# Chromablast paper, 11x17 is this the biggest paper available?



## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

I am getting the Epson 4880 Hybrid. I am very excited about the ability of the larger format. I know I can sublimate on the larger sublimation paper but I cannot find anybody that carries a Chromablast paper bigger than 11X17. I realize I will only be printing T-shirts with the Chromablast but even on my 1280 I print many shirts with a graphic larger than 11X17. I know the Chromablast ink has a unique reaction with the Chromablast paper so other papers are not an issue. Is this correct?
I guess in the long run I will save on ink and paper but this seems odd.


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## helix-2000 (Nov 6, 2007)

It is the bigest I have found so far. If anyone knows of a larger size please advise. Thanks.

Carl


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

it is the largest for a desktop unit...there other mega buck printers


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Charles, I didn't understand what you meant by there other mega buck printers? My 4880 is a chromablast and not a desktop so I was hoping they made a larger Chromablast paper since they make a chromablast cartridge for the larger 4880 printer.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Cory,

I think there is a different use of terms here. From Sawgrass' terminology, a wide format printer must be larger than 24" wide if you want to run bulk feed ink. If you go to Epson's website, it puts the 17" wide printer in the large format category. In some posts here, you will see where people refer to the 13" wide printers are called large format.

I just did some searches and no one carries the ChromaBlast paper on rolls or larger than 11" wide. Below are some links.

Conde - Chromablast Ink - DyeTrans.com
Lawson - ChromaBlast - ChromaBlast Papers
Coastal - ChromaBlast Ink & Paper - ChromaBlast Paper
The Paper Ranch - Inkjet Transfer Paper
RPL Supplies - Sublimation Ink Cartridges and Supplies
Sawgrass - ChromaBlast Extreme Digital Color Imaging System - Sawgrass Technologies

So it seems the largest size is 11" wide. You can always rotate the paper 90 degrees and get a 17" wide print.

Hope this helps.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks Mark, Is there some reason for this size restriction. 11X17 is kinda small for a full size back on many t-shirt designs.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Unfortunately, I am the wrong person to ask on that one. That is a question for Sawgrass. I just work with their products. The best thing that I could guess on would be it is easier to inventory / stock only two sizes of paper. But I really have no clue. Since they paper is made exclusively for them, this is your only source. So they are in control. 

From my experience, you can do a lot of full coverage backs with an 11" wide design unless you are doing an edge to edge print. The majority of dtg printers in the market only have around a 12" wide printable area. I always like to take a tape measure to the mall and measure the designs and locations of prints in the different stores. I think you will be surprise as to how many of them will work on a 11" x 17" wide paper. But I can understand you wanting to take advantage of your 17" wide printer. 

Sorry I am not much else help for you. If later on you decide to go with MultiRIP, you then will have the option to go with another ink that will work with several different types of paper in much larger sizes. Best wishes.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Mark, I have watched all your videos and I am sold on the quality of the MultiRip. Cost wise I went with the 4880 thru Pro Digital because I could save 250.00 on shipping, plus 100.00 dollars on a credit for the epson inks. Andy has been super with me whereas my rep at Conde is full on pressuring me. I have been dealing with them for years and will continue but don't feel comfortable with them on this purchase.

I do see MultiRip in the future for me. One question, if I buy the full version of the MultiRip, can I convert my 1280s from subs to film printers and can I do halftones with help of the MultiRip? I have done film with the 1280 without halftones with a special dark black cartridges I purchased from a screenprint supply company. it worked ok in a pinch to help out a couple garage type screenprinters iI had in the area. Occasionally I had to spray the film to make it dark but it worked in a pinch if I could not get to a real film printed.


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## Phantom (May 1, 2008)

Hello all. I do digital on demand printing (books, art prints, etc.) I am getting ready to branch into tees. The
size restrictions for paper size is based a lot on the size of the paper blocks. An uncut block is normally
23"x35". You can quarter this block and trim down to 11"x17" which is a standard print size. However, since digital printing is coming on strong, to get a letter size book of 8.5"x11" with 2up images per sheet side, it is best to start with a 12"x18" sheet and crop to letter size. This is absolutely necessary when you have to have a full bleed image. My paper supplier, Xpedx, says that a lot of papers (they don't carry transfer paper) are going to be printed in the mini poster (12"x18") format soon as a standard paper size to take care of this demand. This size is made now but is much more expensive than the 11x17. Perhaps when the mini poster format becomes more prevelant, this will cross over to the transfer paper, too.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Cory, 

If you go with the Full version of MultiRIP, you will be able to print halftones for any printer that MultiRIP supports that is either the same size of your printer or smaller. Here is a list of the available printers for MultiRIP - Hybrid, Dual Purpose Epson 1400, 1800, 4800, 4880, 7800, 7880, 9880, 9880 - MultiRIP. Unfortunately, the 1280 is not one of these printers. The other thing is the printer needs to be setup like a MultiRIP printer. So the black ink needs to be in the same channel that the MultiRIP software is setup for. 

I am not trying to change your mind on the ChromaBlast ink. But if you setup your 4800 printer with MultINK, then your issue of printable size and doing film positives would be resolved as you could do it all on this one printer. Just something to consider as an alternative.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Well the printer and the chromablast is already on its way so I will have to at least do chromablast for awhile. How hard is it to flush and change to MultInk once It has been used as Chromablast? I really don't think I would enjoy the intensive trimming involved with heat transfers. I do many logos and customers would not want me to put borders around it to allow me to Heat transfer. Although it would be nice to print on dark apparel


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Cory,

It is not hard to put cleaning cartridges into the printer and run some head cleanings to flush out the ChromaBlast ink. You can definitely do this later on if that is the route you want to go. When you run a head cleaning, you are going to use some of the ink from the other set of inks. You can walk down that path later on if you want. Your call.

I just want you to know that ChromaBlast is a great product for white tees. You will still want to trim around the extra paper - especially on a color shirt. Otherwise, you will still see the polymer window even on the ChromaBlast. The window is barely noticeable on white shirts and basically fades away. But it is more noticeable on color tee shirts. Check out this post for some pictures of what I mean - http://www.t-shirtforums.com/offline-retail-tradeshows/t20992.html.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Do some companies actually put their Chromablast thru a wash cycle before sending them out? I heard this eliminates the window due to having no reaction from the ink and cotton. You know how important first impressions are. I want the product to look good fresh out of the box not after the customer has had to wear it and wash it.Do you have to give any special wash instructions with Chromablast? That is what I love about Sublimatio, When someone asks about wash instructions you can tell them to wash it normal and the print will outlast the shirt. I have sub prints that are over 6 years old and have been washed 100s of times and still look brand new. How is Chromablast going to fair in this catagory?


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I don't know anyone that washes the shirts before they send them out. The issue is not really on white shirts. It comes up only when you are using a colored shirt. So you should be fine with white shirts, but you still want to trim the excess paper on white shirts. 

There are a ton of posts that talk about people using an optical cutter to trim the graphics. The problem with the ChromaBlast paper is you have to use a carrier sheet to run it through a cutter whereas you can feed some types of transfers papers without using a carrirer sheet. Depending on the design, you can easily use a paper cutter or scissors...but some really need an optical cutter. Check out some of the posts about the Roland GX-24, Graphtec and US Cutter Laser Pointer cutters for more details.

Mark


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## junkel (Mar 11, 2009)

you can buy a roll of chroma blast paper ,, sold 17" wide , the printer has an internal blade that will cut it ,, regular size shirts (M,L ) run about 17" chest and back ,, (im not counting the sleeves) . i use it all the time , the problem i had after getting the 4880 , is that is very sensitive to pressure and lack of uniformity on the heat press temperature,,, if you are running hi-resolution prints then you need a really good big size heat press ..


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## bindiribli (Mar 2, 2011)

Hello, i'm from romania and I just bought an epson stylus sx 115 with ciss adaptor and heatpress machine, and wanna make some fine good t-shirts,but only a problem, here we have only 3-4 distribuitors of heattrasferpaper and they all told me that the paint will last only 10 washes... and also they don't know what kind of sublimatioan paint do i need, it's so wierd they are a little slouch... anyway, please can someone tell me if there's a much stronger durable paper than chromablast? and what kind of ink do i need?
now i have dye ink, and want to make printing with any kind of ink or paper,just tu last longer, on bumbac t-shirts,white, is it possible? thank you for your time, felix 
www.bindiribli.ro if you wanna join or see ,thanks


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Sheet size available up to 11 x 17. There is a 13" roll paper available 50' long.




Cjoe Design said:


> I am getting the Epson 4880 Hybrid. I am very excited about the ability of the larger format. I know I can sublimate on the larger sublimation paper but I cannot find anybody that carries a Chromablast paper bigger than 11X17. I realize I will only be printing T-shirts with the Chromablast but even on my 1280 I print many shirts with a graphic larger than 11X17. I know the Chromablast ink has a unique reaction with the Chromablast paper so other papers are not an issue. Is this correct?
> I guess in the long run I will save on ink and paper but this seems odd.


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## jfish (Feb 26, 2010)

On the links posted above there was a 17" roll option like the other post mentioned as well.


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