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What do you need?
Sawgrass has an extensive support library of its own, but it’s large and it isn’t always easy to find the one article you need. We’ve pulled the most useful parts together here and linked to the original at every step.
Getting started
Unbox, install, and get to a print you’re happy with.
Set up your printer ›Something isn’t right
Lines in your print, feeding problems, colours that don’t match.
Read the answers ›A technical fault
Error codes, warranty and when to raise a Sawgrass ticket.
Get it repaired ›Ink and supplies
Reorder straight from Print Utility with our dealer code.
Link your software ›Printer and software
What you have, and what each part does
Your printer puts the ink on paper. The software decides what those colours become after pressing. Two halves of the same job.
The printer
SG500 — up to A4
For smaller products: mugs, keyrings, coasters, phone cases, name badges.
- Prints up to A4
- Optional bypass tray for slightly larger paper
- Can be used with SubliJet UHD ink or VersiFlex (never mix inks)
SG1000 — up to A3
Same technology, more room. For apparel, sportswear and larger panels.
- Prints up to A3
- Optional bypass tray for slightly larger paper (A3+)
- Can be used with SubliJet UHD ink or VersiFlex (never mix inks)
The standard tray takes standard sheet sizes. A bypass tray adds the option to print slightly larger paper formats from the same printer. There is one for the SG500 and one for the SG1000.
The software
Sawgrass Print Utility — you print through this
Sublimation ink shifts colour under heat, so a print never looks like the pressed result. Print Utility calculates that shift for you.
- Colour profiles for your ink and media
- Media, size and mirroring in one place
- Live ink levels
Print straight from your design software and your colours come out flat or simply wrong.
Design software — your choice
Sawgrass has an online design tool with a large library of templates and product layouts. A quick way to start if you have no design software of your own.
- Not required: Photoshop, Illustrator, Affinity and Canva all work
- Whatever you design in, make sure you still print through Print Utility! So click print and select Print Utility (and not the printer directly).
Read more at Sawgrass
Getting started
From unboxing to a print you’re happy with
Six steps that cover the first hour with a new printer.
- Position the printer and remove all shipping material
Pick a level, stable spot with room around and behind it. If it arrived cold, let it come up to room temperature first.
- Install the ink first, then switch on
Important: The ink goes in before the printer is powered up! The printer now fills its lines and print head (takes 7 to 13 minutes); leave it switched on while it does. Afterwards your ink levels no longer read 100%, and that is how it should be — that ink is now in the lines.
- Create a Sawgrass account
You need one for the software, your warranty and support. Register your printer straight away, so support can see exactly what you have.
- Install Sawgrass Print Utility
Check the system requirements, install SPU and add your printer. From here on, everything you print goes through it.
- Print a nozzle check
This confirms every colour is firing before you start using paper and blanks.
- Run a test print and note your pressing settings
Time, temperature and pressure differ per material and per press. Write down what works and the next one is right first time.
And after that: leave the printer switched on
This is the single most useful bit of care advice we can give you. A sublimation printer keeps itself in shape, but only if you leave it running.
- It goes into standby by itself. Press any button on the printer to wake it up again.
- Left on, the printer flushes itself and keeps the lines and the print head clear. Switched off it can’t do that: the ink dries up and blocks the lines and the head. That is usually beyond repair, so a new print head or a new printer.
- Back from a holiday, or not used it for a while? Print a nozzle check first. If it shows gaps, run a head cleaning before you start production again (explained under technical problems).
The ink the printer uses to flush itself has to go somewhere: it collects in the waste ink tray. The display shows how full that tray is, and once it is full the printer stops printing until you replace it. Pull the full tray out, bin it and click a new one in. Handy to keep a spare on the shelf, since they have no expiry date. If you would rather not, order a new one in good time.
Video
Would you rather watch than read?
Sawgrass runs their own YouTube channel with playlists on installing your printer, working with the design tool and Print Utility, and troubleshooting.
Tip: click cc in the top right of any video and pick your language to turn on subtitles.
Technical problems
Why we send you to Sawgrass rather than solving it ourselves
If you have a more difficult problem, or you cannot find the solution in the information above, the next step is the Sawgrass service team. Raise a ticket, give them the details they ask for, and they come back to you quickly with concrete advice. We point you their way because it genuinely gets you a fix faster, not to pass you along.
They know the machine
Sawgrass engineers recognise the cause quickly and can look inside the account your printer is registered to.
They can look along with you
Where it helps, they take over your screen and work through the problem with you.
Warranty is theirs to decide
Whether a printer is replaced under warranty is a Sawgrass call, and they cover it.
We ship the replacement
If a replacement is approved, it goes out from our warehouse. You stay with a familiar contact.
Raise a ticket
Describe the problem, add your printer details and a photo of the print or the error if you have one. Their support team is fast and thorough. In our experience a ticket is almost always the shortest route to a working printer.
Raise a ticket with SawgrassAn error code on the display?
Your printer reports faults as a code. Sawgrass keeps a guide where you can look those up, with the steps to clear each one. Worth opening before you raise a ticket, because plenty of them you can solve yourself in a couple of minutes.
Look up error codesNot sure whether your question is one for Sawgrass or for us? Get in touch and we will pick it up with you.
Common questions
The ones we are asked most
Each answer links to the Sawgrass article behind it, so you can go straight to the full detail.
Why do I have to print through Print Utility instead of straight from my design software?
Because that is where the colour management lives. Sublimation ink changes colour as it is pressed, so what comes out of the printer never matches the finished product. Print Utility calculates that shift and drives the printer with the right profiles for your ink and media. Bypass it and your colours come out flat or simply wrong.
There are horizontal lines in my print
Horizontal banding usually means either that some nozzles are not firing or that the paper is not advancing evenly. Print a nozzle check first. If parts of the pattern are missing, run a head clean. If the nozzle check looks clean, a paper feed adjustment is the next step.
There are vertical lines in my print
Vertical lines point at the paper path more often than at the print head. Paper dust or dried ink on a roller or guide will draw a line down the full length of every sheet. Check the paper path and clean the paper feed belt.
Vertical lines in a printout ›· Cleaning the paper feed belt ›
My printer has been sitting unused for a while. What now?
Print a nozzle check first and see whether every colour still comes through. Gaps in the pattern? Then run a head clean, and only a head flush if that does not clear it. Leave the printer switched on from then on, so it can run its own maintenance cycles.
The paper is not feeding properly, or it keeps jamming
Start with the basics: paper loaded the right way up, sitting flat, guides snug against the stack. If it keeps happening, the paper feed belt and the registration sensor are the two things worth cleaning. Sawgrass also has a full guide covering misfeeds and jam error messages.
Paper misfeeds and jam error guide ›· Cleaning the registration sensor ›
Can I print small sheet sizes on the SG500 or SG1000?
You can, but not every small size feeds reliably from the standard tray. Sawgrass sets out the minimum sizes that work and how best to feed them. In practice it is often easier to gang several small designs onto one larger sheet.
Which side of the sublimation paper do I print on?
Only one side is coated, and that is the side to print, usually the whiter and smoother one. Print on the back and the ink will not sit where it should, which leaves you with a washed-out transfer. Sawgrass has collected its paper advice in one article, including storage and why humidity matters.
My colours do not match what I see on screen
A screen emits light and a print reflects it, so the two will never be identical. Print through Print Utility with the correct media profile, use the Sawgrass colour references in your artwork rather than picking colours by eye, and judge the pressed result rather than the printed sheet. Your press time and temperature affect the final colour too.
VersiFlex
Printing on cotton and on dark garments
Sublimation only works on polyester and on specially coated blanks. Cotton and dark fabrics are out of reach: the ink has nothing to bond with, and on a dark garment it disappears. VersiFlex is the system Sawgrass built for that gap. It is a transfer process that lets a Sawgrass printer produce full-colour prints on cotton, blends and dark apparel. You print with VersiFlex ink onto VersiFlex transfer paper, pair it with the matching material and press the two together: no cutting, no weeding, and a print that moves with the fabric.
What it gives you
- Cotton, blends and dark garments become part of your range
- Full colour in one pass, with no cutting or weeding
- A soft print that moves with the fabric instead of sitting stiffly on it
- The same kind of printer and much the same workflow as sublimation
What to bear in mind
- You need a Sawgrass printer set up separately for VersiFlex ink. If you already print with SubliJet ink, that means a second printer.
- The paper and consumables are different too, so you hold two sets of stock.
- Pass the care instructions on to your customer, or durability suffers.
VersiFlex ink has to be pressed wet: Sawgrass allows around ten minutes from the moment the sheet leaves the printer. So print sheet by sheet rather than in batches, which also keeps wet prints from smudging each other in the output tray. The workflow: lay the garment on the press and pre-press it, then print, then press the transfer straight away.
Ink and supplies
Reorder ink straight from Print Utility
Print Utility keeps track of your ink levels. Link the software to Technotape once with our dealer code and reordering takes a couple of clicks instead of a search through part numbers. You also know for certain you are getting genuine Sawgrass ink that fits your printer.
- Print Utility watches your ink
The software is connected to your printer. As soon as a cartridge drops to a critically low level, you get a warning on your computer.
- Use the ordering button
The ink status screen in Print Utility has a button for ordering ink and supplies. Make sure your printer is switched on and online, otherwise Print Utility cannot make the connection.
- You land with us, with the right ink
The button opens your browser at Technotape and passes on your printer model and the matching cartridge numbers. So you never have to work out which ink fits your printer.
- Check and order
The right cartridges are already in your cart. Check your details, complete the order and we ship it to you.
Questions about the link, or about which ink your printer takes? Get in touch
Still stuck?
For technical faults and warranty, Sawgrass is the right address: raise a ticket and their service team takes it from there. For ink, paper, blanks or advice on which printer suits the work you do, come to us.