# EPSON C120 or R280?



## TNT Promotions (Dec 30, 2007)

I just bought the EPSON C120 after I was told that it might be the way to go with a beginning printer. I am not so sure that it is anymore.

Sorry to make this urgent but I need to buy a new one right away to open up shop.

The problems that I was having were the proper color out put. Does anyone know if the EPSON R280 is any better? I see that it has more color ink cartridges. I found the EPSON R280 available with a pigment CIS! Cheaper than the C120.

Does anyone use the R280? Anyone ever use the R280? It is a phot printer so the quality should be great.


The EPSON C120 works great other than the color issue. I was printing up cards with a HP 7660 series printer that I have had for a while. What I printed came out exactly as it showed in Microsoft Publisher. When I printed the same thing on the C120, it changed the color a little bit and the sharpness even though it does everything else great.

If anyone want the C120 for any reason I am selling it for $50.oo plus shipping. Just send me a message. I thought about keeping it for myself, but I do not need 3 printers.

Thanks 

Your TNT Promotions


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

TNT Promotions said:


> The problems that I was having were the proper color out put.


The Epsons out of the box print high in yellow. I've had 2, the c88+ and cx8400. The settings generally go: Magenta+5, cyan+5 or 0, and yellow -10 to -20. I also had to do print head alignment on both as they were whack out of the box.




tntpromotions said:


> Does anyone know if the EPSON R280 is any better? I see that it has more color ink cartridges.


 I don't know this printer but do know more additional ink carts = extra expense, and unless doing photography work, the extra colors aren't necessary for t-shirts as the point is lost when applying the image to fabric.



> I found the EPSON R280 available with a pigment CIS! Cheaper than the C120.




That seems like a great deal, even if it has the extra inks. Have you priced out what it costs to use one printer over another considering the CIS?

***Who is the supplier on this?*****





> If anyone want the C120 for any reason I am selling it for $50.oo plus shipping. Just send me a message. I thought about keeping it for myself, but I do not need 3 printers


This is the new one, right? Can't you return it to the store? 

Either way, this would get alot more exposure in the forum classifed section.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

TNT Promotions said:


> Does anyone know if the EPSON R280 is any better? I see that it has more color ink cartridges. I found the EPSON R280 available with a pigment CIS! Cheaper than the C120.
> 
> Does anyone use the R280? Anyone ever use the R280? It is a phot printer so the quality should be great.


Hi TNT,

The Epson R280 runs dye based water resistant ink. If you can run a pigment ink through it, then it should work for you, BUT, just keep in mind, the nozzles for pigment ink is larger than for dye ink, and pigment ink sometimes will clog a nozzle that is too small for it.

Q: If somehow you end up going with the R280 and decide to try to the Claria ink that comes with the Epson R280, will you let us know if you find a fade issue with the Claria? I asked Lou, a pro with heat transfers, and he said pigment is plastic and melts into the substrate, but dye is dye, so we're wondering if you choose the Claria route, how it turns out. Okay, thanks if you do, and best regards to you. Good luck.


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## TNT Promotions (Dec 30, 2007)

I found the CIS systems on ebay, there is a variety of CIS/BIS there.


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## TNT Promotions (Dec 30, 2007)

Girlzndollz said:


> Hi TNT,
> 
> The Epson R280 runs dye based water resistant ink. If you can run a pigment ink through it, then it should work for you, BUT, just keep in mind, the nozzles for pigment ink is larger than for dye ink, and pigment ink sometimes will clog a nozzle that is too small for it.
> 
> Q: If somehow you end up going with the R280 and decide to try to the Claria ink that comes with the Epson R280, will you let us know if you find a fade issue with the Claria? I asked Lou, a pro with heat transfers, and he said pigment is plastic and melts into the substrate, but dye is dye, so we're wondering if you choose the Claria route, how it turns out. Okay, thanks if you do, and best regards to you. Good luck.


Thanks for the info... I have been told so many different things about the ink systems. Epson swears that the claria is a pigment, the people at staples says that it is a dye ink. Who knows until we try it. LOL. I do have the R280 now and I will see how it goes. I'll get back once I print some samples up and wash them a few times. I am hoping if it works well that there is a CIS for the claria ink.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

TNT Promotions said:


> Thanks for the info... I have been told so many different things about the ink systems. Epson swears that the claria is a pigment, the people at staples says that it is a dye ink. Who knows until we try it. LOL. I do have the R280 now and I will see how it goes. I'll get back once I print some samples up and wash them a few times. I am hoping if it works well that there is a CIS for the claria ink.


 
No, Claria is not a pigment ink. The Epson website says Claria is water resistant dye based ink. 

There is a difference between dye and pigment, even if both are water resistant. 

Dye is water based and Pigment is a plastic. Pigment melts when you heat it under the press and adheres to the substrate. 

I double checked with Lou/Badalou today on this. Have you met Lou yet? He used to work for Epson, and he is like the resident master of heat pressing. Lou says he won't use Claria.

Please consider using a pigment ink, and Claria is not pigment. If you do use the Claria, will you come back and let me know how the wash tests go? Lou and I would be very very interested. I know he doesn't expect much out of it, and frankly, neither do I, but again, there is nothing like experience, but the odds are not good on this one.

Thanks for writing back. Best regards to you. Please send an update if you get the time. Thanks.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

my 1400 comes with Claria ink and before I converted to CIS artainium sublimation I did a couple prints...and Claria IS absolutely a dye base ink..the image washed very badly!


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## TNT Promotions (Dec 30, 2007)

I plan on getting a CIS for the printer. Most likely a Pigment Ink CIS, then buy another printer for Sublimation printing. Not sure, it seems like a lot of printers, but I am a picky person and you never know what the customer prefers either. I like to have my options open. I wll run a test print with the claria ink first before I put the CIS in. I'll wash it a few times and then let you know. SHould I wash, wear, wash, wear, wash kinda thing, or should I just wash it back to back? I'll get back to y'all on it. I have not really met badalou but he responded to one of my threads once. He appears to be a very helpful person. If I am right, he has that T-Square It tool? I just got mine and I am really looking forward to using it compared to the other expensive models that are out there.


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## OKShowPics (Feb 7, 2008)

i have learned to be leery of those cheap ebay items! just from my experience so far


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

TNT Promotions said:


> I plan on getting a CIS for the printer. Most likely a Pigment Ink CIS, then buy another printer for Sublimation printing. Not sure, it seems like a lot of printers, but I am a picky person and you never know what the customer prefers either. I like to have my options open. I wll run a test print with the claria ink first before I put the CIS in. I'll wash it a few times and then let you know. SHould I wash, wear, wash, wear, wash kinda thing, or should I just wash it back to back? I'll get back to y'all on it. I have not really met badalou but he responded to one of my threads once. He appears to be a very helpful person. If I am right, he has that T-Square It tool? I just got mine and I am really looking forward to using it compared to the other expensive models that are out there.


Hi Tnt,

Lot of folks run the two seperate printers, it an alternative to the hybrids that run both. Two printers is awesome, if alot of us could afford to do both, we'd be right there with you, it really opens your market up running both.

Does the printer already have the Claria in it? If it doesn't, and you only stand to confirm what Charles and Lou already know, you will face purging that dye out of the printer if you don't like it, and that is not fun, from posts I've read. I am only whispering this to you as purging inks is a pain to be avoided when possible. Lou and Charles are guys with tons of experience in these things. Lou has done thousands of transfers. 

If the Claria's already in there, well, then, there's nothing to lose, and if it doesn't go well, I hope your is one of the smoother times getting it out. It is what it is, right?

You can test wash back to back. I do my first wash test according to the directions, which are usually cold water and low temp dry or hang dry, I do low temp dryer. After I see them according to wash instructions, I try to kill them the way a customer might. Warm water and high heat dryer for 25 minutes. That's when I find my real winners. 

So far, Jetprosofstretch is a super, tough awesome heat transfer paper. Ironall dark holds up great for me, too.

Best regards.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Like Kelly said I think if you just adjust your out put you will be fine, I hesitate to get into a rush decision then I end up slapping the side of my head saying well you can imagine, I had that same problem with a c88 adjustment was the answer, currently I am testing a lot of cis systems to figure out which is going to cut the mustard. Hang in there.

R.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

OH and watch out for Lou------------------------ he is a goooood guy.............


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## TNT Promotions (Dec 30, 2007)

OK, I did a test with the claria ink!! here are the results:

I printed my logo onto a white 50/50 as well as a white 100% cotton. I uses two seperate papers. Both papers were from ProWorld. One was the typical Inkjet and the other was the clearsoft inkjet. I was not satisfied with either of the papers. I was satisfied with the print though. I had no problems with fading wor bleeding at all. The only thing that I did not like was the residue that the paper left over.

The clearsoft paper from proworld did not print as bright, but it left less residue. After washing and drying there was no fading or running. I was very surprised. There is plenty of flexing in the print afterwords. Again, I really did not like the film left over.

The regular inkjet paper was very dissapointing. Again, I still used the claria ink and there was no fading, discoloration, or bleeding. There was a lot of film left over and a lot of cracking in the print after it was all done and said. 

I think that the claria ink worked fine for me. I'll try and get some pics attatched later on. I mainly had the problem with the paper that I used. So I went to Coastal Business and ordered their sample pack. I have a feeling that this is going to take a lot of trial and error.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks, John, I"m going to provide a link to your post in the testing new paper thread so folks can just jump here from there, and thank you so much. You are the third person having success with Claria. 

Jetprosofstrecth from Coastal is a highly regarded paper for lights by alot of us heat transfer folks. I hope there's a bit of that in your sample pack. If it is, that is great that you'll get to compare it to see what you think of it yourself. It stretches and doesn't crack, the hand is very light. 

Thanks again for your post. I've actually tried Jetpro with dye ink, Canon, and it didn't fade. I'm logging the wash results into the "testing new Paper" thread by Mrdavid. Have yourself a nice day!


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Hey John,

I'm unsuscribing from this thread, but I did post a link to your results above. I'm going to give you a link to the Testing New Paper thread, if you would like to post your results over there. A group of us have been kind of doing a bunch of testing and we're all trying to gather our results over there. 

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/heat-press-heat-transfers/t39332-12.html#post245969

Peace! Kelly.


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## QC_Todd (Feb 19, 2008)

have you take any pictures of the shirt yet?


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## BQfromNY (Mar 18, 2008)

Dibs on the printer - PM sent


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Nearly a year has passed since Claria came out, and many forum members use it with success on various papers. Here's a post on some of the different inks, including Claria:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/heat-press-heat-transfers/t59987.html#post356402


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