will not connect to your computer.  Luckily, to help with all your printer related struggles, you have access to our care team for the life of your printer. Our team will offer you tech support to work out all the struggles with your printer even after the warranty expires. So long as you use Sawgrass ink, you can use us when you need help. Here are the top ten tips when opening a care team ticket to make sure the process is as smooth and quick as possible.  

Number 1: Be as precise and detailed as possible

When opening a ticket for our printers, details are key. In the description section of opening a ticket it helps if you can explain your workflow so we can know exactly what happened when things went wrong. No detail is unimportant; include them all! The more info we have, the easier it is to pin down exactly where your issue resides. Color issues for example can stem from multiple different places. Naturally we will want to gather additional information from you when you open a ticket. 

Number 2: Send us all the information we request

Nine out of ten times when you open a ticket with Sawgrass the first message you will get from us will be us asking for more information, such as bar code stickers on the flat side of each ink cartridge, the serial number of your printer, pictures, or videos of the issue that you are experiencing, etc.  All the information we ask for is absolutely needed so we can best decide what steps need to be taken in order to get you up and printing once again. While it may seem unimportant, knowing when the printer was manufactured or what batch the ink comes from may be valuable information.

Number 3: Provide those serial numbers!

Aside from the inks serial numbers the printer serial number is important too! This can be found in three places on your printer itself and in the Sawgrass Print Utility. Almost all printer serial numbers will start with the letter R! The first location is on the inside part of your ink door. The second place it can be found on the back sticker of your printer, and thirdly you can find the serial number in the front left part of the printer where your print comes out!

Number 4: Check your spam filter

Though all ticket replies are sent to your email, they can get caught in your spam filter.  If you haven’t seen a response, you can also access your open tickets by going to care.sawgrassink.com, signing in at the top right, and then clicking on my activities! 

Number 5: Be patient with us

Have patience; remember tickets are answered in the order they are received. During busy seasons we promise to not leave you behind, but responses may be a bit slower.  No matter what season, we love to help our people. 

Number 6: Send examples

For issues with pressing or color, examples are key. If you can send us what you are getting and the file you are using, we can internally test in house to see what type of issue you are having. 

Number 7: Schedule a call with an agent

Sawgrass does not have an active phone line, but we you can schedule a phone call with an agent.  To set up a call, we must first have gathered all of the information so the call can be a troubleshooting session. The ticketing system allows us to gather the info we need to keep the phone call as productive as possible. 

Number 8: Creating multiple tickets actually slows down response time

Creating multiple tickets does not increase the speed at which we contact you, in fact it can do the opposite. When you create multiple tickets, it can then confuse our ticketing system into thinking that each ticket is its own separate issue, then an agent has to merge the duplicate ticket into one ticket to keep things organized. We appreciate your patience and will work diligently to bring you to a solution for your problem. 

Number 9: If your ticket closes, reopen it instead of creating a new one

If life happens and you are unable to troubleshoot with us, remember you don’t have to create a new ticket, you can respond to your previous ticket, and we can pick up right where we left off! 

Number 10: Don’t think twice about reaching out

Never hesitate to ask us if you have questions. We are with you for your printers entire lifespan and will help however we can! 

With all these tips you are all set to go! Let us know if you need us! 

The Sawgrass Solution

If you’re reading this article, you are most likely considering what Sawgrass printer to buy, or you have recently purchased a Sawgrass printer and want to learn more about it.  Either way; welcome to the Sawgrass family!  Sawgrass printers are designed specifically for sublimation and are built specifically for our ink. Our printers are part of a comprehensive solution that are all built with the other components in mind.  Sawgrass offers printers, inks, and software that take you all the way from designing your sublimation project through printing it.  

The Sawgrass Printers

Our line of printers includes two different sizes of desktop printers and a large format printer.  

Let’s start with our desktop printers.  One of the best features of these printers is that the printer does auto maintenance to prevent clogs in the ink lines.  Every ten to twelve hours after the printer’s last use, it will push a fraction of one percent of ink through the lines, so the ink never settles in one spot for too long.  For the printer to do this daily maintenance, your printer does need to be plugged into an outlet or power strip and should always be powered on.  If you do need to turn the printer off for any reason, or if it goes off due to a power outage, just turn it back on as soon as possible.  The big thing is to not leave the printer off for multiple days at a time.  

When looking at our printer models, the big difference between the SG500 and SG1000 is the sizes of paper that can be printed on with the machine.  The SG500 has a maximum width of 8.5.”  The US Model of the printer has a Tray 1 that expands.  That allows for paper up to 8.5” by 14”, otherwise known as legal paper, in the main tray.  Does it appear that your tray will only hold letter size paper?  You’ll notice two clips on the front of the tray.  You just slide those out of the slots to adjust the tray.  You’ll slide them back in when you’ve finished your adjustment.  The EU model of the SG500 does not expand and can hold A4 paper in the main tray.  

The SG1000 can take up to 11”x17” paper in the main tray.  The tray in both the US and EU models does expand to that size.  This is also accomplished by sliding out those clips, expanding the tray, and snapping them back into place.  The EU Model can take up to A3 paper in the main tray.  

You can purchase a bypass tray for both the SG500 and SG1000 printers.  The bypass tray on the SG1000 can accommodate paper that is up 13” wide and can handle lengths up to 51”.  The most common sizes used in the SG1000 bypass tray would be 12”x18” and 13”x19”.  While you can purchase a bypass tray for the SG500, the maximum width is still 8.5”. You can use it with custom cut paper up to 51” long.  

Our third printer is our large format printer, the VJ-628.  The VJ-628 takes rolls of paper that are 24” wide.  This printer uses Sublijet ink but is an 8-channel printer instead of a 4 channel printer.  You can have 2 of each color, which we call dual CMYK, or you can use Pro Photo.  Pro Photo has 8 distinct colors: the usual CMYK plus additional shades like light black, light cyan, and light magenta.   This gives you great skin tones in photographs.

How to Choose a Printer

When you are deciding which of our printers to purchase, you need to consider what you will be creating.  The SG500 is perfect for mugs, tumblers, and coasters.  Anything where you’d most likely be doing multiples of a small item on the page work great on the SG500 as well; key chains, magnets, ChapStick holders, and car coasters.  

The SG1000 is great for larger items like clothing, glass cutting boards, totes, and full bleed tumblers.  Generally, if you’re doing anything you’d use the SG500 for, you’d be putting multiple images on the page to maximize the paper.  This printer is versatile because it can handle such a large variety of paper sizes in the main tray.  

The VJ-628 is a great option if you’re printing very large items like full bleed pillows or totes.  Some users also use it for larger scale shirt designs.   The other time when the VJ-628 would be a good option is when printing large quantities of small items like 

Hopefully, you now have the information you need to choose the right Sawgrass printer.  Additional information on our inks and printers can be found under the Help tab at the top of our website.  You can find us at sawgrassink.com.  You can also use the Help page to open a ticket with our Care Team.  Want to connect with me?  You can join my group “Rhonda’s Sublimation Corner” in the MySawgrass community.  That’s a great place to ask me questions or request a blog post you’d like to read!

About our Inks

All of our inks are made at our facilities near Charleston, South Carolina.  If we were to walk you through our process, you’re going to hear two words multiple times:  filter and quality check.  Our ink is filtered multiple times during the process, and they are also quality checked multiple times throughout the process as well.  We pride ourselves on the quality of our inks!  

Our inks have an expiration of two years from when it is loaded into the cartridge. You don’t have to worry about the quality of the ink going down before the expiration date, but we do recommend changing it out once it is expired.  Expired ink can cause color issues and clogged nozzles.

Another time you don’t need to worry about the quality of the ink is when levels of ink in the cartridge.  The quality of ink output is the same whether your cartridge is full or almost empty.  When you get a low ink notification go ahead and order a cartridge, so you have it on hand, but you do not have to change the cartridge until the printer displays the message that the ink is depleted, or the cartridge is used.  At that point, you need to switch out the cartridge that is empty to continue printing.  You may notice that some cartridges will deplete more quickly than others; ink use is going to depend on what colors you use in your designs. 

About Our Ink Types:  Subject, Chromablast, and Siser Easy Subli

When you are looking at our ink sets, you’ll notice that we have three very distinct inks that we manufacture:  Sublijet, Chromablast, and Siser Easy Subli.  

If you are using our SG500 or SG1000 printers, the Sublijet ink you’ll be using is our Sublijet UHD (Ultra High Definition) Ink.  This ink is formulated to give you a superior result on all hard and soft polyester coated substrates.  This is the ink for you if you are going to be doing a variety of sublimation projects using blanks made of ceramic, stainless steel, polyester fabric, slate, wood, glass, and acrylic.  Sublijet UHD can also be using on Siser Easy Subli Heat Tranfer Vinyl.  The main reason to choose one of our other ink sets is if your main goal is to produce cotton t-shirts, or if many of your projects will utilize Heat Transfer Vinyl.  

Chromablast UHD is our solution for pressing onto cotton fabric.  This pigment ink is used in conjunction with Chromablast transfer paper.  Chromablast is not a sublimation ink but does allow you to transfer onto 100% cotton fabric.  This ink only works with cotton fabric and no other materials, so our recommendation is to purchase this ink set if your focus is cotton shirts.  This is also a great ink for a second printer once you have established your business.  

Siser Easy Subli Ink is specifically formulated to work with Siser Easy Subli Heat Transfer Vinyl.  Siser Easy Subli HTV is a great option if you are wanting to use sublimation on darker color shirts or cotton fabric.  Since the base is a white heat transfer vinyl that you print onto, this is a great solution for these situations.  Siser Easy Subli ink is a great choice if a large portion of your prints will be onto Siser Easy Subli HTV.  Siser Easy Subli ink will also give you a good result on all the other blanks that you can use with Sublijet UHD ink.  

A Note

One thing to note; we do not recommend changing your ink set once one has been loaded into your printer.  It is practically impossible to clear all the ink out of the lines of the printer.  Because each ink is formulated differently, your performance would be hampered if the inks mixed in the lines.  

Our suggestion is to start with a printer filled with the ink you feel best suites your needs and then add a second printer with a different ink when your business has grown to that level.  This also helps as you’re starting with the products you feel you can sell most easily and then add additional products as your business grows!

Hopefully, you now have the information you need to choose the right ink for your Sawgrass printer.  Additional information on our inks and printers can be found under the Help tab at the top of our website.  You can find us at sawgrassink.com.  You can also use the Help page to open a ticket with our Care Team.  Want to connect with me?  You can join my group “Rhonda’s Sublimation Corner” in the MySawgrass community.  That’s a great place to ask me questions or request a blog post you’d like to read!