Finally - the best mug printer has been found Shhhhh

Our secret is out - hope it helps others.

So over the past three years we have been trying to find replacements for our bank of SG400's which provide perfect colour matching, quick prints and a real work horse which NEVER need head cleaning and just provide print after print after print with no problems. Our requirement is to have a desktop printer using mug paper so we don't have to spend time cutting the paper down. We print 99% for artists and so colour matching is the priority.

We have tried ALL the printers on the market and thank Ink Experts for their help but sadly no Epson Ecotank or SG500 or F100 could ever match the SG400 for the above requirements. We have spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds on replacement printers but all didn't meet the grade.

Until NOW!!!!

The answer is the NON-SAWGRASS-VERSION of the SG500 which is the RICOH 3210. This is EXACTLY the SG500 but without the restriction that Sawgrass has over the firmware meaning that YOU CAN use an ICC profile. This is only sold by one UK supplier (link below) but currently out of stock (sorry our fault!) but more on the way.

Yes you will have to buy the Prima sublimation carts from them and roughly the same cost as Sawgrass carts but these last a very long time.
Yes you might have to buy the S-Race mug paper from them but very good paper.

https://www.dyesublimationsupplies.c...mation-Printer

I am not sure why other companies in the UK do not sell this printer but I presume it is the grip of Sawgrass that stops them.

So there you go. We have only had it for a week and so early days but very happy to finally find a replacement and just hope more stock of the printers arrive soon.

Are you using the Primaink cartridges in yours?

We had a few print samples when this printer was first released and the colours were way off. Did speak to DSS about them getting a new icc done but that never happened.

A friend of mine has bought refillable cartridges off aliexpress but so far hasn’t tested the machine with the ink he uses.

Yes, their ink (Prima), their paper and their ICC profile. Spot on!

Ohhhh might have a look into this, Olly. Very kind of you to share, hopefully ICC profiles work on Mac. We like yourself, have killed many a SG400 over the years.

I get pretty decent results from my ecotanks so I’m not looking to swap out just yet especially with a set of inks for that being £135 !!!

To be fair I probably use a set of the sublinova bottles once every 24months.
so that £135 would last a fair while.

Is there any chance you can post up a mug printed using the new setup next to a mug printed on your old setup for comparison.

3210 on left and SG400 on right:
Attachment 7306

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Originally Posted by UK Printed Mugs

3210 on left and SG400 on right:
Attachment 7306

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It might be me but I can’t see any difference.

Yes that's the point. We needed to replace our aging SG400's (down to 2 from bank of 8) and nothing else has printed as perfect colour match until now. In fact the dithering is a little better on the mugs we have done so far.

My only gripe with the Ricoh's is that you can not print edge to edge. Like you I always print mugs on paper pre cut to size. My mug paper is 97x240 so that it fits up the handle and top to bottom. If I take your example (minus the copyright ;-)) but want to extend the purple background to the top and bottom of the mug I can not do that with a Ricoh on precut size paper.

With my epsons I can do exactly that and still get the colour acuracy my clients require (admittedly they are probably not as fussy).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by socialgiraffe

My only gripe with the Ricoh's is that you can not print edge to edge. Like you I always print mugs on paper pre cut to size. My mug paper is 97x240 so that it fits up the handle and top to bottom. If I take your example (minus the copyright ;-)) but want to extend the purple background to the top and bottom of the mug I can not do that with a Ricoh on precut size paper.

With my epsons I can do exactly that and still get the colour acuracy my clients require (admittedly they are probably not as fussy).

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Out of interest, what Epsons do you use? We tried a few ecotanks with precut mug papers but couldn’t get the printer to load the papers straight, so the prints printed slightly wonky on the sheets. We don’t have that issue with the sawgrass.

We used to use Epsons when we printed 3 mugs per A4 sheet but it’s so much easier printing mug sized sheets.

I am with you though on Sawgrass/Ricoh not printing edge to edge. We cut paper slightly larger for full top to bottom prints but it’s a lot of hassle for sure.