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- Best Overall
- Epson WorkForce WF-7710 color inkjet printer
- “4.3” color touchscreen
- “13×19” borderless prints
- Wireless printing
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- Premium Choice
- HP OfficeJet Pro 9025 all in one wireless printer
- Smart tasks
- Self healing WiFi
- 1 year warranty
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- Great Value
- Canon selphy CP1300 wireless photo printer
- Compact photo printer
- 3.2 inch LED screen
- Works with Canon print
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Are you in the market for the best sling backpack that you can take with you anywhere you go, so you can fully enjoy your next big adventure, or just make your daily activities more comfortable and efficient?
After all, a sling bag is designed to give you all those things, especially with their convenient, portable, and lightweight designs. To help you make the right choice on which sling backpack is best for you, here are our top recommendations, and a buying guide just for you!
Best sling backpacks
Take a look at these ten best sling backpacks in 2021 that don’t only look fabulously stylish and elegant, but are highly functional and versatile as well, and are sure to give you ample space for all your valuables so you can travel and move around with a peace of mind.
We’ve included plenty of options for you to choose from, as well as our favorite features from each of them, so you’re sure to find the perfect sling bag, whether it’s for men or women, for travel or daily usage, and for all budgets!
Epson WorkForce WF-7710 color inkjet printer
Our first pick is the Epson WorkForce WF-7710 color inkjet printer, an all in one printer that you can use for copies, scanning, fax, and of course, sublimation. It’s an excellent wide format printer that produces high quality borderless prints with a maximum size of 13×19 inches.
This is a versatile home and office printer that offers a 250 paper tray capacity and is equipped with a rear feed for specialty papers such as sublimation transfer paper. In fact, you can even use it for two sided printing tasks.
Moreover, it comes with four durabrite ultra ink cartridges in black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, so you can start printing right out of the box. And, it also offers various connection modes, including ethernet cables and WiFi connectivity for wireless printing.
- Amazon’s Choice product
- Amazon certified dash replenishment
- Intuitive 4.3″ color touchscreen
- Wide format 13×19” borderless prints
- Wireless printing with tablet or smartphone
HP OfficeJet Pro 9025 all in one wireless printer
Taking the second spot is the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025 all in one wireless printer, which offers faster printing with a 24 page per minute output and an automatic single pass document feeder. It’s a small and compact yet fully functional inkjet printer with lots of smart features.
These include syncing to various online apps and platforms, as well as access to Smart Tasks, so you can efficiently organize your documents right on your printer, or through your phone. You can also print quickly with the HP Smart App that controls your printer in one easy set up.
Moreover, it also has plenty of built in security features and guarantees a stable WiFi connection so your printing doesn’t get interrupted. To top it all off, you can also choose from standard, instant, or XL ink, and of course, convert it to a sublimation printer by using sublimation ink.
- Amazon’s Choice product
- Amazon certified dash replenishment
- Access to Smart Tasks and other apps
- Wireless printing with self healing WiFi
- 1 year limited hardware warranty
Canon selphy CP1300 wireless photo printer
In third place is a small, compact, and lightweight printer that promises so much, and more importantly, never fails to deliver. The Canon selphy CP1300 wireless compact photo printer is a sleek and portable device that you can carry anywhere to print pictures and more on the go.
It guarantees instantly dry photos that are water resistant are sure to stay vibrant for up to a hundred years. For that alone, you can just imagine how awesome this printer will be when used for sublimation purposes.
This printer has a high print resolution that’s perfect for images and sublimation designs. It lets you print up to 18 postcard sizes images at a time, and connects via WiFi through the Canon print app, although you can always print directly from your camera or USB.
- Portable and compact photo printer
- Comes in black and white
- 3.2 inch tilting LED screen
- Highest quality and resolution prints
- Works with Canon print plug in
Brother MFC-J995DW inkvestment inkjet printer
Ranking in the fourth spot is the Brother MFC-J995DW inkvestment inkjet printer, an all in one color printer that offers mobile device and duplex printing capabilities. It comes as a complete set with one to two years’ worth of ink right out of the box.
Its main selling point has to do with the re-engineered ink cartridges that have a bigger ink capacity and even connect to an internal ink storage, so you can enjoy uninterrupted printing for a long time to come.
This printer also lets you know how much ink has been used and is available for you to use at any given time, so you never have to guess. And, it connects to various printing softwares, and is also compatible with various operating systems.
- NFC one touch connection
- WiFi mobile device printing
- Suitable for prints, scans, and sublimation
- Equipped with intelligent page gauge
- Comes with 1-2 year ink supply
Epson WorkForce WF-7720 wide format color printer
Another one from Epson that comes from the same line as our first choice is the Epson WorkForce WF-7720 wide format color printer, and as such, it comes with much of the same excellent specs and features as the WF-7710.
Among these are the high performance guaranteed by the precision core printing quality that delivers perfect borderless prints, an automatic two sided printing option, and versatility of use for other purposes such as scanning, copying, and fax.
It also offers high volume printing with a 500 sheet tray capacity and a rear feeder for specialty papers like those for sublimation. It’s compatible with a variety of operating systems, and it’s significantly more economical than your typical laser printer.
- Amazon certified dash replenishment
- Comes with Black/CMY ink cartridges
- Wide format 13×19” borderless prints
- High volume printing capacity
- Intuitive 4.3” color touchscreen
Epson Stylus C88+ color inkjet desktop printer
Next up is yet another one from Epson, the Epson Stylus C88+ color inkjet desktop printer, a high quality color printer that’s best for plain paper, but works just fine with specialty papers like transfer paper, card stock, photo paper, and many more.
It offers a decent print resolution and printing speed, can be set to print effectively on matte, semi gloss, and glossy paper finishes, and has a 120 sheet tray capacity. It also makes use of a parallel port, and can be connected to your device via USB 2.0.
It’s definitely not the most advanced and sophisticated printer on this list- in fact, it’s quite the opposite. But, that’s what makes it versatile and perfect for experimentation, especially for those who just want to dip their toes into sublimation.
- Versatile printer suitable for various papers
- Can be purchased as a printer and ink combo
- Compatible with various operating systems
- Border free printing in standard sizes
Epson SureColor T5170 36” wireless printer
We hope you’re not yet with Epson, since we have one more product to share with you. We promise, you’ll love this one. The Epson SureCOlor T5170 36” wireless printer is a large format printer that’s an Amazon’s Choice product when it comes to blueprint printers.
With this printer, you can produce large sized prints within seconds, and without a hassle. It features a clean, minimalist, and compact design despite its big size, and it’s also easy to use especially with the large 4.3” color touchscreen.
More than that, this inkjet printer ensures that you don’t have to replace your ink that often with its larger cartridge capacity, perfect for those working on bulk projects. And, you can also print from anywhere, since this printer offers wireless printing via WiFi.
- Amazon’s Choice product
- Large format A1/D size prints
- Wireless WiFi printing capability
- Intuitive 4.3” color touchscreen
Sawgrass Virtuoso SG400 chromablast printer
Finally, we have here the Sawgrass Virtuoso SG400 chromablast printer, the perfect sublimation printer if you’re really serious about taking your game to the next level, that is, from a casual hobby to an actual profitable business.
It’s specifically designed for creating and printing designs for digital transfers with its fully integrated system, so you don’t have to invest in clip arts and graphic design software, which can easily cost thousands of dollars.
This chromablast printer guarantees a high resolution so your designs won’t suffer once they are transferred to whatever material you’re customizing. The only catch is, this is only recommended for white and light colored fabrics.
- CMYK ink and chromablast paper included
- Integrated digital transfer software
- 1 year manufacturer’s warranty
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
Best sublimation printer buyer guide
What is sublimation printing?
First of all, what exactly is sublimation printing and how does it work? Well, to put it simply, sublimation printing is a specific method of printing that makes use of a special type of paper called a sublimation paper in order to transfer designs onto various materials like fabric.
The sublimation process works by creating the design on a computer software, printing it on a sublimation paper, then this paper is pressed onto the material or fabric where the ink particles turn into a gaseous state due to heat and pressure either by using a heat transfer press or other type of equipment, thereby transferring the design onto that material.
It’s an efficient and cost effective way of personalizing various items and products, and is widely used for printing on mugs, t shirts, and many other personal and home items for giveaways, souvenirs, or even personal use.
Sublimation vs screen printing
Sublimation printing is only one of the many different types of designing and customizing fabric items. Another popular one is screen printing, which works by using a mesh stencil to print the design onto the fabric.
When compared to sublimation, screen printing is definitely on the cheap side, since it only necessitates a few tools that you can even build yourself, such as the mesh and paint spreader. However, it takes a significantly longer time, since each color needs a separate mesh.
Screen printing also doesn’t allow for much versatility in terms of complexity in design patterns, as well as printable materials, since it only works for shirts and other fabrics, unlike sublimation, which can be used on plastics, ceramics, and other items.
What you’ll need
While sublimation printing is cost effective when it comes to production, the same cannot be said for initial costs of setting up a dye sublimation business, or even just a hobby at home, since you’ll need several things that can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars each.
The most important one is the printing machine in the form of a dye sub printer or sublimation printer. Not all printers can be used for sublimation, meaning, the printer either can’t print on sublimation paper, or it doesn’t accommodate sublimation ink cartridges.
For example, a typical laser printer cannot be used for sublimation purposes, since it uses a vastly different technology. However, it’s possible to convert a typical inkjet printer into a sublimation transfer printer, which is a good option for beginners.
Aside from the printer, you will also need a heat press, which is frankly the most expensive investment that you need to be prepared for. Sublimation simply won’t work without it. To take your shirt designs to the next level, consider adding some embroidery with one of these best embroidery machines. Apart from that, here are the other things you’ll need:
Sublimation ink
Whether you’re using a special sublimation printer, or a simple ink printer, you will need sublimation ink in order for the process to work. This is the type of ink that will stick to the sublimation paper, turn into gas with heat, and transfer to the material through pressure.
This is really important, since sublimation ink is different from your regular ink for laser and inkjet printers, and it’s also not the same as pigment or dye ink, which have their own specific purposes. When buying sublimation ink online, make sure to check the reviews whether the ink works excellently, since not all ink brands are the same.
Sublimation printing paper
You also cannot print on just any paper if you want to transfer your design from paper to other materials. You will need a sublimation printing paper or transfer paper to print the design on with the sublimation ink and stick on top of the material you want that design to be on.
This type of paper will absorb the ink from the printer during the printing process, and will release this ink onto the material afterwards. It’s also important to note that it’s not exactly the same as a heat transfer paper.
Image editing software
If you’re serious about dye sublimation, you should think about investing in an image editing software like RIP software to help you create, process, and manipulate your designs, as well as to adjust the colors so they turn out accurately once the design is transferred to the material.
If you don’t have a photo editing software installed on your computer, such as Photoshop or CorelDraw, you will need to purchase a subscription, which can be quite costly as you pay for the subscription monthly or annually.
Fabric
The good thing about all over dye sublimation printing is that it can be used for various materials like plastics, ceramics, PVC, vinyl, and so on. It can also be used on metals like aluminum, as long as the object is coated with polymer.
But, it’s most often used for printing fabric like polyester. It’s actually a common way of printing bundles of jersey shirts and shorts for sports teams. One thing you have to remember, however, is that dye sublimation isn’t for absolutely everything.
For example, it doesn’t work on natural fabrics like 100% cotton shirts that don’t have pores for the ink to seep through under the heat press. Dark shirts and huge blocks of prints are also not that advisable for heat transfers, since there’s a huge margin for error, where white strains, ghosting, and color mismatch can easily occur.
Printer format
When it comes to the printer, one thing that you need to take into account, especially if you want to turn this into a serious business, is the printer format, which is essentially the size of the printer and the material it can print on.
A home inkjet printer is fine for hobbies and for printing small designs such as logos. Even a typical photo printer would work just fine for that. But if you want to print entire shirts and other large substrates, you need to up your investment.
Wide format and large format sublimation printers are what let you achieve this, since these are huge and bulky printers that you can use for almost anything. However, they do come with just as huge of a price tag.
Final tips
If you’re looking for the best sublimation printer, it’s important to know what you need to look for, and what you intend to use the printer for, as well as, of course, your budget. An entry level sublimation printer should be versatile enough for beginners and hobbyists.
We are talking about regular inkjet printers that are readily convertible into a sublimation printer. This is the perfect option for those who don’t have the budget to purchase a specialized sublimation printer, or would also like to use their printer for typical printing tasks. You might also want to consider purchasing a complete sublimation kit so you don’t have to exhaust your time and effort in shopping around for each of the things you will need in order to start your sublimation printing business.
