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Which Printer for printing T-Shirt transfers?
I have a small Garment and Sublimation print and embroidery shop. I do not print signs or vehicle graphics but that is and option if I have more inquiries in the future.
What I do need is a small solvent printer/cutter that will print garment transfers and small stickers about 10 x 10cm in size.
Most of the printers I have seen are too big. 1meter 20 or more. All I need is a printer the same size as my Roland GX24. 60cm max. Is there anything out there that I haven’t seen?
Am I looking in the wrong direction , could I use something other than a solvent printer?
Advice greatly appreciated.
Earl -
13 Replies
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as far as i know its solvent or resin ribbon transfer still a bit bigger than you want
roland sp vp 300 or have a look at the summa dx4 in case you haven’t seen it
for what you described i would recommend print and cut on the same machine.
chris
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Hi Chris,
Ive seen the Roland but not the Summa. They are a bit too big but I think thats all there is out there. I am limited in space in my shop so thats my biggest problem.
Have you a web link for the Summa, I cant find it. Also, what is the resin ribbon transfer?
Thanks for the info.
Earl -
sorry dc4 i am not recommending it just have you seen it to help with your decision.
mind you i wouldn’t mind one my self
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We were in the same position as you and really wanted a printer to produce small stickers for hard hats, and the ability to print onto garment vinyl, we ended up purchasing a Roland Versacamm VP300 and yes it is a big bit of kit. My personal opinions of this print and cut machine is excellent it produces the stickers that we want and more, we now do lots of banners and a few stickers, but my experience to date with printable garment vinyl is not good. Firstly we have had alot of problems with actual material and are experimenting with different brands at the moment, another problem is you are printing onto white material and when you cut around your printed logo you always have the white edge of the material although very thin this does stand out on dark coloured garments. I think that cut vinyl is better but yes sometimes you need to print but with the cost of the Versacamm I’m not convinced its the way to go I think there are cheaper options. We did first purchase Xpress’s Ultragraphic system and for the money its not bad. However I would not be without the Versacamm as it is such a versatile piece of machinery and I would also say that our experience of Roland has been excellent
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Kevin I understand your problem with the film as I am never happy with the thickness but the white lines as so so easy to avoid either set a bleed on your art work or move your cut line to a – number so it cuts just inside the art work leaving no white, the same would be done for stickers.
Rich -
Richard I think you have misunderstood what we are experiencing with the white edge, yes we do set the cut line in but it is the edge of the vinyl that you see, there is nothing that you can do about it and the thicker the vinyl the worse it is. Regards Kevin
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that looks interesting John, didn’t know they came that small!! shame the website doesn’t work right thogh, lots of clicky things that don’t seem to click!
Hugh
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I have to agree with Kevin, I have seen the white "outline" from the printed vinyl. Even when its cut through the colour , its the thickness of the vinyl you can see. I had hoped that there is a vinyl especially made for this type of garment print. Nearly all my prints are onto black shirts so it will always show.
What about the Gerber Edge? Is that any good?
The alternative could be to go for a Direct to Garment printer. Trouble with these is the white ink. Also, which model to go for. I go to one show and a printer is printing perfectly and in the next show it is rubbish. If the suppliers cant get it right then what hope have we ?
Earl -
The Mimaki direct-to-garment printer might be worth a look.
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Very interesting Byron,
I have found it on Mimaki´s home web site http://www.mimaki.co.jp/english/tx/inkjet/gp-604d/ and on the US web site. Nothing here in Europe. I have sent them an email for info.
Nice looking machine and it looks as though it has its own heads and not an altered Epson printer.
Earl. -
[quote="Earl Smith"]Nice looking machine and it looks as though it has its own heads and not an altered Epson printer.
Earl.[/quote]I’ve heard that the 3 Japanese companies (Roland, Mimaki and Mutoh) are the only ones being supplied by Epson with their heads for wide format printing. So technically, this Mimaki Garment printer will also be using an Epson head, :). But I do get your point that this is not the same as the other smaller DTGs which are just "altered" 4xxx series Epsons, etc. Also, ask your Mimaki dealer if they’re coming out with a revised version soon, as I’ve heard some rumors that a new machine will be released this year (maybe with white ink or discharge fluid?). I won’t be surprised if it will be based on the JV33 (and I also noted that the JV33 can now print with white ink.) Good luck with the search and let us know your progress please.
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I sent, last week , an email to Mimaki asking for info on their DTG machine. AS of today , one week later, I have had no reply. Obviously they are not interested or just cant be bothered. So strike Mimaki from my list.
Have you seen the new Viper from DTGdigital? Seems to have a device which pumps the white ink around the system every 20mins to stop it from separating and clogging. Hope to see it at the next trade fair in Cologne.
Earl.
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