# So many options Epson F2100, Brother GTX, Coldesi DTG G4, Omniprint... my head is spinning please help



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

After years of frustration with various production partners I am in the market to get a DTG printer. From what I am reading any that have white built in eliminate the need for a pre-treatment machine?? if I am wrong please correct me on this. 

I will be using this printer in my home. Initially I will not have a large volume about 100 shirts per month. But that will be increasing to 500 to 1,000 once I have my own equipment. I also own a Mac computer so it must be able to work with it. 

What printer out of Epson F2100, Coldesi DTG G4, Brother GTX, or if you have a suggestion, would best fit these things?


Least waste of ink 
Easiest maintenance 
Least expensive maintenance 
Least expensive ink
Vivid colors
Can go without use for several days without clogging up 
Large sized printable area so 3XL and up shirts do not look odd due to a small printable area. 


It also appears I will need a heat press and a pretreatment machine so I am looking for any recommendations on this as well 


Thank you in advance


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

To use white ink you will need to use pre-treatment.


----------



## sublial (Mar 24, 2011)

Do you have any equipment now and if so what do you use it for?
AL


----------



## LancerFlorida (Mar 20, 2018)

Ahh, you are seeking the UNICORN DTG.

You should know it doesn't exist.
The reality is, 'What are you willing to compromise to do your own printing?"

Since you are NEW to DTG I suggest looking at providers better suited for rookies like Katana or OPEN DTG. You will find when starting new that REDUNDANCY is your FRIEND.


----------



## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Have you seen att transfer? They use the white ink/toner which is a better which is better than water based ink. IMO.


----------



## Reneo213 (Jun 9, 2017)

SDTC, The printer is half the battle. Other things to consider on getting the best print: Shirt, Pre-treat solution, pre-treat machine and curing ink.

All of these are questionable and subject to discussion.

It's like baking a cake, you may have all the basic ingredients but everyone has their own ways of baking one..

I have a Epson F2100 and it's a good printer, not a big fan of DTG but got in the game..

Let me know if you have any questions on the F2100..

Best of luck!


----------



## Reneo213 (Jun 9, 2017)

The other major thing to consider as well if the Artwork..

Needs to be 300 dpi in order to get the best print.

Too many factors to consider.

But once you have your receipt locked down then you are golden..


----------



## DrivingZiggy (Apr 24, 2017)

SDTC said:


> Least waste of ink
> Easiest maintenance
> Least expensive maintenance
> Least expensive ink
> ...


Based on these data--especially the part that I bolded--I would choose the Epson F2100.


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

sublial said:


> Do you have any equipment now and if so what do you use it for?
> AL


I have no DTG shirt equipment. 

I do have a mug press and a Sawgrass SG400


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

LancerFlorida said:


> Ahh, you are seeking the UNICORN DTG.
> 
> You should know it doesn't exist.
> The reality is, 'What are you willing to compromise to do your own printing?"
> ...


I did look at the OPEN DTG and the Katana it looks like they both use Epson printers. My concern would be consistency and reliabiity with OPEN DTG.

If I was to get a more expensive printer with no redundancy and it went down I can always go to a third party POD provider temporarily until the problem is fixed. Are the newer printers that unreliable that I would have to be highly concerned that. new printer would go down ?


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

selanac said:


> Have you seen att transfer? They use the white ink/toner which is a better which is better than water based ink. IMO.


No, I do not know what that is. 

I am assuming it is heat transfer rather than DTG ? That would limit it to polyester shirts correct ?


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

Reneo213 said:


> SDTC, The printer is half the battle. Other things to consider on getting the best print: Shirt, Pre-treat solution, pre-treat machine and curing ink.
> 
> All of these are questionable and subject to discussion.
> 
> ...


I did not know about the pre-treatment until it was mentioned earlier in this thread. So I have no idea what pre treat machine and solution to get. 

Curing inks I am not familiar with, is this different from the printers ink?

My current POD partner uses Gildan's and FOL's so I would probably stick with those unless there was a reason to change to something else. I know they charge a lot more for the other brands but I do not know what the wholesale cost is as they are obviously marking it up making the profit margin slim. 


I have been leaning towards the F2100. The GTX seems to be faster but seems to have a lot more issues with clogging up from what I have read. Also it seems it also has ink waste issues. Although I could be wrong on that. 

How many shirts can you realistically run in 1 hour on your Epson ? and about how many shirts can you get out of the ink before replacement ?


----------



## Reneo213 (Jun 9, 2017)

SDTC said:


> I did not know about the pre-treatment until it was mentioned earlier in this thread. So I have no idea what pre treat machine and solution to get.
> 
> Curing inks I am not familiar with, is this different from the printers ink?
> 
> ...


Your Pretreat machine will be determined by how many shirts will you be doing. If your doing anything above 50+ shirts a week, then I will recommend you getting a Pretreat machine. There's plenty of them out there, ranging from $1000-$5000. If you're doing less then you could use a Wagner spray gun, you could get this at your local hardware store or online. White shirts doesn't require pretreatment but you can if you want.

For pretreat solutions I have found Firebird FBX-100 Gen3 for Epson F2100 DTG Pretreatment works the best. This pretreat will not stain your shirts when you press them. Epson's pretreat is expensive and will stain your shirts.

There's two ways of curing (drying) the ink, you could heat press it or you could run it through a conveyor dryer. Both will give two separate outcomes, heat pressed will give you a smooth print and a conveyor dryer will give you a screen print feel. But you could scorch the shirt if you apply to much heat and pressure while using the heat press.

For best results it's recommended to use a 100% Ringspun shirt. Ringspun shirts have a tighter weave so it will give you a smoother surface to print on. You could use any Cotton shirt but your results will vary from shirt to shirt. Many options out there and they are all around the $3.00 mark.

The F2100 has a auto ink circulation feature that helps with the ink clogging issue. I have also heard that the GTX has print head issues with clogged ink.

As for the ink lasting, well it's almost near impossible to come up with a number. This really depends on the print and if your doing a single pass or double pass. But typically its in the near 200 prints per cartridge. The best way to track and regulate how much ink is used per shirts is by using a DTG RIP sotware. Your looking at another$1000-$2000 for this.

You will need:
- Good high resolution 300dpi artwork with transparent background. 
- Ringspun shirt for best results.
- Good even coverage of pretreat, pressed and dried ready to go.
- Make sure ink is fully dried by using your heatpress or conveyor dryer.

I hope this helps. I am sure there's other people that could add to this.

Best of luck!!


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

Reneo213 said:


> Your Pretreat machine will be determined by how many shirts will you be doing. If your doing anything above 50+ shirts a week, then I will recommend you getting a Pretreat machine. There's plenty of them out there, ranging from $1000-$5000. If you're doing less then you could use a Wagner spray gun, you could get this at your local hardware store or online. White shirts doesn't require pretreatment but you can if you want.
> 
> For pretreat solutions I have found Firebird FBX-100 Gen3 for Epson F2100 DTG Pretreatment works the best. This pretreat will not stain your shirts when you press them. Epson's pretreat is expensive and will stain your shirts.
> 
> ...



Thank you very much, this helps greatly 

Any presses you would recommend? I am assuming if I were to get a press then I could do other flat dye sub items as well, it would just be a matter of setting the time and temperature differently? 

I am thinking if I get a press I could use it for canvas tote bags is that something I would use dye sub transfer paper for? I have an SG400 not sure if that would be a big enough print area or if I would need an SG800. 

I could also use it for coasters and other flat items as well correct ?

Any recommendations on the DTG RIP software?

I am not sure where to get blanks from any recommendations ?


----------



## sublial (Mar 24, 2011)

Being you already have a ink jet sublimation printer you only need a 
white toner printer and Image Clip paper for darks.
AL


----------



## Poshbyme (Jul 2, 2020)

Anybody have comment or review for DGT G4?
Need your advice please.


----------



## lesch (Jul 11, 2014)

Poshbyme said:


> Anybody have comment or review for DGT G4?
> Need your advice please.


As I have seen on the show, it is a very good reliable machine with 4 Ricoh printheads. Good printing speed, low maintenance, low ink cost per shirt.

Comparing with Epson F2100 it has 1 advantage - vacuum platen, that is very convenient. It makes load/unload procedure much faster, so in practice you can print more T-shirts/hour during busy periods.

I also know, that Coldesi is using new Kodak textile inks in this machine. From tests, it is a ink with good washability, handfeel, elasticity. CMYK gives nice RED and BLACK, and commonly colors are very good and not washing out neither from white t-shirt nor from white ink layer.


----------



## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Have you check out White sublimation? It's a combination sublimation ink with white toner. check out Att Transfer Dot Com.


Much Less expensive and great quality.


----------



## Linda D. (Oct 6, 2020)

Curious if you have made a decision. I am also looking at both the Epson 2100 and the G4. Looks like they are both great printers so probably not a wrong choice but which is the better choice. I have seen lots of reviews on the Epson but haven’t found an actual user of the G4. Did a demo with ColDesi and very impressed with the results. Would love an actual owner review.


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

.


----------



## SDTC (Jan 31, 2017)

Linda D. said:


> Curious if you have made a decision. I am also looking at both the Epson 2100 and the G4. Looks like they are both great printers so probably not a wrong choice but which is the better choice. I have seen lots of reviews on the Epson but haven’t found an actual user of the G4. Did a demo with ColDesi and very impressed with the results. Would love an actual owner review.



Linda,

I have not bought one yet but if I was going to it would be the Epson At the present moment for one big reason it seems less likely to clog up with inconsistent use. If you have consistent daily use then this probably will not be a decision factor for you. By the time everything got said and done. Printer, pretreatment machine and heatpress it was around 20k to 22k total investment not including a new dedicated circuit for the heatpress since it had a 14.5 Amp draw. Also for me space is an issue right now and this setup would take up quite a bit so I have decided to stay with mug sublimation for now and revisit DTG printing next year.


----------



## dalewis363 (Jul 1, 2021)

SDTC said:


> After years of frustration with various production partners I am in the market to get a DTG printer. From what I am reading any that have white built in eliminate the need for a pre-treatment machine?? if I am wrong please correct me on this.
> 
> I will be using this printer in my home. Initially I will not have a large volume about 100 shirts per month. But that will be increasing to 500 to 1,000 once I have my own equipment. I also own a Mac computer so it must be able to work with it.
> 
> ...


I would suggest this find a local partner that has been successful at printing DTG t-shirts. Give him some orders but insist on being there when he is doing your work. Ask lots of questions we love to talk about our DTG machines. Find out what they are doing to be successful and copy it. I buy DTG machines all the time at rock bottom prices because someone did not know how to properly maintain there machine. The print heads will be ruined and they will bash the manufacturer of the machine because they thought they were buying an office ink jet. There is a lot of work maintaining any DTG machine don't let anyone tell you different, I hope this helps you.


----------



## Kwan (Jan 4, 2014)

If you can't build your own then do not jump into the DTG industry. DTG industry is very immature (even Branded Printers have serious issues).


----------

