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Cheap/Simple way into low-run t-shirt printing? Magic Touch?
I’d like to have a home option to print off t-shirts in short-ish runs, as and when I need them. I won’t be making a full time business out of this, so don’t want to (and cannot!) invest silly money into equipment overkill.
So what I’d like to know is how good actually are these Magic Touch, Forever, Laser Dark products? Has anyone on here used these with satisfactory results, and can anyone recommend the correct combination of paper and A3 printer? Oooorrrrr, is there a better solution for me?
Thanks!http://www.themagictouch.com/how1.html
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22 Replies
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Don’t use them myself so can’t make any recommendations but don’t forget that as well as a printer & suitable transfer paper you will need a heat press as well.
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quote Martin:Don’t use them myself so can’t make any recommendations but don’t forget that as well as a printer & suitable transfer paper you will need a heat press as well.Yes, that too!
I’m stuck with which way to go on this…. maybe tempted to head into the sinister world of screenprinting, but that does seem a bit messy. :lol1: -
What sort of volume will you be doing? For short runs screen printing tends to be a lot more expensive because of the price of setting up screens.
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quote Martin:What sort of volume will you be doing? For short runs screen printing tends to be a lot more expensive because of the price of setting up screens.
Well, that I’m not really sure of. Depends how well these sell! Anywhere from 5 – 50 or upwards…
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Ok.
If you are going to be transfer printing you will need to be using a good quality transfer paper and pigment ink, NOT dye ink, as it will come out after the first wash and you will have a white sheet of blank paper on the shirt.
The transfer press do an excellent quality paper its about £100 plus vat for 100 A4 sheets not sure on A4 but its generally almost double
With a plotter you will also be able to cut T shirt vinyl and for simpler designs this is a far more efficient way than using transfers.Also depending on what type of transfers you are doing and how intricate the designs are you will need a plotter with opos magic eye to cut round any intricate designs.
If you want to Use dye sublimation you will also need a dye sub printer and of course a heat press.
Screen printing is only a viable option if you will be doing large runs or making your own single colour or two colour transfers, any more than 2 colours the paper will warp as you flash cure the plastisol
hope that helps
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A big vote for Magic touch here from us, we have used their products for a few year now, the only thing to watch out for is in the colder months the Transfer paper isn’t too cold before printing (simple solution put under heat press while it is heating (and press is open).
We use TTC for light clothing and use to use OBM for the Dark clothing (now use their Soldark on our Roland) also used their other papers to successfully.
A very good company to deal with and the presales service and support was excellent – I was talking with them on and off for 12 months before we purchased.
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quote Nick.Eccles:A big vote for Magic touch here from us, we have used their products for a few year now, the only thing to watch out for is in the colder months the Transfer paper isn’t too cold before printing (simple solution put under heat press while it is heating (and press is open).
We use TTC for light clothing and use to use OBM for the Dark clothing (now use their Soldark on our Roland) also used their other papers to successfully.
A very good company to deal with and the presales service and support was excellent – I was talking with them on and off for 12 months before we purchased.
Magic Touch has to be with a laser or sublimation printer?
If laser, is it a white toner type, or will a regular colour laser do it? -
quote Lola Mala:Magic Touch has to be with a laser or sublimation printer?
If laser, is it a white toner type, or will a regular colour laser do it?I use Magic touch on and off and while mkostly ‘off’ of late – for no particular reason, they are always incredibly helpful in pre & post sales support & tech.
if you’re printing onto white garments then the standard oki is good enough, if going onto dark you either use the obm paper and cut it out (like a big sticker) before pressing on or, you go with the white tone version which I felt wasn’t justifyable in my own circumstances.
I also have a Ricoh GXE7700n subli printer on sublijet-r inks for light colour sublimation but – that’s min 65% poly garments only.
textile vinyl still makes the bulk of my printed garments & I sub out the embroidered ones.
with regards the oki, magic touch to alter / optimise the settings in the printer so, it is preferable over a standard 5600 (etc.) that you’d pick up cheap on ebay.. also use only the oki toners. for a good while I used it only for printing documents so went with cheap toners, they’re fine for general printing but rubbish for garments as they wash out very quickly!
so.. good Adkins (magic touch & xpres use that) A3+ heat press, used from around £300+ generally, new from about £800. smaller are available.
ricoh A3 sub printer with inks £1k+, A4 ricoh much cheaper.
actually – the prices are on the magic touch site! get in touch with them.. they’re always helpful. -
quote Hugh Potter:quote Lola Mala:Magic Touch has to be with a laser or sublimation printer?
If laser, is it a white toner type, or will a regular colour laser do it?I use Magic touch on and off and while mkostly ‘off’ of late – for no particular reason, they are always incredibly helpful in pre & post sales support & tech.
if you’re printing onto white garments then the standard oki is good enough, if going onto dark you either use the obm paper and cut it out (like a big sticker) before pressing on or, you go with the white tone version which I felt wasn’t justifyable in my own circumstances.
I also have a Ricoh GXE7700n subli printer on sublijet-r inks for light colour sublimation but – that’s min 65% poly garments only.
textile vinyl still makes the bulk of my printed garments & I sub out the embroidered ones.
with regards the oki, magic touch to alter / optimise the settings in the printer so, it is preferable over a standard 5600 (etc.) that you’d pick up cheap on ebay.. also use only the oki toners. for a good while I used it only for printing documents so went with cheap toners, they’re fine for general printing but rubbish for garments as they wash out very quickly!
so.. good Adkins (magic touch & xpres use that) A3+ heat press, used from around £300+ generally, new from about £800. smaller are available.
ricoh A3 sub printer with inks £1k+, A4 ricoh much cheaper.
actually – the prices are on the magic touch site! get in touch with them.. they’re always helpful.Hmm… so for the Magic Touch, it must be a Sublimation printer, not laser?
Forever papers use toner printers, would that not be a cheaper purchase for me?
And what’s Adkins? -
adkins make the heat press that xpres, magic touch and others sell, it’s the best bit of kit you can buy if you want to do yourself a favour and hit the ground running.
magic touch (and lots of others) do sublimation, they also do laser.
spend some time on the Magic Touch website (or youtube), there are loads of video’s on how to use their products… I just don’t have time to give you all the answers!
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quote Lola Mala:quote Nick.Eccles:A big vote for Magic touch here from us, we have used their products for a few year now, the only thing to watch out for is in the colder months the Transfer paper isn’t too cold before printing (simple solution put under heat press while it is heating (and press is open).
We use TTC for light clothing and use to use OBM for the Dark clothing (now use their Soldark on our Roland) also used their other papers to successfully.
A very good company to deal with and the presales service and support was excellent – I was talking with them on and off for 12 months before we purchased.
Magic Touch has to be with a laser or sublimation printer?
If laser, is it a white toner type, or will a regular colour laser do it?It is a Laser Printer for eth Magic Touch Papers, also speak to them I tested their papers with a good HP Laser Printer I already had and compared results with the Magic Touch updated (Firmware) OKI Laser – The TMT OKI was much better, no feed issues and colour more vibrant.
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quote Nick.Eccles:quote Lola Mala:quote Nick.Eccles:A big vote for Magic touch here from us, we have used their products for a few year now, the only thing to watch out for is in the colder months the Transfer paper isn’t too cold before printing (simple solution put under heat press while it is heating (and press is open).
We use TTC for light clothing and use to use OBM for the Dark clothing (now use their Soldark on our Roland) also used their other papers to successfully.
A very good company to deal with and the presales service and support was excellent – I was talking with them on and off for 12 months before we purchased.
Magic Touch has to be with a laser or sublimation printer?
If laser, is it a white toner type, or will a regular colour laser do it?It is a Laser Printer for eth Magic Touch Papers, also speak to them I tested their papers with a good HP Laser Printer I already had and compared results with the Magic Touch updated (Firmware) OKI Laser – The TMT OKI was much better, no feed issues and colour more vibrant.
Thanks! I think I will go with either the Oki C810 or maybe the newer OKI C822n laser printer.
Good to hear MagicTouch is laser – is that paper easy to obtain in the UK or Ireland?My only worry with what you’ve said is that the TMT Oki is a white toner printer though, yes? I’m concerned about the ink costs on that, and the fact I could not at all afford one of those TMT A3 printers!
Would I therefore get lesser results using a ‘regular’ non-white toner laser printers for t-shirts? -
quote Hugh Potter:adkins make the heat press that xpres, magic touch and others sell, it’s the best bit of kit you can buy if you want to do yourself a favour and hit the ground running.
magic touch (and lots of others) do sublimation, they also do laser.
spend some time on the Magic Touch website (or youtube), there are loads of video’s on how to use their products… I just don’t have time to give you all the answers!
Thanks for that. Just one more thing (!) – I was just checking on ebay, and those Adkins presses look pricey (for me) … whereas there are Magic Touch presses that are not so pricey, how come? :
And does anyone know which press this guy is using? :
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No….. TMT do "normal" Laser and White Laser Printers, have a good look on their website if I was you.
Also I would recommend you do not buy anything until you speak with them/any other supplier to make sure what you get all works together. The Magic Touch are in the UK
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quote Nick.Eccles:No….. TMT do “normal” Laser and White Laser Printers, have a good look on their website if I was you.
Also I would recommend you do not buy anything until you speak with them/any other supplier to make sure what you get all works together. The Magic Touch are in the UK
Which one did you get, which specific model?
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They no longer make mine, I have the A3 OKI C821, supplied by The Magic Touch with their Firmware.
I can not recommend enough that you actually call and have a chat with the suppliers to find out if it’s the right thing for you now and any future plans…… and of course budget
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quote Hugh Potter:I also have a Ricoh GXE7700n subli printer on sublijet-r inks for light colour sublimation but – that’s min 65% poly garments only.
Hi again Hugh – just wondering about the Ricoh GX7000 now. How do you find it? Did you say it only prints well on poly/cotton tees (with the magic touch paper)? I’m specifically only looking to print on t-shirts, and after seeing used ones on ebay, I’m very interested.
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I have recently started to print T,s I purchased an Oki printer from TMT for transfer printing, I also use their transfer papers, whilst I was researching equipment they were certainly the most helpful and easy going company I dealt with(no hard sell, just advice and facts).
Their after sales service is also second to none.
I have also purchased a Ricoh printer for sublimation from them, they are expensive, but remember you get what you pay for, I had an Epson S22 and cheap Ebay inks for sublimation before, the end results between the two are not comparable, I do not know how I got away with charging for the S22 subs. in the past.
If you are gong to print T,s your heat press must give you an even temperature across the platen, something which the cheaper presses on Ebay etc. will struggle to achieve(I learned that from experience). -
quote philip burtenshaw:I have recently started to print T,s I purchased an Oki printer from TMT for transfer printing, I also use their transfer papers, whilst I was researching equipment they were certainly the most helpful and easy going company I dealt with(no hard sell, just advice and facts).
Their after sales service is also second to none.
I have also purchased a Ricoh printer for sublimation from them, they are expensive, but remember you get what you pay for, I had an Epson S22 and cheap Ebay inks for sublimation before, the end results between the two are not comparable, I do not know how I got away with charging for the S22 subs. in the past.
If you are gong to print T,s your heat press must give you an even temperature across the platen, something which the cheaper presses on Ebay etc. will struggle to achieve(I learned that from experience).Thanks for that….
I’ve actually purchased an OKI C8800 Laser Printer to start me out. I did actually email TMT on their web-form, but didn’t get a reply. Strange…
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What paper are you going to use? I don’t do any garment printing so have no actual experience myself but from what I have read the magic touch machines have been tweeked so are not the same as the standard oki printers. Higher temperature & thicker materials can be used from what I remember.
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quote Martin:What paper are you going to use? I don’t do any garment printing so have no actual experience myself but from what I have read the magic touch machines have been tweeked so are not the same as the standard oki printers. Higher temperature & thicker materials can be used from what I remember.
As TMT put they have been "enhanced" to get the best results when using their transfer papers, you install the TMT software and drivers for the oki printer and you get extra media choices and colour management options.
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quote Martin:What paper are you going to use? I don’t do any garment printing so have no actual experience myself but from what I have read the magic touch machines have been tweeked so are not the same as the standard oki printers. Higher temperature & thicker materials can be used from what I remember.
Hi Martin –
I haven’t decided on a paper yet. I’ll probably try the Magic Touch ones, as well as the Forever brand. There’s also a company in the link below, I’ll give theirs a shot too, see which one performs best :
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