# Switching between dye sublimation and regular inks?



## freakdaddy

I'm going to soon be in the possession of a new Epson Stylus Pro 9890. I know nothing of dye sub printing (yet) but I see that it is possible with this printer. Is there any reason I cannot easily switch back and forth between the dye sub ink and regular ink or do you need to dedicate your printer to dye sub?


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## bornover

No, it is not an easy process to switch ink types. It is a one time deal in essence because it is expensive and a lot of work. If not done perfectly it will kill your print heads as well. Set the printer up for one type of ink and figure out how to make money with that setup.


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## freakdaddy

Thanks for the info. I just wanted to play with dye sub since I have the printer already for other purposes but it looks like it is not to be. Maybe I can convert my Hp 2500CP. I'll have to do some reading. Thanks again!


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## charles95405

Mark is correct....stay with one kind of ink...but I don't think there is any dye sub ink for the HP...dye sub needs the print nozzles of the Epson and the OEM inks for the HP is not great for transfers


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## bornover

If you want to play with dye sub and you have the money to spend with the attitude you just might be throwing it away, you could get an Epson Work Force 1100 that prints 13 x 19. Never load aqueous inks in it, get cleaning carts and run the flush/cleaner/prep for dye sub inks, and load it with dye sub inks in refillable carts. I would go with J-Teck inks if they have a color profile for a WF 1100.

And you do have a heat press, right?


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## mgparrish

bornover said:


> If you want to play with dye sub and you have the money to spend with the attitude you just might be throwing it away, you could get an Epson Work Force 1100 that prints 13 x 19. Never load aqueous inks in it, get cleaning carts and run the flush/cleaner/prep for dye sub inks, and load it with dye sub inks in refillable carts. I would go with J-Teck inks if they have a color profile for a WF 1100.
> 
> And you do have a heat press, right?


I have a WF1100, no need to clean the inks out on a _desktop_ Epson, I swap pigment and sublimation inks all the time, no issues. Also, Epson no longer makes that printer, the WF7010, WF7510, and WF7520 are the new tabloid models for 4 color printing.

J-Tech inks I'm sure are fine, however, they only sell to large format due to Sawgrass license.


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## mgparrish

charles95405 said:


> Mark is correct....stay with one kind of ink...but I don't think there is any dye sub ink for the HP...dye sub needs the print nozzles of the Epson and the OEM inks for the HP is not great for transfers


Ditto, on the _larger_ Epsons the ink lines are too long and expensive to purge. I have the 4880 and the initial carts took 55mL per color (8 colors) just to fill those ink lines. I would think an even larger version would be even more inks.

To your point about the HP ... they use thermal power to transport inks thru the head, unlike Epson (and Ricoh) that uses electical charge (piezo). If you have a thermal head like HP or Canon then the sublimation inks can actually start the sublimation process inside the printhead due to the heat. BTW Sawgrass's patent was actually supposed to solve that, never happened.

Also agree on the HP regular inks, I think that model he mentioned is older and dye based. Only a few of the newer higher end HP's use pigments.


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## bornover

mgparrish said:


> ... J-Tech inks I'm sure are fine, however, they only sell to large format due to Sawgrass license.


He has a large format Epson (wink, wink).


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## mgparrish

bornover said:


> He has a large format Epson (wink, wink).


LOL. Yes, I could see someone _accidently_ pouring those inks into the smaller printer. Hehehehe

Not sure I would ask J-Tech for a WF1100 profile though.


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## danielschelin

It's not difficult to swap from dye sublimation to pigment and back again however the cost is expensive and I wouldn't risk it as a common weekly practice because your dampers will likely clog over time from the mixing of sublimation and pigment. As long as you're using the right cleaners you can do it though. Another option, depending on the output quality you need, is to use Wasatch and put Sublimation in half your printer and Pigment in the other half. It would be best to know what your current commitment is with the printer. For example, if you were printing screen positives, you can use one of the black channels for this and then use sublimation in the other channels. Sublimation only works with Piezo technology. HP uses Thermal.


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## sandhopper2

mgparrish said:


> I have a WF1100, no need to clean the inks out on a _desktop_ Epson, I swap pigment and sublimation inks all the time, no issues. Also, Epson no longer makes that printer, the WF7010, WF7510, and WF7520 are the new tabloid models for 4 color printing.
> 
> J-Tech inks I'm sure are fine, however, they only sell to large format due to Sawgrass license.


I have a wf 1100 and a wf30 at present I'm useing the 1100 for positives and the 30 for sublimation 
Can I but my sub carts in the 1100 to do the larger prints as needed 
What is needed to do this maybe a color print after I load the sub carts ? not really wanting to buy another 1100 if this works 
Larry


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## mgparrish

sandhopper2 said:


> I have a wf 1100 and a wf30 at present I'm useing the 1100 for positives and the 30 for sublimation
> Can I but my sub carts in the 1100 to do the larger prints as needed
> What is needed to do this maybe a color print after I load the sub carts ? not really wanting to buy another 1100 if this works
> Larry


Yes you can do it, the WF 30 and WF1100 use the same carts, you waste some ink when you do this as the printer will do an auto head clean.

Since the auto head clean is done then it will purge out the previous inks.

I usually just do a nozzle check before I print, if you use the 4 color file from the attached zip file it can help you see your nozzle health a little better, it's just pure color bars.


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## tarekhussein9

I bought A Brother mfcJ2320 printer And i used the normal ink that came with it , But i bought that specific printer only to print with sublimation ink !!!

What can i do now to clean the printer from the normal ink and start using the sublimation ink ?


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## ACedia

So I have a Epson Workforce 7620. I do not want my heads clogging so what should I do? I was told to switch back to regular ink carts and just print a few pages when idle and when its time to print a order just pop your sublimation inks back in.

But if I just read correctly I could buy cleaing carts and just run the cleaning carts to flush out old ink so it doesnt dry up? LASt question does the 7620 come with dye or pigment ink? I am new to this and have been readin a lot of stuff but there is a lot of bad info out there.


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## mgparrish

ACedia said:


> So I have a Epson Workforce 7620. I do not want my heads clogging so what should I do? I was told to switch back to regular ink carts and just print a few pages when idle and when its time to print a order just pop your sublimation inks back in.
> 
> But if I just read correctly I could buy cleaing carts and just run the cleaning carts to flush out old ink so it doesnt dry up? LASt question does the 7620 come with dye or pigment ink? I am new to this and have been readin a lot of stuff but there is a lot of bad info out there.


It's possible, however, you should not need to do this, just print something every few days or sooner using the sub inks. Or just do a couple of nozzle checks every day or so to keep the heads from drying out.

The only advantage of swapping carts is if you really need both type inks, for example you make hard copy photos and/or pigment tshirt transfers on paper like JPSS, and you only have one printer.

Don't swap just to keep the heads clear.

The 7620 factory inks (Durabrite) are pigment.

Cleaning carts are for when you have clog to fix it, not really for the use you suggest.

Also, never turn off your printer,


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## ACedia

Thanks, had to google JPSS. I bought some TexPrint Paper 11 X 17. Will this paper work? Also what is the best sub ink to get? What supplier. I have been reading Cobra is no good. I also read just get refilables, not CISS.


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## mgparrish

ACedia said:


> Thanks, had to google JPSS. I bought some TexPrint Paper 11 X 17. Will this paper work? Also what is the best sub ink to get? What supplier. I have been reading Cobra is no good. I also read just get refilables, not CISS.


Cobra ink is just fine, With sublimation ink you need a ICC profile to have good color. Cobra has ICC profile for their inks with your printer.

I don't recommend CISS for a beginner.

TexPrint Paper is good, just make sure you don't get the version made for Ricoh ... it will have a "-R" at the end.

Depending on what you are sublimation you need some general purpose sublimation paper. TexPrint is high release so might be too saturated for some substrates.


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## ACedia

Man I have a lot to learn. Should I order some JSS too?


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## mgparrish

ACedia said:


> Man I have a lot to learn. Should I order some JSS too?


JPSS is not for sublimation. It is a different technology and uses pigment inks.


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## ACedia

? Wait, so what do I need? This is what I want to do. I want to sublimate Sock and shirts. What ink and paper/ink is needed? I have two printers a epson artisan 700 and a epson wf 7620.
I switched my Texprint-r paper to JPSS papper. Really can't send this back so what ink is needed for this?

Sorry for all the moon questions but I am lost.

Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk


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## mgparrish

ACedia said:


> ? Wait, so what do I need? This is what I want to do. I want to sublimate Sock and shirts. What ink and paper/ink is needed? I have two printers a epson artisan 700 and a epson wf 7620.
> I switched my Texprint-r paper to JPSS papper. Really can't send this back so what ink is needed for this?
> 
> Sorry for all the moon questions but I am lost.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk


You cannot use JPSS on socks. Use that for tshirts and use pigment inks. The 7620 inks are pigment from the factory or you can use 3rd party inks.

You can sublimate socks and tshirts if they are at or near 100% polyester, you need sublimation inks for those and a paper like Texprint.

I don't do socks but I know the type of socks, construction of the socks, and method to heat transfer matters, so there is a learning curve.


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## ACedia

Texprint with out the -r right? I can use that paper and cobra sublimation ink for my socks and shirts. 

For JPSS I can use regular pigment ink, (THE KIND THAT COMES WITH PRINTER) and use that on white/light colored shirts. cotton or polyester. am I missing anything else?


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## mgparrish

ACedia said:


> Texprint with out the -r right? I can use that paper and cobra sublimation ink for my socks and shirts.
> 
> For JPSS I can use regular pigment ink, (THE KIND THAT COMES WITH PRINTER) and use that on white/light colored shirts. cotton or polyester. am I missing anything else?


You have it correct


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## meme48

Hello there I have a Epsom wf1500 with sublimation ink already set up on it. But stupidly I change to normal ink to try it out on paper which printed fine. I printed about 100 sheets with the ink carteridges. Can I now go back to my sublimation dye as I need to print mugs and T-shirts for my business.


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## dcald2

Hello all just purchased the Epson wf7710 and want to convert it to sublimation printing. What should I purchase to be able to complete the conversion?


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## Signature Series

dcald2 said:


> Hello all just purchased the Epson wf7710 and want to convert it to sublimation printing. What should I purchase to be able to complete the conversion?



There is nothing to convert. You simply need dye sublimation ink.


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