Best Printers for Crafts (2026): Sublimation, Iron-On, and Photo Printing

The Sawgrass SG500 is a dedicated dye-sublimation printer rather than a conventional inkjet or laser device. Its SubliJet-UHD inks use a heat-transfer process where ink converts from solid to gas and bonds permanently into the surface of polyester fabric, polymer-coated mugs, phone cases, and hard substrates — producing scratch-resistant, wash-permanent color that standard inkjet output cannot match on these materials. At $799.99, the SG500 prints at up to 13" wide, making it capable of small-run apparel, tote bags, and cut-and-sew panels that a desktop inkjet simply cannot reproduce. On this crafts page the SG500 sits at a very different price point and use case than the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 ($179.99). The EcoTank is a versatile inkjet suited for paper, card stock, and general craft printing; the Sawgrass is a single-purpose sublimation tool. If your projects involve fabric transfers, mugs, or hard goods that require dye-sub media, there is no overlap between them — you need this one. Buy the Sawgrass SG500 if sublimation is your primary craft medium and you run enough volume to justify $800 upfront — the per-transfer cost drops significantly at scale. Skip it entirely if your work is paper-based: the EcoTank will serve paper crafts at a fraction of the cost and the SG500 produces unusable output on plain paper.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 replaces traditional ink cartridges with large refillable tanks that hold enough ink for roughly 4,500 black-and-white pages or 7,500 color pages per fill — a capacity that transforms the economics of high-volume craft printing. At $179.99 the upfront cost includes enough ink to run thousands of pages before you spend another dollar, which matters when you are printing dozens of card-making sheets, iron-on transfers, or sticker paper runs in a single session. It prints at up to 10 ppm in black, handles letter-size media, and connects via Wi-Fi for print-from-phone convenience. Compared to the Sawgrass SG500 ($799.99) on this crafts page, the ET-2800 is the all-purpose workhorse while the SG500 is a specialist. The EcoTank handles paper, card stock, glossy photo paper, and craft labels with conventional inkjet output; the Sawgrass handles polyester fabric and hard sublimation substrates exclusively. If your craft mix is 90% paper-based — sticker sheets, greeting cards, printable vinyl, coloring pages — the ET-2800 is the correct choice at less than a quarter of the SG500 price. Buy the Epson ET-2800 if you print frequently enough that cartridge costs have been a recurring frustration and your projects live primarily in the paper-and-card-stock domain. Skip it if you need dye-sublimation output for mugs or shirts, or if you print so infrequently that the ink tanks dry out between uses.

The Brother MFC-J1205W is built around INKvestment tank cartridges — high-yield reservoirs that hold significantly more ink than standard Brother cartridges, reducing per-page cost for crafters who print in batches. The all-in-one includes scanner, copier, and a 20-sheet ADF for multi-page document feeds alongside craft print jobs. The flat scanner bed handles glossy photo paper, sticker sheets, and lightweight cardstock without the jam risk that document-feed-only designs create, and wireless printing via Wi-Fi connects phones and tablets through Brother's iPrint&Scan app. At $209.99 on the crafts page, the Brother sits at the same price as the HP Envy Photo 7975 — a direct comparison between two AIO inkjets at identical cost. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 at $179.99 uses refillable ink tanks for lower running costs per page but lacks the ADF and misses some scan-to-app features that make the Brother more versatile for mixed craft and document work. The Sawgrass SG500 at $799.99 handles sublimation printing for fabric heat transfers — a completely different workflow that this Brother cannot replicate. Best for crafters who need a versatile AIO covering glossy photo, sticker paper, cardstock, and everyday document printing — the INKvestment cartridges lower ongoing ink cost without the messy ink-tank refill process of an EcoTank. Skip if fabric sublimation or heat transfer printing is the goal; that workflow requires dye-sublimation ink and the Sawgrass SG500 is the appropriate tool.