# How many T-Shirts can I produce with a CISS?



## Woodleyb (Apr 13, 2009)

Hello.
I'm new to the forums, and new to dye sublimation.

I have been looking into getting a CISS system which comes with 100ml bottles of sublimation ink.

My question is, how long will this last me?
Bottles can cost £50 each and I would love to know roughly how many T-shirts this would produce.

I'm just trying to see whether its worthwhile to purchase, and to help work out my costs etc.

If someone could give me a rough figure of potential amount of shirts I could make would be great!

Thanks in advanced!


----------



## uncletee (Feb 25, 2007)

will save money over carts, all depends on what your printing, line drawings or full bleed color prints. try refillable carts they are much cheaper and very easy to use, have a nice day


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

I have been doing sublimation since before it was very well known...You WILL save money with a CISS IF you do much printing. You are using an Epson I assume and they are know for clogging issues if not used regularly. More clogging issues with CISS if not use just about every day. This is not always the case but has been my experience over time. I have recently stopped using Epson and switched to the Ricoh GX7000 using gel sublimation ink and so far...so good. This unit has 2 1/2 or so more ink and I think the print cost per 8.5x11 image is less than regular ink.

How many prints you can get from a CIS system...depends on which CIS you use and the quanity of ink and the type/size/color of your images. So I don't think we can tell you how many...just that you will over time probably print more than 4-5 times as many images.


----------



## Woodleyb (Apr 13, 2009)

But in terms of quantity, I could produce well over 100 shirts with 100ml bottles of sublimation ink?

I'm completely new to this, so if you could let me know how many shirts you can produce before filling up, or give me a rough cost of a shirt print so I can sort out some sort of finance.

Thanks for the posts so far!


----------



## KUSTOM _DUDE (Mar 6, 2009)

If you are paying £50 per 100ml for sublimation ink, then the ink for a full A3 sized print will work out at around £1.60. Allowing fo wastage during head cleans etc, you should get over 100 full size A3 prints from a four colour CIS and over 150 from a six colour CIS.

The above figures are based on Epson's own consumption figures, for a printer on photo quality setting, which is the one you would generally use for sublimation.


----------



## Woodleyb (Apr 13, 2009)

OK thanks for the above post.

The likelyhood of me using a full a3 sheet is quite unlikely (I think?), so I'm sure it will be worthwhile for me to invest.

Can anyone recommend a good printer?
Or when looking for one, what size prints should it be capable of?


----------



## KUSTOM _DUDE (Mar 6, 2009)

You need an Epson printer as other makes will not work well (if at all) with sublimation inks. The 1400 model offers one of the most cost effective solutions at the moment.

In your costings you also have to allow for wastage in garments as well, as sublimation prints can have errors, the same as other print methods. Unwanted flecks of colour outside of the main image can be a common problem with sublimation garments.


----------



## Woodleyb (Apr 13, 2009)

Again, thank you for your help.

How much could I pick the Epson 1400 up for?
I have heard its a good model.

I'm on a sort of tight budget, but I can dip into profits from other business ventures if need be.

Hope you can help out!

Oh, and if you are using a CISS, could you tell me how often you need to refill and how often you use it - could give me a more practical outlook on how much it will cost!


----------



## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

A 1400 w/CISS and sublimation ink will cost around $1100 USD. For about the same price you can get the new Ricoh GX7000 (the Ricoh 5050 is a bit cheaper) and I think there is less issues with clogging. I ditched the 1400 in favor of the Ricoh...but to each his own


----------



## KUSTOM _DUDE (Mar 6, 2009)

Unless you are using the CISS on a daily basis, only keep the tanks about 2cm deep in ink, keep the rest in the original sealed bottles. You will find that unless you use the printer on a regular basis, head clogging could become a problem and wastes ink to clear them.

As regards printer prices, try one of the comparison sites on the web. Amazon typically gives a typical price you'd get from the bigger 'box shifters'.


----------



## scottypump (Dec 13, 2015)

Not to take over the thread or anything but I'm new to this. I'm getting a heat transfer printer with a CISS pigment ink and am going to use that printer for printing documents for school. Would I need a different ink for just black and one printing or could i just use the same pigment ink CISS I would be using for the transfers. Thanks!!


----------



## CarlT (May 23, 2007)

scottypump said:


> Not to take over the thread or anything but I'm new to this. I'm getting a heat transfer printer with a CISS pigment ink and am going to use that printer for printing documents for school. Would I need a different ink for just black and one printing or could i just use the same pigment ink CISS I would be using for the transfers. Thanks!!


You're not taking over the thread. This thread has been dead since 2009, until you just revived it. 

No you don't need different ink. Pigment ink is what most Epson printers come with anyway and is used for both document and heat transfers. I have a bulk pigment system on a Epson WF-30 from Cobra and use it to print heat transfers, greeting cards, flyers and just about anything else where a pigment ink is involved.

Happy printing!


----------



## scottypump (Dec 13, 2015)

Thank you!! In regards to printers I'm still stuck on choosing the best one for me. I think I'd like to print larger sized heat transfers and I don't know how I feel about buying a used printer so I think my options are between a Epson Workforce WF-7610 or an Epson Workforce WF-3640. The 3640 however can only print up to 8.5 x 11. That may be my goto printing size but if I ever would like to go larger I will probably want to go bigger. What are your guys thoughts on the Epson Workforce WF-7610 for heat transfer printing?


----------



## CarlT (May 23, 2007)

scottypump said:


> Thank you!! In regards to printers I'm still stuck on choosing the best one for me. I think I'd like to print larger sized heat transfers and I don't know how I feel about buying a used printer so I think my options are between a Epson Workforce WF-7610 or an Epson Workforce WF-3640. The 3640 however can only print up to 8.5 x 11. That may be my goto printing size but if I ever would like to go larger I will probably want to go bigger. What are your guys thoughts on the Epson Workforce WF-7610 for heat transfer printing?


If you ever think you will print bigger, and trust me you will, you will want to start with the 7610.
When I first started I had the C88+ and can't count how many times I wish I could have printed larger to cover more shirt or use bigger blanks.
You can print up to 8.5 X 14 actually, and truthfully it will cover many or most of what you want to produce typically. But that 11 X 17 paper makes a huge difference!
If you don't need the scanner/copier feature, you can get the 7110, it is essentially the same printer without the scanner. And i think the 7110 has a smaller capacity in the paper cassette.
I may be wrong on some of that comparison, but from what I remember when I was choosing that was the main difference.
Good luck.


----------



## Sacman (Jan 20, 2014)

I use an Epson 1400 that I got off Craigslist for $100. No issues at all and will print up to Super B (13 x 19). I print on that size all the time and generally get the best paper yields from it. I have 8.5 x 11 paper but for what I print, they tend to gang print with less wasted paper on the larger size. I keep the smaller paper on hand for when I am testing new things or only need one of something. Even then, I will print something else on the wasted paper and set it aside for later use.


----------



## Sanda (Dec 15, 2015)

charles95405 said:


> A 1400 w/CISS and sublimation ink will cost around $1100 USD. For about the same price you can get the new Ricoh GX7000 (the Ricoh 5050 is a bit cheaper) and I think there is less issues with clogging. I ditched the 1400 in favor of the Ricoh...but to each his own


Thank you Charles, your suggestion really stands on top. 1000s thanks


----------

