# talk to someone who uses the tabletops direct to garmet machines



## tony9897 (Aug 26, 2006)

hi

i am in the market and am soon to buy a dtg tabletop machine printer
type to be determined

would like to talk to people about the machines and ads/ dis ads about them

tony


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Hi Tony, you can read about some of the different printers in the DTG section of the forums here:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39


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## FabrixDigital (Oct 17, 2006)

We love the Brother - fast, extremely reliable and well designed - and now with refilled cartridges for big savings. Best new purchase ... it's worth the little extra money compared to others on market.


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## acca (Jun 25, 2006)

We also have the brother machine and it is as advertised, simple to use, great looking prints with little maintenance. WHere do you purchase refilled Inks? This is the first I've heard of this, can you give us more information?


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## KevinB (Jun 19, 2007)

Does anyone out there have a Kiosh direct to garmet printer that can give me some information on how well it does or does not work?

KevinB


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## promolady (Apr 3, 2007)

i have had my kiosk since March. It is a pretty easy machine too use. Maint. is easy to keep up with, inks are a little less than the brother (at least that is my thought). Does well with the darks using the pretreatment. I have been able to switch about 95% of my customers so far to the digital print instead of screen printing. We are in Florida and once I show them how much easier they "breath" instead of using the plastisol inks and how we can add colors to their logo's it is pretty much a done deal. My suggestions as to which ever brand you buy is how close you are to a service or training center. These machines are heavy and if you do need to return it for repair they are heavy and this could get expensive. So far I have not had any bad repair issues to speak about. I had the printer guide (ribbon) replaced under warranty. I was cleaning it and I broke it. About a $4.00 part even if I did have to buy one, not bad. I was told that the newer kiosk do not have the individual ink valves, but cost a little less. I prefer the valves. If you need to flush or refill a certain color ink, the way mine is set up sounds alot easier. To get a good imprint with the white, sometimes you need to do just a white ink fill to get the white moving good and with the valve system it makes this easy. 
Besides when I went to the ISS show the SWF Southeast was the easiest to deal with, they gave me the best deal and price vs. T-Jet and a few of the other dealers that were there. I checked out the Brother and they do a fantastic job, more money than I was ready at the time to shell out and did not do darks. 
Also when making your deal - ask for extra platens, software updates to be included and tech support. I got an extra adult platen and a sweet discount on the heat press as well as updates. So take as many factors into consideration when purchasing which ever model you decide too. Wish you the best and let me know if you have any other questions.
Janet


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## KevinB (Jun 19, 2007)

Janet,
Thanks for the information this has been helpful. So far I am liking the Kiosh better than any of the others for the price. Do you know about what it cost you per shirt in ink when printing a 12" x 12" with a white underlay?

Thanks Again
Kevin


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## promolady (Apr 3, 2007)

It kinda depends, 720 x 720 or 720 x 360 dpi. What I can do is if you send me a good ai or photoshop file I can run it through the rippro program and tell you at both dpi's what it would cost. It truly depends on the art. If your interested shoot the art to me at [email protected] and I will get back to you on Monday.
The other thing I would do is contact the different Garment printer companies you are truly interested in and have them do you a sample shirt (pref with your own graphics) on a white and dark shirt. Ask them what resolution and how many pases they used to imprint your art. That way you have apples to apples to compare imprints and washability tests you can do. Also when talking to the companies along with the other things I suggested you negotiate for add inks to the list. 
Janet


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

We have the DTG Kiosk also with the white ink and are very happy with it. Every printer we looked at, nearly everything on the market, were comparable. The biggest difference for us was the vendor, both close by and with knowlege of the product. We were able to get a 'show price' so it was a little less expensive than just going and buying one at rack. 

For white/light colors your ink cost should be small. Around 20c or so for a full coverage print about 10" round. For colored/dark shirts with the white our experience is around $5 for the print including the pretreatment using 1440 2 pass white.


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## roxy923 (Sep 11, 2006)

I have sent orders to shops that use T-JET2 and never had a problem.


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## RedLights (Dec 3, 2008)

I just purchased a Direct to Garment Printer, and need to know how to price for Wholesale and Retail. Any help would be appreciated. (I haven't received the printer yet, and I'm doing my training in January)


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## promolady (Apr 3, 2007)

Alot depends on your local graphics. Some charge as few as $5.00 to $15.00 (on white and light shirts) More for darks that you have to pre-treat. Quantity has somewhat a factor in what you charge. The best bet is to figure what the shirt & ink, pretreat cost you, double that and add at least $1.00. It is hard to give a price sometimes because they may want a Gildan T or a Hanes Beefy-T. Big price difference between the two, then if they want pockets well that is extra too. So your best bet is just to do what I suggested to get you started. White Shirt, Ink, $1.00 (1.50 +.50 +1.00=$3.00 x 2 = $6.00, add another $1.00 if the imprint is 2 sided). Also order a couple extra shirts just in case you have a printer or operator error. I hope this makes sense. Good luck and also which machine did you decide on?


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## DSCPROMO (Dec 3, 2008)

We have an AnaJet. We are very happy with it.


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## promolady (Apr 3, 2007)

Also, somewhere on this site is a spreadsheat that someone created. It was a great tool to use. It gives you a much better R.O.I. than what I did because it factors in the labor, machine cost and other things.


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## BBProd (Oct 29, 2008)

promolady said:


> Also, somewhere on this site is a spreadsheat that someone created. It was a great tool to use. It gives you a much better R.O.I. than what I did because it factors in the labor, machine cost and other things.



Is this it?:
www.t-quoter.com/downloads/InkjetComparison.xls


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## promolady (Apr 3, 2007)

Yes, that is it. Like I said it goes way beyond what I quote from. I wish you the best of luck. I have a DTG we purchased almost 2 years ago. And except for some user errors it has been an excellent machine. Even taught myself a few loading tricks that well work out for me, a little unorthodox but it works. anyway good luck!!!


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## RedLights (Dec 3, 2008)

Thanks for your help. I live in Southern Minnesota, and I'm sure prices vary as to where you live.

My wife and I purchased a ANAJET.

Thanks again


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