Sublimation printing is tricky to attempt without having the best sublimation printer for the job. Using a regular printer won’t necessarily result in high-quality products. In fact, your products may look inferior.
Sawgrass released their entry-level printer, the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500, for $599 only to make sublimation printing achievable for hobbyists and small businesses. This may seem like an expensive purchase at first glance, but you’re not just purchasing a printer but also a host of exclusive services.
Sublimation printing doesn’t just give you the freedom to make your designs and logos. A proper sublimation printer will also ensure that you can print your designs on a wide variety of surfaces ranging from home décor (Pillows, Curtains) to personalized items (Phone Cases, Coffee Mugs) in high quality.
When you purchase a Virtuoso SG500, you receive the following:
- SubliJet UHD Sublimation Inks
- CreativeStudio Online Designer
- Sawgrass Print Manager
- Dedicated Customer Support
The Sawgrass Virtuoso also comes with a better and friendly user interface that is easy to use for beginners and experts alike. The sublimation prints from the SG500 have a 4880×1200 dpi resolution, making it one of the best sublimation printers in the price range.
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Starter Kit for Your Printer
When you buy the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500, you also receive a Starter Install Kit along with your printer, which helps you get started by setting up your printer and all the associated software.
You can also set up your new printer with the help of an expert from Sawgrass by scheduling an appointment. The expert will guide you through setting up the printer and software(s) and provide a step-by-step tutorial into using CreativeStudio.
Complimentary Ultra HD SubliJet Inks
Along with your printer, you also receive a starter ink kit (SubliJet UHD Inks) which contains four ink cartridges. These have an excellent finish and make your designs come to life with their vibrant hues.
When you use the Redesigned Ultra HD SubliJet Sawgrass Ink with the Virtuoso SG500, it results in better adhesion to surfaces (as it has a special lock technology that seals colors) and better ink output to design ratio as well.
The UHD Inks even work on heat transfer vinyl now, increasing the gamut of surfaces you can apply your designs to. The inks are specially made, so they print faster and save ink at the same time on all Sawgrass Sublimation Printers.
When purchasing the Virtuoso SG500, you get the choice of choosing the size of ink cartridges (Install Kit) that come with the printer. Starter Install Kits come with 20 ml cartridges, while Standard Install Kits have 31ml ink per cartridge.
Free Design Software for Sublimation Printing
The CreativeStudio software is the only design software uniquely catered to and made, keeping sublimation printing in mind. As far as designing software goes, this is the best choice when you’re using any sublimation printer, not just the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500.
CreativeStudio comes with a host of free templates and logos for users to experiment with while creating their designs. It is completely cloud-based, so storage on your device won’t ever become an issue.
Along with CreativeStudio, Sawgrass also offers a Knowledge Base that you can browse through when looking for tutorials on using Sawgrass products and software.
Compatible with Past Generation Accessories
The Virtuoso SG500 is backward compatible. This means that it is compatible with all SG400 accessories. These accessories include the bypass tray (SG400), which lets you print on surfaces up to 51 inches long.
The backward compatibility means that you do not immediately have to buy brand-new accessories for your Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500. It also comes equipped with other features that can save you money in the long run. It is more energy-efficient when compared to other printers and has auto maintenance features as well.
Wireless Connectivity
Wires can be a huge hassle, especially when it comes to printers. This isn’t an issue with the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500, which comes with WiFi Connectivity. Combined with USB connectivity, now you can connect to this printer any way you want.
Warranty
The Virtuoso SG500 comes with a 2-year warranty covering any manufacturing defects or other defects that have arisen naturally in the printer preventing it from functioning efficiently.
Along with this warranty comes free lifetime technical support, from Sawgrass themselves, for all customers. This is a function that many other brands do not offer.
When people choose to use other printers as sublimation printers, they are voiding their manufacturer warranty, which is why this warranty for Sawgrass is such an added benefit.
The Benefits of Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500
The Virtuoso is optimized to print high-quality designs using less ink, and that is done mainly through the Print Manager that comes with the printer. The Auto-Maintenance function ensures that the printer never has nozzle blockages. When manually maintaining sublimation printers, a lot of ink can be wasted too, and Sawgrass prevents that with the self-maintenance function, making it the best printer for sublimation. Combined with excellent customer service and free design software, the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500 offers you a host of benefits that make it worth the premium price tag.
It has one of the fastest print speeds compared to other printers in the market. It also has a special feature that prevents ink from drying within the cartridges, allowing you to utilize the ink as long as possible.
If sublimation printing is your need, Sawgrass printers should be looked at as an investment rather than an expense. For a beginner especially, it may seem expensive to invest in such a printer, but the quality payoff is even higher than the product’s price.
For beginners, the cost of sublimation paper and ink also may seem quite high. But this is remedied by the free starter ink kit that can offset quite a bit of the cost. The backlit user interface and big buttons make the user experience on the Virtuoso SG500 beginner-friendly.
A Great Printer to Customize Products
The Sawgrass Virtuoso SG500 is an excellent printer for hobbyists and small business owners alike. It produces great results while making more economic sense in the long run.
For $599, you can get a perfect sublimation printer that will last you a lifetime. Whether you’re looking for a printer for your personal use or business purposes, the SG500 is a superb starter printer for all types of sublimation printing.
