# Dye Sublimated License Plates



## freekings45 (Sep 1, 2012)

Hello everyone I have someone wanting some license plates sublimated and never had to charged anyone to print on license plates. so my question is how much should I charge to print on license plates?


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## john221us (Nov 29, 2015)

Out here in CA, the prisoners at Folsom take care of that. The fees are publicly available on the DMV website.


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## TriangleDreamer (Nov 28, 2014)

Kinda depends on what you're doing. I usually sell license plates with my designs or standard monograms for $15. I usually charge $20 for client-provided designs because I know I'll spend a little bit of time tweaking the file for dye sub. Completely custom designs for the client depend on the complexity of their request.


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

We sell them personalized for $15 each, easy. If it's a cross-selling item, it goes for $10.


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## Darknight (Nov 16, 2015)

In Florida I sell them personalized for $20


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## veetwincowboy (Mar 14, 2015)

I get $15 for my standard designs and $20 or more for a custom one


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## Craig73 (Apr 13, 2016)

Can I ask what printer, heat press, software and ink you guys are using for license plates. My wife wants to try this as a hobby but not sure where to start?


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## WalkingZombie (Mar 15, 2014)

Craig73 said:


> Can I ask what printer, heat press, software and ink you guys are using for license plates. My wife wants to try this as a hobby but not sure where to start?


Epson 1430, DK20S, PSD/CDR/AI, Cobra Ink.


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## Craig73 (Apr 13, 2016)

WalkingZombie said:


> Epson 1430, DK20S, PSD/CDR/AI, Cobra Ink.


Thank you so much for the info


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## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

Epson 1400 (craigslist), Cheap Chinese Press (ebay), Chinese Inks, Photoshop CS4.

This can be a very expensive hobby starting out unless you go the super cheap route like I did. My business is supplemental income only so I am not concerned with having the best of everything and it doesn't have to print all day every day. I do a little north of $10,000 a year and only about $2,000 of that is from this setup. If she wants to dabble, go the cheap route. If there is a chance she is going to take it further, I would focus on getting the best and biggest heat press you can afford. A printer is a printer is a printer but I would suggest getting at least a 13" wide format printer (craigslist). And regardless of what some might think, my chinese inks are just as effective as the high end ones and I paid a fraction of the price. And by fraction I mean a very small fraction. Corel Draw or Photoshop are recommended but I think I've read you can use color profiles with Gimp which is free. Not sure if that is true though.

YOU DO NOT NEED A RIP! If you don't know what it is, don't worry about it. YOU DO NOT NEED ONE! Don't let anyone convince you to drop that kind of cash on software that you don't need especially for a hobby business.


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## ZO6 KLR (Jan 8, 2013)

Sacman said:


> Epson 1400 (craigslist), Cheap Chinese Press (ebay), Chinese Inks, Photoshop CS4.
> 
> This can be a very expensive hobby starting out unless you go the super cheap route like I did.
> 
> YOU DO NOT NEED A RIP! If you don't know what it is, don't worry about it. YOU DO NOT NEED ONE! Don't let anyone convince you to drop that kind of cash on software that you don't need especially for a hobby business.


To answer the original poster's question, we charge 28.00 for ours and 35.00 for custom. We have a little less than 1,000 designs and in the last 25 years I can say that about 50 people walked because they weren't 8.00 like they would expect.

To reply about not needing a RIP. Well, I can honestly say that yes, you don't NEED a RIP to do your work. But (and that's a big ol' but), the RIP will give you precise control over your ink coverage, allow you to make specific profiles, figure costs on paper and ink and last but not least, cut your ink costs dramatically. I avoided buying a RIP for the longest time. I finally broke down and bought one and I can honestly say that if I didn't have my RIP, I would choose not to be in the sublimation business. I remember the pre-RIP days. Struggling with no color control, having to manually bundle all of the jobs and the list goes on. I guess it really depends on how hard you want to work. I like to work smart.


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## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

Sorry to continue the hijack but it is good info. NEED is the key word. Mark, you have clearly been doing this a long time and probably have a full custom business going. If you are a hobbyist or looking to sell a few things on ETSY or to friends in your soccer mom circle, sublimation is almost too expensive if you follow the traditional route. Throw a RIP on top of that at $700 and up and it starts to seem downright silly to even consider it. I'm sure Craig's wife and others like her (like me) are seldom if ever going to find themselves in a situation where they need to batch print 20 designs and have perfect color matching. If you are not running a professional shop, avoiding skin tones and all over blacks will put you in the close enough range for making license plates and mugs.

I saw another post where someone is recommending a heat press starting at $1500. While I would love to have something like that, ROI has to be considered and a hobbyist or small supplemental income business can't justify a 3 or 4 year ROI on equipment based on expected sales volume. If you have to purchase Photoshop or Corel, that alone can add several hundred dollars to the cost. Now toss another $700 for a piece of software that just doesn't matter at the small scale and most people will walk away and I think that's a shame. I am not competing with a single person on these forums in my chosen area. I love to share information and love to see people start from nothing and make something they can be proud of whether that turns into a couple hundred dollars a month or a full time business. It has no affect on me or most of those on here. That is why I will often post about how cheap my setup is. I got into the business for under $350. That's printer, ink, and press. I already had Photoshop. Many people on here sink thousands into the startup and I am proof that it simply isn't necessary depending on your desired outcome. I just like to provide options and I think Craig's wife fits into my level of business.

Having said all of that. I can see that if I tried to do this full time, batch printing alone would be worth the expense of a RIP. 

Now back to the OP's question. I have only sold a few to people I know and they go for $15. They are so easy to make and adjusting for customs just isn't that hard on these once you have done a few.


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## Craig73 (Apr 13, 2016)

Sacman said:


> Sorry to continue the hijack but it is good info. NEED is the key word. Mark, you have clearly been doing this a long time and probably have a full custom business going. If you are a hobbyist or looking to sell a few things on ETSY or to friends in your soccer mom circle, sublimation is almost too expensive if you follow the traditional route. Throw a RIP on top of that at $700 and up and it starts to seem downright silly to even consider it. I'm sure Craig's wife and others like her (like me) are seldom if ever going to find themselves in a situation where they need to batch print 20 designs and have perfect color matching. If you are not running a professional shop, avoiding skin tones and all over blacks will put you in the close enough range for making license plates and mugs.
> 
> I saw another post where someone is recommending a heat press starting at $1500. While I would love to have something like that, ROI has to be considered and a hobbyist or small supplemental income business can't justify a 3 or 4 year ROI on equipment based on expected sales volume. If you have to purchase Photoshop or Corel, that alone can add several hundred dollars to the cost. Now toss another $700 for a piece of software that just doesn't matter at the small scale and most people will walk away and I think that's a shame. I am not competing with a single person on these forums in my chosen area. I love to share information and love to see people start from nothing and make something they can be proud of whether that turns into a couple hundred dollars a month or a full time business. It has no affect on me or most of those on here. That is why I will often post about how cheap my setup is. I got into the business for under $350. That's printer, ink, and press. I already had Photoshop. Many people on here sink thousands into the startup and I am proof that it simply isn't necessary depending on your desired outcome. I just like to provide options and I think Craig's wife fits into my level of business.
> 
> ...


Yes, my wife just wants to print novelty license plates/streets signs. She plans on selling them on Ebay, Etsy, and to her soccer mom friends. This is really more of a hobby for her just now to see how things go.

Now since I am buying the equpiment for her, I would like to keep the cost as low as possible lol. So far the heat press and printer is costing $565 all in, which I dont mind.... although it would be nicer if it was cheaper lol.

TransPro Heat Press 15X15 $300
Epson Artisan 1430 $265

But then of course I need to buy other things: Ink, Paper, Corel Draw or Photoshop. Not sure if there's anything else she needs?

I want to thank everyone for the great advice, it has been very helpful. If anyone can recommend a cheper heat press, and printer that woud do the job, please let me know lol.

And to the original OP, I am sorry for hijacking your thread.

P.S. I have no idea what an RIP is?


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## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

Craig, sent you a PM.


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## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

Craig, your inbox is full!


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## Craig73 (Apr 13, 2016)

Sacman said:


> Craig, your inbox is full!


just cleared it.


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## calhtech (Feb 4, 2012)

Craig73 said:


> Can I ask what printer, heat press, software and ink you guys are using for license plates. My wife wants to try this as a hobby but not sure where to start?


Epsons - 7110, 7010 - Cobra Inks, Stahls Hotronix, Corel X6,


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

ZO6 KLR said:


> To answer the original poster's question, we charge 28.00 for ours and 35.00 for custom. We have a little less than 1,000 designs and in the last 25 years I can say that about 50 people walked because they weren't 8.00 like they would expect.
> 
> To reply about not needing a RIP. Well, I can honestly say that yes, you don't NEED a RIP to do your work. But (and that's a big ol' but), the RIP will give you precise control over your ink coverage, allow you to make specific profiles, figure costs on paper and ink and last but not least, cut your ink costs dramatically. I avoided buying a RIP for the longest time. I finally broke down and bought one and I can honestly say that if I didn't have my RIP, I would choose not to be in the sublimation business. I remember the pre-RIP days. Struggling with no color control, having to manually bundle all of the jobs and the list goes on. I guess it really depends on how hard you want to work. I like to work smart.


I agree on the RIP if you are large format. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is finding a RIP for a sub $200 Epson desktop. So I think the argument is moot anyway.

It makes sense to spend $1500 for software on a $3000 printer that you will pay to repair and the printer is designed for higher duty cycle and life span and you keep it longer.

Most desktops last 2 years, 3 if you are lucky AND you know how to take care of it. Having said that when it becomes time to chuck the printer even if you found a RIP supporting the printer you just chucked you will have even less odds of having that same RIP supporting the newer model you are forced to buy since Epson obsoleted that model you had been using.

RIPs make zero sense for desktop users, even IF you can find one that covers your desktop printer.


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## Techamongous (Aug 18, 2014)

I use an epson 1430 with Cobra CIS and a cheap ebay heatpress. Both have been going strong without issue for almost 2 years now.

I charge $14 for plates custom or otherwise. The blanks are only $1 and I can fit 3 prints on one sheet of $0.45 paper. so I see no need to charge more than that.


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## jestjoking69 (Apr 23, 2016)

I've been selling mine designed on the spot for the client for $25... I have a shop that scaring them in the mall I also have a shop/ gas station that has a few on display and my info. Customer supplied designs that I have to tweak just depends on the design and the time it's going to take. I bought the whole kit off of eBay the printer is an Epson WorkForce 7610 with a ciss system I also suggest you get 13 by 18 paper you can get three prints per sheet I'm also using Adobe Photoshop 7.0 that I bought off of eBay for $20 to design the plates.
I also bought a 3D sublimation vacuum heat press so that I can do more than just plates mugs jewelry dog tags keychains excetera excetera excetera


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## 8th Day (Jan 16, 2009)

My concern would be that dye sub isn't very resistant to UV and could fade quickly on a vehicle that is frequently outdoors. Has anyone tested these for lightfastness? How many months can a customer expect to own the product before fading becomes apparent?


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## Techamongous (Aug 18, 2014)

The plates I buy are UV coated. I have had a sample plate laying outside face up on my deck for about a year and a half. Full sun, rain, ice, snow.. still looks just about the same. A tiny bit of fade in one color but not bad at all. I imagine it gets more sun laying there than in the front of a car.


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## jestjoking69 (Apr 23, 2016)

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=201553474924&alt=web I know 7.0 is an older version of Photoshop butt for $20 I couldn't pass it up. And guess what works fantastically


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## Viper Graphics (Mar 28, 2009)

Techamongous said:


> The plates I buy are UV coated. I have had a sample plate laying outside face up on my deck for about a year and a half. Full sun, rain, ice, snow.. still looks just about the same. A tiny bit of fade in one color but not bad at all. I imagine it gets more sun laying there than in the front of a car.


Hey Scott, where do you get yours from?


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## Grandview (May 24, 2015)

We set up at flea markets and have three prices. Our pre-made license plates (various military and hobby plates) can be bought off the rack for $12. We have other designs where you can add a name for $15. Then we will make a plate anyway they want for $18. License plates are our best selling item.


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