I recently found out that my one and only Great Nephew, Luke,

loves trucks and he loves texture. I knew immediately that I needed to make him his very own flip sequin pillow. You may remember, I made them several months ago for Ace and Evie and they love them (you can see the post here).

I just received the Sawgrass SG1000 Sublimation printer. It has printing capabilities of 11 x 17 out of the box, but with an additional purchase of a bypass tray you can print up to 13″ x 51″! Say what?!!? I am thrilled with the additional print space. It was the perfect printer to create this super cute truck design for Luke.

I want to emphasize that in order to reproduce this process you must use sublimation ink. The magic is in the ink, not the printer itself. So, which printer should you use with sublimation ink? Let’s talk. While you can convert a select few ink jet printers to sublimation ink, not all printers can be converted. A quick internet search will reveal those printeres which can be converted from inkjet to sublimation. Please keep in mind that once you convert a printer to sublimation ink, you should not attempt to convert it back to inkjet. Converted inkjet printers, if not used almost daily, often will result in the print heads drying up which renders the printer useless within a matter of months. It is for this reason that I highly recommend purchasing the Sawgrass SG500 or the Sawgrass SG1000 printer.

The Sawgrass printers are made for sublimation. They are equipped with programming that will help keep the print heads working properly.

I have both the Sawgrass SG500 and the SG1000. The SG500 can print up to 8.5 x 14 (legal size). The SG1000, as stated above, can print up to 11×17 out of the box and has the capability of printing 13 x 51″ with the additional purchase of the bypass tray. While the inks for the Sawgrass printers are a bit more pricey than generic inks for converted printers, I feel the Sawgrass ink lasts longer and produces better quality color prints. I have had great success with vibrant, true-to-color prints and not a single issue with a clogged print head when using the Sawgrass printers. I have conducted side by side tests comparing a converted Epson printer to my SG500 and the Sawgrass printer won every time. The Sawgrass blacks and greys are a true black and grey, while the Epson produced less than stellar blacks and greys. I have used my SG500 for almost a year now, and I’m still on my original set of inks. I feel the inks last a long time (obviously ink life varies according to your useage, the size of your prints, etc.).

Additionally, I prefer the Sawgrass printers because they include the Print Manager. The Print Manager ensures that you are using the correct color profile for the sublimation ink. Using the correct color profile produces richer and truer colors on your finished project. Converted inkjet printers, don’t “know” that you’re using sublimation ink and will print with the color profile that it would ordinarily use for an inkjet printer. You can install (new color profiles for your inkjet converted printer) in your design software, but Sawgrass makes it so much easier. The Sawgrass Print Manager is a simple drag and drop into the Print Manager folder and that’s it.

The Creative Studio is a design software that is included with the the purchase of a Sawgrass printer. It includes a ton of sublimation templates as well as blank canvases in which you can create your very own designs. Creative Studio also includes a library of images as well as the option to purchase additional designs. Printing from Creative Studio is easy, simply design and click print.

I hope this clears up some of the questions you may have about subilmation printers. All of the above information is my own opinion, which is based of my exposure and use of both a converted printer and the Sawgrass printers. Obviously, I prefer the Sawgrass line of products. This is not a sponsored post. I bought my Sawgrass SG500. I bought my sublimation papers and inks. I simply wanted to share my opinions and clear up some of the repetitive questions I get on each sublimation video.

Now, about that sequin pillow… want to see how I made it? Here’s a video tutorial:

*Disclaimer:  Some links above are affiliate links.  By clicking on these links I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.   Some products may have been provided to me by vendors.  All opinions and reviews are strictly my own.