Hiipoo sublimation ink is arguably one of the most popular sublimation ink options when converting an Epson ET-8550 into a sublimation printer.
Even though they are great out of the box, did you know that you can make your sublimation prints even better with the Hiipoo sublimation ink color profile?
It always drives me crazy when I print a design that looks completely different than it did on the computer. This can happen when you convert a standard printer, like the Epson ET-8550, into a sublimation printer.
But these free Hiipoo ICC profile downloads make it so much better! You get much more vivid and accurate color results.
Once you set it up, you will be amazed at the difference!
So, if you haven’t yet downloaded the ICC file from Hiipoo, I will show you how to. And don’t worry; it’s not hard to do.
You will be so thankful you took the time to set this up once you see your new sublimation prints!
What are Hiipoo sublimation inks?
Hiipoo inks are water-based dye sublimation inks designed for use with an Epson ET-8550 printer that has been converted to do sublimation printing.
The bottle was designed to fit perfectly into the refillable ink tanks on the Epson printer. This makes it easier than ever to add new ink.
Hiipoo inks are one of, if not the most popular, inks used in the crafting community.
This is partly due to the high-quality ink you get with Hiipoo and their fantastic customer support. Not every company would go through the hassle of creating a custom ICC profile, especially as a completely free download.
But they know and understand just how important it is for us crafters to have vibrant colors and more accurate color results.
How do printers work?
As beginner sublimation crafters, understanding how printers work can be helpful when printing your designs.
Not only does it make it easier to diagnose problems, but you can also do color correction, and get more accurate color results. This will take your crafting skill to the next level.
4-color printers, which is what the Epson ET-8550 is, combine different amounts of ink — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black — to create new colors. Each printer has a specific set of ICC color profiles that tell it how much ink to put down in each area.
What is an ICC color profile?
If you read that and thought, I would love to make my sublimation prints from my Epson ET-8550 better, but what on earth is an ICC color profile? It’s like Jamela is speaking another language.
ICC stands for International Color Consortium. The technical explanation is that it’s a set of data that characterizes color input and output. In simpler terms, it’s how your computer, printer, ink, and paper go together to print the correct colors.
When you’re using an inkjet printer, the color profiles will be different because of the different materials used.
Sublimation color profiles are different because the ink, the paper, and the way those 2 things combine are different.
Why do I need the Hiipoo Sublimation Ink Color Profile?
So now that you have a better understanding of these ICC color profiles, you might be wondering why you need the Hiipoo sublimation ink color profile. When you bought your printer, it came with its printer profiles and ICC color profiles.
But as I explained above, these profiles will be wrong since we use different ink. Without installing Hiipoo’s color profile, you might notice that the colors print in a slightly different shade or that the color values are wrong. You may also notice the color quality is poor.
You will need to install their ink profiles instead to get good results with the Hiipoo sublimation ink refills like I am. The best part is, they’re completely free! I really appreciate that Hiipoo has done this for its customers.
How do I download the Hiipoo sublimation ink color profile?
When you go to the hiipoo website, you will see a button in the top menu bar that says, Get ICC Files. Click on this to be redirected to their Google Drive account, where the color profiles are stored.
When Google Drive opens, you will see there are multiple documents. If you hover your mouse over each document, you will see the name of each Epson printer pop up. You should look for the one that says Hiipoo ink & Hiipoo paper & Epson ET-8550.
Once you find the one you’re looking for, right-click on the document and click the download option.
How To Install The Hiipoo Sublimation Ink Color Profile
After downloading the Hiipoo sublimation ink color profile from their website, go into your computer’s hard drive. Next, open your libraries. From here, you will be able to open the ColorSync folder. This is where your computer does the print settings to match the color input with the color output.
Next, click on profiles.
Now drag the downloaded profile into that folder. If you are prompted to do a software update, you can follow the instructions on the screen.
What To Do Next
At this point, I like to test my printer to see if it prints vivid colors similar to what I have set on my screen. You can do this using Adobe Photoshop, Corel, Cricut Design Space, or any other design software you use.
You can use a design you’ve already made, but I recommend printing color swatches from the color gamut to get the best results. This will allow you to easily see the range of color values and shades and check to make sure everything is as accurate as possible.
If the colors are not 100% aligned with what you have on your screen, make sure you have the correct ICC profile installed.
If that is correct, but the colors are still wrong, the next best step is to do custom color management in your design software. You can find tutorials online for the most popular software, including Photoshop.
Does this work with other Epson desktop printers?
The refillable ink tanks on the Epson ET-8550 make it possible to be a sublimation printer. This means that instead of using replaceable ink cartridges as other printers do, this printer uses refillable tanks. This makes it possible to put in sublimation inks, turning it into a sublimation printer.
You can do this with another Epson Ecotank Printer other than the ET-8550. But always verify it has those tanks. Otherwise, you can’t do it.
Do I need to do this with a sawgrass printer?
If you have decided to go with the sawgrass printer instead of the Epson ET-8550, no color adjustment will be needed. This printer comes with its own sublimation ICC profile already installed.
With a sawgrass printer, you will likely get more accurate color results.
If you want to learn more about the differences between the sawgrass printer and Epson ET-8550, I made a full comparison in this blog post.
What Kind Of Crafts Can I Make With Sublimation?
Now that your sublimation printer is properly set up, you might be eager to hit the ground running with some different sublimation crafts. Lucky for you, I have tons of free tutorials and downloads on this website that you can use for your own crafts.
If you want to make things like clothing or tote bags, then you will need a design sublimation paper, your sublimation printer, a blank, and a heat press!
Here are some designs you can download for free on my website.
- Free Blessed Mama PNG For Sublimation
- Free Born To Be A Unicorn Sublimation Design
- Sublimation Tie Dye Teaching Is My Jam + Free SVG
- Sublimation Coffee Mug For Teacher Appreciation Day
- Best Dad Coffee Mug Design-Cricut Mug Press
I’ve also got a full guide on the best sublimation shirt blanks that you can use to make t-shirts.
Another popular sublimation craft is making coffee mugs and tumblers. For this, you will need a design, sublimation paper, your sublimation printer, a blank, and a mug or tumbler heat press!
Happy crafting!
I’ve downloaded the icc profile for the ET-8550 for Hiipo but I can’t get it to show up in any Adobe program. I have tried everything but it’s isn’t accepted. Any ideas?
It shows on mine as Epson 8550 I believe.