PRINTERS

[Lorraine Buchan]

As far as i’m aware there are only a small selection of Epson printers that can be used with sublimation – that is to say they are supported by companies that offer sublimation, other printers may well be usable but if you get a problem you’ll most likely find that you have to deal with it yourself.

As for the 6 carts, i’m not sure if that would be of any benefit, i think the bulk ink systems have a light cyan, light magenta, light yellow but not sure if they are available in cart form

RIP softwear as far as i’m aware is used in large format digital printing were alot of information is sent at once, not really neccessary for A3/A4 stuff.

I think the real thing for sublimation is the drivers and colour correction softwear. I think there is a lot of trail and error in the beging stages to make sure you get the colours you want.

[John & Dawn Roddick]

Thanks for your reply Lorraine. I received some literature from Listawood and they list cartridges for quite a few Epson printers – there seem to be more suitable for sublimation than I realised. They list 3 different 6 colour printers which run on cartridges and not the bulk supply systems. What printer do you use and do you find it produces “photo quality” results.

Dawn

[Lorraine Buchan]

There are alot of printers listed, however, quite a few of these are old models that are not sold any more. Like the 980 etc..

As with everything next year will see a new set of printers on the market

I don’t actually do sublimation printing myself, however it is something (as you can proberbly tell) that i am very interested in and have done a fair bit of research on.

I will be shortly looking to get a Epson 1520 printer, at least i think it’s the 1520, with the bulk ink system using Rotech Inks

[Rodney Gold]

The epson 3000 is the sort of “standard” for Sublimation – A3 size , its a really reliable workhorse. I think sublimation inksare avaialble for it
All the epson printers that can take sub inks are very very good in respect of output.
6 colour inks either increase the colour gamut (if you use Orange and green or spots – dunno if you can get that in sub inks) or if using lc , lm , it hase better tone graduations – more photoreal etc.
Yo have to use a RIP – well you dont , but if you want decent or best output , they work better.
A Rip does a few things , it translates colour models from lets say RGB to Cmyk , it tells the printer what to do , it rasterises vector graphics and is a powerful control tool. A decent RIP can cost you a LOT more than the printetr.
If you just want colourfful pics , printing out of corel is ok , the ink guys will probably have an icc profile for the printer.
I use a 1270 as well as 3x 870’s for various stuff , tho havent got into sublimation printing , but did investigate it thoroughly.
The thing that put me off sub printing was the coatings that have to be applied to stuff like tiles etc – I didnt want to be dependant on anyone supplying me coated items and wanted to coat myself , the price of the coating stuff was more expensive than gold – literally.

[Aitor Asencor]

We are also checking the sublimation stuff.

The epson 3000 is the standard, but that model it’s going to be discontinued.
The epson 1520 got a Tri-colour cartridge and probably discontinued soon too.

I think a good option is an epson 2100. Or just buy one of the last units of 3000. You’ll get good prices, but technical support?

Surely epson will release soon a 24″ model as the HP 120.

A rip is always needed for profesional work. You can control the color, save ink, and translate postscript graphics. It doesn’t depends on the size of the document.

Is it possible to coat yourself? How?

[Rodney Gold]

To coat yourself you need a polyester type coating that is easy to apply and wont delaminate off the substrate – you can easily get polyester resins and flood coat or use some sort of a clear polyester paint (Aline ?)
I have heard of people doing it themselves with variable results , what one needs is the CORRECT spray , and getting that info is like pulling hen’s teeth. The Guys supplying the coated products have offered me the product , but at some rediculous price , Like GBP 200 a litre!!!!!!!
One could fiddle , but that would take a lot of time
EVERYONE I have spoken to tells me the 3000 is the way to go – im pretty sure the next model will be more or less the same , perhaps go to one of the sublimation ink cos web site or http://www.sublimation.com for more info of what printer is the best

[Gi Graphics]

Hi
At last something I can contribute on from first hand experience 😀
Dye-sub is something I am considering myself, and I have actually worked for a company called Recogntion Express producing dye-sub badges with an Epson 3000. I can’t speak very highly of it. Never got very good colour but most of all it was a painfully slow printer.
I would definitely go for one of the Epson photo printers. I’ve not used one for dye-sub but surely the extra colour gamut will translate across to better dye-sub colour as well. And you can buy bulk, continous ink systems for them also.
Cheers
Paul
(I’ve now got a photo, so you can look at me ugly mug)

[red dragon]

If you are going the 6 ink road, make sure it’s with individual cartridges. You will find the one that gets used up the quickest if magenta. If all the colours are in 1 cartridge (except black of course) you will be wasting a lot of ink at every change.

I know this from experience my previous subli printers being an Epson 850 (still working but with ordinary inks), C80 (died a premature death), I now use a C82, and have had no problems with this or the cartridges.

It all comes down in the end to what size of transfer you are looking at doing, if you’ll never take advantage of A3+ there is no need to pay the extra £400 plus (for the Epson 2100).

Just my input and thoughts.

[Aitor Asencor]

BTW, just released the C84.

It´s going to replace the C82.

http://www.epson.co.uk/sohoprod/printer … /index.htm

(hot)

[Tim Painter]

Im checking things out 2 John on the Sublimation front
I agree 1520 & 3000 are on there way out when who knows.
1520 has been around longer than 3000.
Personally I would say don’t let the fact that 1 supplier doesn’t do a bulk system for your chosen printer you can buy many of the bulk ones empty leaving you with the choice of ink you use. I would of thought it logical to start with carts then progress to bulk hopefully as business builds up.

I have just picked up a 1290 at local auction in VGC for £50 and will be on carts first to suck it an see then progress to bulk I think hopefully. 😕

[Linda]

Regarding 6 V4, we make a living from printing ‘fine art’ pictures.

For years we used an Epson A4 stylus 750, then went to a 1290s ( 4 & 6 color respectively) and I would say that although there is a difference technically, when viewed at the correct distance, it’s very hard to tell which printer the picture came from when an A4 is done on both machines!!

Linda