Several months ago, I went and bought a printer. But it wasn’t for normal printing. It was for sublimation printing, so for making sublimation crafts and such. But the thing is, I didn’t have a regular printer for printing documents and whatnot. Just for everyday printing, you know? And, for a long time, I was using my sublimation printer for printing. So the short answer to Can You Print with Sublimation Ink is YES. But, there is more to it than that. So, let’s talk about printing with sublimation ink on regular paper for standard print jobs.
Can You Print with Sublimation Ink
The answer is YES, yes you can. But to show you the full extent of the answer, I have done a quick comparison to show what happens when you print with sublimation ink vs printing with standard ink.
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Supplies Used for the comparison of sublimation ink vs regular ink.
- Sublimation Printer – I converted my Epson Eco-Tank 2850 into a sublimation printer. You can learn how to do that here if you are interested.
- Sublimation Ink – when I converted my printer, I used this sublimation ink, and still use it now.
- Standard Printer – I actually purchased another (same) Epson Eco-Tank 2850 for regular printing.
- Standard Printer Ink – the printer I purchased came with standard ink, but if you need more, you can get some here
- Regular printer paper – I just used standard 8.5″ x 11″ standard white paper for this experiment.
Now that our supplies are ready, it is time to see what happens.
What happens when you print with Sublimation Ink?
Printing is printing. Put the paper in the machine, press Print, and the paper comes out with something on it. That is the same process with sublimation ink as it is with regular ink. The only real difference is the output quality. So, let’s look at the output quality of the prints.
What do Color Sublimation Prints look like?
As I mentioned, I have 2 of the same printer, so the printer produces the same result, in a sense. The ink is the only difference.
Below are two images, one sent to each printer. I printed off my dog napping for fun.
Sublimation ink results for color print:
- The image was printed off with no issues. Ink adheres to the paper and the image is visible.
- Dark colors are difficult to distinguish.
- Light/bright colors are visible, but they are not vibrant.
- The ink bleeds through the back of the paper slightly. Nothing outside of the ordinary.
Regular Ink Results for color print:
- The image was printed off with no issues. Ink adheres to the paper and the image is visible.
- The colors came out nicely, visibly and vibrant.
- The ink bleeds through the back of the paper slightly. Nothing outside of the ordinary.
- Using better-quality paper may have produced better results for a color image, but the print is still good.
Results: YES, you can print color images with sublimation ink. They are just not as vibrant.
What do Black and White Sublimation Prints look like?
For the black-and-white test, I simply smashed my keyboard a bunch of times and filled the screen with letters.
Below are two images, one sent to each printer.
Sublimation ink results for Black and White print:
- The image was printed off with no issues. Ink adheres to the paper and the image is visible.
- Black looked like black. All aspects of the print were visible with no issues.
Regular Ink Results for Black and White print:
- The image was printed off with no issues. Ink adheres to the paper and the image is visible.
- Black looked like black. All aspects of the print were visible with no issues.
Results: YES, you can print black and white documents with sublimation ink. There is barely any difference in appearance in the color of the black with sublimation ink vs the black with regular ink.
Notes about printing with sublimation ink
Before I had a second printer, I was using my sublimation printer for all of my printing. I didn’t do much, but I did enough that it warranted buying a printer for regular printing. But, in the process of using my sublimation printer for regular printing, I learned a few things:
- Sublimation ink dries out, so you need to print with it often. About once a week. So, using my sublimation printer as a regular printer helped keep the printer heads moist and not drying out.
- The cost of sublimation ink is not much different than that of regular ink. Or at least that was the case when I purchased the sublimation ink, regular ink, and the time that this was written. So, there was not a huge financial difference between using one over the other.
- Like with all printing, if you use better-quality paper the final print will have better quality. For this experiment, I used standard printer paper. So I got standard results. I have used good-quality paper for printing with both of these inks, and the results are better as a result.
- Now that I have 2 printers, I really need to get cracking on my sublimation projects! Hahaha, okay, but I digress,
Did you find this post helpful?
Did you find the post on using sublimation ink in place of regular ink helpful? Let me know in the comments below.
If you want to learn more about sublimation, check out some of my sublimation posts below:
- How To Convert An Epson Eco-Tank Into A Sublimation Printer
- Sublimation On Canvas – DIY Photo Canvas With Sublimation
- Sublimation Sip And Paint
