# Urgent ! brother printer with sublimation ink



## chlekaa

Hello guys,
I bought a cheap A3 brother printer (J4120DW) with a refill catridge and I used epson sublimation ink (I live in a country where there's only epson sublimation ink)
The problem is after printing i got a good result but the sublimation doesn't occur on polyester or anything else.
Please I need your help.


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## JaeAmera

Something isn't right. If you have sublimation ink in that printer and you print a transfer, heat press that transfer at approx. 350 degrees or higher onto polyester fabric....it has to work! It's science not hope. It has to work.

You either are too low with your temps or you were sold non-dyesub ink labeled / pitched as dye sub ink.

Hope this helps,

Jae


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## splathead

If you're getting the image on paper and you are using sublimation transfer paper, then agree with Jae, it's probably not sublimation ink.


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## chlekaa

thanks you guys for answering, I really appreciate it.
I'll buy tomorrow another ink to compare, I hope it's not just the brother printer because I read in the forum that brother printer cannot be used for sublimation. I'll try with another ink.


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## rastoma

chlekaa said:


> I hope it's not just the brother printer because I read in the forum that brother printer cannot be used for sublimation. I'll try with another ink.


Did you read all the replies above? It's physically NOT POSSIBLE for it to be the printer if the printer is putting ink on the paper. Just think about what you said. You said the image PRINTED on the paper and looked good on paper. The printer cannot change the molecules of the ink and make it not turn to vapor when heated. 

Whoever said a Brother cannot be used for sublimation is wrong. Most Brother printers have very similar print heads to Epson... piezo-electric. That in itself doesn't mean 100% compatibility but most Brother printers can be used with inks designed for Epson. 

The types of problems you would have with the printer itself would be streaks or not printing at all.

As both people above stated you either were sold DYE ink and not DYE SUBLIMATION ink or your heat press has failed and not reached 370+ F degrees.

Also are you sure you are using dye sublimation transfer paper? You cannot use regular printer paper. And if you are 100% sure you have dye sub transfer paper, are you 100% sure you are printing on the correct side?


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## decipherdev

Wrong ink, and have you tried an excessive pre treat?


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## Dekzion

even if you used copy paper you'd still get a colour transfer to the material but it wouldn't have the density to be a good image. You were sold the wrong ink Chlekaa.


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## chlekaa

Hello guys, thank you all for your answers.
I have been searching for 3 days to understand what was wrong. You will not believe this.
I bought an epson with tank ink system and ... it worked. The ink is fine, paper is fine, everything is fine.
THe brother J4120DW has a piezo printhead. I didn't stop there, I managed to contact a friend who is working in brother company in europe (administration field). His answer is the following:

"The printhead of brother is actually piezo but some machines are using heat to print (it's not a total electricpiezo, it's a combination between both). What you had is just the sublimation ink is sublimating everytime you print on a paper, that's why it's not working (that's why they are making a brother ink). It's like it is sublimating on the paper."

I don't really know if this is what's happening, because the printer doesn't have a temperature of 356°F, or when the ink is not on a sublimation paper it can sublimate with a little heat, I really don't have the answet. I didn't try to ask again since he's not really in the technical field of brother.

Anyway, for any reader, if you want to use epson for sublimation, buy epson ink. If you want a brother printer for sublimation, use brother ink.

(I'm making drawstring backpacks with a friend hope you like ^^)


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## mgparrish

chlekaa said:


> Hello guys, thank you all for your answers.
> I have been searching for 3 days to understand what was wrong. You will not believe this.
> I bought an epson with tank ink system and ... it worked. The ink is fine, paper is fine, everything is fine.
> THe brother J4120DW has a piezo printhead. I didn't stop there, I managed to contact a friend who is working in brother company in europe (administration field). His answer is the following:
> 
> "The printhead of brother is actually piezo but some machines are using heat to print (it's not a total electricpiezo, it's a combination between both). What you had is just the sublimation ink is sublimating everytime you print on a paper, that's why it's not working (that's why they are making a brother ink). It's like it is sublimating on the paper."
> 
> I don't really know if this is what's happening, because the printer doesn't have a temperature of 356°F, or when the ink is not on a sublimation paper it can sublimate with a little heat, I really don't have the answet. I didn't try to ask again since he's not really in the technical field of brother.
> 
> Anyway, for any reader, if you want to use epson for sublimation, buy epson ink. If you want a brother printer for sublimation, use brother ink.
> 
> (I'm making drawstring backpacks with a friend hope you like ^^)


Brother printers have been used for sublimation , they are piezo based just like Epson.

This Brother did not get much popularity so the only vendor in the US that I know of that supported it with inks and profiles was Cobra, but they discontinued about 2 years OK. The UK dye sub forum has a few extensive lengthly threads on Brother being used for sublimation. They work.

As far as some printers using heat for ink transport, _no piezo uses heat_, piezo use electrical charge to push the inks onto the paper, they don't need heat. I have yet to see a "hybrid" piezo heated print head printer, it's not necessary, you do one or the other.

Canon (Bubblejets) and HP uses heat to push the ink on the paper. Brother Epson, and Ricoh are piezos.

As far as "What you had is just the sublimation ink is sublimating everytime you print on a paper", that cannot happen with a Brother printer. _I have one with factory inks, it doesn't use heat,_ it's a true piezo. 

There do exist printers that "sublimate everything on paper" those use ribbons and the paper required has a polymer coating. These were popular in the photography industry as "event printers" It's a true sublimation printer, but the substrate is a special paper and no heat press is required as the paper is directly sublimated onto.


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## socceronly

chlekaa said:


> thanks you guys for answering, I really appreciate it.
> I'll buy tomorrow another ink to compare, I hope it's not just the brother printer because I read in the forum that brother printer cannot be used for sublimation. I'll try with another ink.


Not many places you can stroll up to that sell sublimation ink.

Is it possible you said you were making shirts and they gave you pigment ink for heat transfer paper? 

Sublimation is not the same as inkjet heat transfer paper for shirts.


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## NoArtCo

ugh.. having the same problem. I bought some supposedly sublimation ink that was supposed to be compatible with my brother printer, prints beautifully, but doesn't actually transfer.

so just FYI, don't buy this...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BZ5Z49F/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## splathead

NoArtCo said:


> prints beautifully


Dead giveaway it's not sublimation ink.

If the ink looks great on paper after printing then it's not sublimation ink. Sublimation ink on paper looks dull and off-colored. It is only when heat pressed do the true colors come out on your product.


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## NoArtCo

splathead said:


> Dead giveaway it's not sublimation ink.
> 
> If the ink looks great on paper after printing then it's not sublimation ink. Sublimation ink on paper looks dull and off-colored. It is only when heat pressed do the true colors come out on your product.


Good to know! Thanks  New to sublimation, obvs. So, still researching everything... and can hopefully get my money back for this BS.


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## into the T

might be a good idea to get your inks from cobraink, or inkowl
at least there you know it is a quality product with supplied icc profiles 
(both should be pretty close, even though they are meant for an epson)

or if you don't care about icc's, then aomya inks


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## NoArtCo

Thanks for the info! I will definitely check those out. I was thinking of ordering from these guys: https://www.inkproducts.com/ink-store441/home.php?cat=278 
mostly because they specified Brother printers, and I had seen one of the few videos I could find of converting an actual brother printer. Anyone have any experience with this company?


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## into the T

do you think there is any difference in the ink for epson desktops and brother desktops?
epson/brother and ricoh, there probably is a difference due to different print-heads

read this

someone may chime in that has used your link, but i doubt it
they don't get very good reviews see here and here
and again, no icc profiles 
not critical, but they will definitely get you rounding third and heading for home

best to search the sub-forum here for ink reviews if you still want to find other suppliers


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## Signature Series

You have to be careful about ink reviews and understand that there are so many variables. You can use the highest quality ink on the market but if your icc profile is off so will the final results. Even more common are reviews about ink and the colors from people who really have nothing to compare the results to. When we started many years ago we thought Art ink was incredible. when we went to wide format we were surprised how much better Sublime ink was and finally when we switched to J-tek realized how much better it was. Of course there may even be something better. The point is there are many many variables when it comes to ink and the results they create.


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## into the T

the vast majority of those reviews are about the business or equipment, not ink


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## lazarus018

splathead said:


> Dead giveaway it's not sublimation ink.
> 
> If the ink looks great on paper after printing then it's not sublimation ink. Sublimation ink on paper looks dull and off-colored. It is only when heat pressed do the true colors come out on your product.


yes tou are right


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## lazarus018

mgparrish said:


> Brother printers have been used for sublimation , they are piezo based just like Epson.
> 
> This Brother did not get much popularity so the only vendor in the US that I know of that supported it with inks and profiles was Cobra, but they discontinued about 2 years OK. The UK dye sub forum has a few extensive lengthly threads on Brother being used for sublimation. They work.
> 
> As far as some printers using heat for ink transport, _no piezo uses heat_, piezo use electrical charge to push the inks onto the paper, they don't need heat. I have yet to see a "hybrid" piezo heated print head printer, it's not necessary, you do one or the other.
> 
> Canon (Bubblejets) and HP uses heat to push the ink on the paper. Brother Epson, and Ricoh are piezos.
> 
> As far as "What you had is just the sublimation ink is sublimating everytime you print on a paper", that cannot happen with a Brother printer. _I have one with factory inks, it doesn't use heat,_ it's a true piezo.
> 
> There do exist printers that "sublimate everything on paper" those use ribbons and the paper required has a polymer coating. These were popular in the photography industry as "event printers" It's a true sublimation printer, but the substrate is a special paper and no heat press is required as the paper is directly sublimated onto.


i have an epson xp 352 and a brother MFC-J4620DW and


rastoma said:


> Did you read all the replies above? It's physically NOT POSSIBLE for it to be the printer if the printer is putting ink on the paper. Just think about what you said. You said the image PRINTED on the paper and looked good on paper. The printer cannot change the molecules of the ink and make it not turn to vapor when heated.
> 
> Whoever said a Brother cannot be used for sublimation is wrong. Most Brother printers have very similar print heads to Epson... piezo-electric. That in itself doesn't mean 100% compatibility but most Brother printers can be used with inks designed for Epson.
> 
> The types of problems you would have with the printer itself would be streaks or not printing at all.
> 
> As both people above stated you either were sold DYE ink and not DYE SUBLIMATION ink or your heat press has failed and not reached 370+ F degrees.
> 
> Also are you sure you are using dye sublimation transfer paper? You cannot use regular printer paper. And if you are 100% sure you have dye sub transfer paper, are you 100% sure you are printing on the correct side?


there is no chace to print vith subli colors and image on the paper to bi live licke there is no chance i think that is no subli colors


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