How to Convert a Printer to Sublimation Printing!

Learn all about sublimation printing at home from including how to convert a regular printer to a sublimation printer.

I’m a little in love with my new toy! I have been wanting to try sublimation printing for a while now and I’m so glad I finally did, it is so fun!

You all know I love my Cricut, but there are a few things that I can’t do with it and printing is one of them. I love being able to print out photos and add them to homemade gifts.

With my new sublimation Epson printer, I am able to quickly print out anything I want and sublimate or infuse it into polyester fabric or sublimation blanks. So it actually becomes one with the material and will never chip or peel off!

Before I wrote this post, I was a sublimation beginner! I had never tried it, so don’t be scared to try. It really is easy and you can learn from some of my mistakes (I go over them through out the post!)

Update: I’ve split this post in two! This post is just about the easiest way to convert a brand new printer and you can check out my sublimation for beginner post here.

Table of Contents

So What is Sublimation Printing?

In short, sublimation printing is transferring specific or sublimation dyes to a transfer sheet that then are imprinted or “sublimated” into textiles or other compatible materials by adding heat.

The ink actually turns into a gaseous state and infuses into the shirt, fabric, mug, bag, phone case, etc, and creates a seamless design from seam to seam when high temperatures (from a heat press) are added.

The heat transfers are full color and pretty permanent. There is also no cracking or peeling of sublimation prints like you sometimes get when applying iron on vinyl to shirts with heat transfer vinyl.

There is no thickness to the sublimation transfers since it actually embeds into the poly surface of the material. In essence, Infusible Ink transfer sheets are sublimation sheets that have already been printed.

It is also different than screen printing. The final product of a screen print will have paint on top of the shirt and not infused.

I love Infusible Ink for mugs and other projects, but you can only cut out images out of specific colors and can’t use photos or specific multi-color designs.

Can Any Printer Be Used for Sublimation Printing?

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Unfortunately, no, you can’t just use your home inkjet printer. You need special dyes to print on the paper and not all printers play nicely with them. The majority of printers use thermal or heat technology which will bake the sublimation dye right into the paper.

Printers that use piezopressue technology (getting too technical for me!) are the types of printers that can handle sublimation dyes.

You can buy specific sublimation printers but they can be pretty pricey – around $800!

But you can easily convert a relatively inexpensive printer like Epson printers into a sublimation printer! Epson Ecotank printers use the correct piezo pressure and are also pretty affordable. Simply add sublimation dye into the ink cartridges and it’s ready to go!

If you want to get all the specifics and full details on how the process of sublimation works, check out Wikipedia here.

How to Convert an Epson Ecotank into a Sublimation Printer

Just as a reminder, anytime you convert anything into something the printer wasn’t intended for, you void all rights to warranties and such. So make sure you are getting a dedicated sublimation printer and you won’t be using it for anything else.

Converting a printer for sublimation is actually pretty easy only requires two supplies – an Epson Ecotank printer and sublimation ink (the brand of sublimation ink I prefer is Hiipoo Ink (just make sure its the sublimation ink and not regular ink!)).

I am using an Epson Ecotank ET-2760 and Hiipoo sublimation ink (or this one is in new bottles to directly transfer) that is specific for my model of the Ecotank that Hiipoo sent me to try out.

Hiipoo has a few different lines of sublimation ink so make sure it says it works with the printer model you get. I have used a few different Ecotank models and they have all worked well (ET-2760 and my current printer ET-2850).

Note: We will NOT be using the Epson ink that comes in the printer box! You can sell it or give it away to a friend.

Update: Hiipoo now has their sublimation ink in autofill bottles so no more need for the syringes when adding the ink to the Epson Ecotank printers! You can dump sublimation ink directly into the Epson cartridges with the new bottle cap. Find the new product here.

For these type of ink bottles, remove the lid then place them over the fill tank and push down so bottle is inserted.

Then just squeeze the bottle to transfer the ink to the fillable cartridge.

Inside the old Hiipoo sublimation ink box is 4 different sublimation ink bottles (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow), 4 plungers, 4 tips and a pair of plastic gloves. The ink will stain your hands and clothes, so be careful!

To access the ink tanks in the Epson Ecotank 2760, lift up the top and then flip up the right side section that house the cartridges. Then you can rest the lid of the printer on the section that flipped up.

Each cartridge is clearly marked for the color of the ink that it needs. One the front side of the printer are the ink level windows. Once the ink is in the cartridges you will be able to see the levels in the windows.

Prepare each plunger or syringe thing but sticking on the thin attachment. Then pull off the case.

Now open one bottle of sublimation ink at a time and place the long pointy part inside the bottle until it can’t go anymore. Then slowly pull up the stopper on the syringe to pull in the ink.

You might get a bunch of air bubbles at the beginning. I found it easies to lay the bottle almost horizontal while pulling up the plunger. You can watch this process in the video at the bottom if it doesn’t make sense!

Lift up the blue lid of the color you are going to fill (I’m filling black first) and stick the long nose into one side of the small ring. Slowly squeeze down on the plunger so the ink goes into the cartridge.

After each syringe, you’ll notice the ink level filling up in the window on the front side.

Keep repeating the steps to fill up the tanks, using a new syringe for each new color. I was able to get the entire black ink bottle in the cartridge with the initial fill procedure and then about 2/3 of each of the colored inks into their respective fillable ink tanks. Make sure to watch the level line on the front and don’t fill it above the top notch.

Once the cartridges are full of sublimation ink, it’s time to plug in the printer and turn it on. Follow all the prompts to check and initialize the cartridges. Make sure to follow the Start Here guide to make some test prints.

It takes about 10-15 minutes for the printer to initialize everything. Now is a good time to download the printer software and driver on your computer from drivers-epson.com (link for the 2760 software!)

Once the Wifi and ink is verified it’s time to start sublimation printing on sublimation paper!

Common Questions About EcoTank Conversion

The first time you print a sublimation print, you’ll notice the colors are very faded on the sublimation designs. That is what it’s supposed to look like! The vibrant colors don’t appear on your sublimation projects until the high heat of a heat press is added.
The colors on your computer will not be exactly the color that is printed or that shows up on your projects. For best results, you will need to change your ICC profiles to a custom ICC profile just for sublimation. Inkowl sublimation ink has it’s own complimentary ICC profile to use here if you are using that brand of sublimation ink. If you are unfamiliar on how to change your driver and printer settings, check out this post by Angie all about ICC profiles.
Since we are converting a normal printer into a sublimation printer and using special inks that are not normally used, a converted Epson sublimation printer can clog if you go a long time in between printing. If you are not using your new sublimation printer that often, you’ll want to print something every week or two to prevent the printer head from clogging. This is why I had to buy a brand-new printer, I didn’t listen to my own advice, ugh! So just print some random things on a weekly basis or you’ll need to perform some printhead cleanings and maybe even a deep clean.