# sublimation or chromablast



## cameront21 (Jun 28, 2007)

Alright its down to sublimation or chromablast ink? I have read that i will get better quality prints with sublimation but am limited to white T's as other colored T's will affect the print, ie... if i have a light blue shirt and i print a yellow design it will tint my design green. So this makes me wonder if chromablast ink is the same. If not chromablast would be my choice as I would like to be able to print on all colors of T's excluding black of course. Sublimation is a lot more durable I know but Chromablast will still last many many washes if done correctly.

Whichever you recommend and for whatever reason would you please recommend a brand of ink as well. Just trying to get ideas.

Thanks so much for future replies and advice

Cameron


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## trishtaz (Oct 16, 2006)

Cameron, I noticed this post and another post of yours that has gone unanswered. It might help if you tell us whether an all-cotton garment is important or not. Sublimation does not work on 100% cotton, and from what I hear it does not do so well on 50/50, either. If you must use 100% cotton then sublimation is out of the question.

Also, how much flexibility do you have with colors in your designs? Are these original designs for retail sale, or will you be doing contract work with customer-provided art? I started using pigmented inks (Durabrite Ultra, though I am about to order and try Magic Mix) and also struggled with the issue of the substrate color (blue on yellow makes green). But I have had better success with certain colors. I recently pressed a teal and black logo onto natural-color tees with excellent results. If you are able to play around with your colors then I think you will be fine.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Cameron,

Not sure what size printer you are looking at, but why not look at one that can be a hybrid so it allows you to do both sublimation and ChormaBlast? Seems like a simple solution if you are going for a printer that has 8-colors (otherwise it will not work).

If I was going with just one of them, I would go with sublimation for the main reason that it provides me the ability to sell more than just t-shirts. So, you can create packages of items (i.e. t-shirt, license plate, mouse pad,...) and sell them as one.

There are some people that have tried printing ChromaBlast on to a dark/opaque transfer paper and have gotten good results. The ChromaBlast driver drops a good amount of ink down on the paper. So just make sure the ink has time to dry before the next sheet goes on top of it to prevent smearing.

Hope this helps.

Mark


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## BRC (Mar 27, 2007)

Dye Sublimation only works on polyester, the 50 / 50 t's will loose 50% when washed the first time because the dye will only adhere to the poly, not the cotton. Chromablast on the other hand will only work on 100% cotton because it will only adhere to cotton. So neither will work for the 50/50 blends. Sublimation will outlast Chromablast by far but the shirts are about 3 times as much. 

Several compnaies are selling a hybrid system using the Epson 4800 and using both types of ink. But you still can't do the 50/50 shirts. 

What you need to do is decide what market you are going for and buy the printer and ink to match the shirts you will be selling. They all have a place in todays market but none of the methods are a universal fit.


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## L00T (Feb 8, 2007)

DAGuide said:


> Not sure what size printer you are looking at, but why not look at one that can be a hybrid so it allows you to do both sublimation and ChormaBlast? Seems like a simple solution if you are going for a printer that has 8-colors (otherwise it will not work).


Can you do this with an Epson R1800? It has 8 cartridges...
Is it possible to make this one a hybrid with other combo's of ink as well? Just wondering


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## cameront21 (Jun 28, 2007)

at this point i really only want to do clothing maybe a mouse pad or 2, cotton or poly doesnt matter, just whatever gives best results, i am planning on just starting out with the epson c88. in the future i may decide to try an do license plates and other items.

thanks so much for the responses


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## buckcreek (Aug 13, 2007)

I don't think the R1800 will work as a hybrid because it has only one print head.
I've heard the 4800 has two print heads and that's why two kinds of ink can be used.


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## buckcreek (Aug 13, 2007)

Does anyone know what advantage, if any, there is between regular inkjet transfers and transfers made with the chromablast ink? I know you can get dark transfer paper for the inkjet but can you get dark transfer paper for the chromablast ink? Also, can you feel the transfer with chromablast like you can with inkjet?


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

The R1800 can be done as a hybrid and is a being created right now. No solid timeframe for completion though. The challenge is doing all the profiles for the different items [sublimation - fabric (photo and graphics), tile, FRP plastic, tile,...; heat transfer (photo & graphics); screen printing (different film positive media) and so on]. Let's just say it is a lot of time consuming work.

The 4800 only has one print head. Each line fires from different nozzles, so that is why you can run two different types of ink within 1 printer as long as the inks don't cause a reaction when they mix into the waste tank or on the maintenance station. Solvent based inks don't mix real well with other inks. There might be a mild-solvent ink that would work, but any solvent ink is harsh on the ink delivery system (i.e. lines, print head, nozzles,...). So this is why most standard Epson printers are not recommended for solvent based inks. I have been told that Roland and Mutoh printers use a modified Epson print head that allows them to handle the solvent based inks. Thus, is one of the reasons why these printers are kinda expensive.

Now, if we are dreaming...the best printer would be an 8-color VersaCamm print-cut printer. Run 4-colors with a mild solvent ink as a print-cut system (like it is currently set up for) and 4-colors for sublimation. Basically, it is a hybrid print-cut setup. That would be pretty nice. Enough with the day dreaming though.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

As noted...sublimation will only work on 100% polyester...or for hard goods, you much have items with a polymer coating. and can only do on light colors

Chromablast will press on cotton..not as good as sublimation..but does work okay. But again it is only good on white/light garments

the 1800 cannot be converted to a hybrid...Chromablast on a c88+ (the least expensive) and a bulk system w/ink is about 900 USD. Transfer sheets is about 75 cents. Sublimation system on c88+ is about same price with bulk system and ink. Paper is around 12-14 USD for 100 sheets


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

I personally would not do either. Sublimated shirts have problems with transferring the print if they touch another poly surface (fold the shirt after sublimation and see!) and Chromoblast cracks just like screen printing. 

If you want to get into the market inexpensive, go with outsourcing your work first, ordered transfers second, ironall third, screen printing forth, vinyl printer/cutter fifth, dtg sixth, and all others after that. Each has its own perils as you will find out but for the cost of a heat press (2-6+) you can get some good results this way. 

On a side note, consider embroidery. You can charge much more per piece and the technology is proven, e.g. old, and you will not have to deal with all of the problems of printing.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

hmmmmm, fred,,, interesting


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

plan b said:


> hmmmmm, fred,,, interesting


that is why i always have a plan b


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Right on Fred,, always planb gotta have it


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

charles95405 said:


> the 1800 cannot be converted to a hybrid


Ummm, not to be argumentative...but, where are you getting this information from? As I mentioned above, MultiRIP/iProof Systems are currently creating the profiles for this right now. The software already exists to make the R1800 a hybrid. Sawgrass might only sell a hybrid solution for the 4800, but several RIP companies have the software capabilities to do this for the R1800 and other printers (7800, 9800). MultiRIP just does not release the software without providing the correct profiles to make it easy to do all the applications. However, the cost of the software could/might be close to the cost of the printer.

I will make this one warning. In order to effectively run an R1800 as a hybrid, you are going to want/need a bulk system if you don't want to use the ChromaBlast inks. The MultINKs do not come in cartridges. So, you are still going to have the issues of keeping your ink flowing through the bulk ink system that you would have when using any bulk system. The RIP software will not help this problem out. We are also not sure about how effective it will be on screen printing film positive media. This is why the 4800 is still the preferred printer for an entry level hybrid system.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

ahhhh give that bulk system a asprin that should keep it going LOL


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## StarlightTshirts (Dec 24, 2010)

I have been considering getting a Chromoblast system and was concerned when I read about the ghosting issues. Then, I noticed all of the post about the ghosting issues seem to be from 2008-2008. Have there been advances with the chromoblast papers?


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## D.Evo. (Mar 31, 2006)

binki said:


> I personally would not do either. Sublimated shirts have problems with transferring the print if they touch another poly surface (fold the shirt after sublimation and see!) and Chromoblast cracks just like screen printing.
> 
> If you want to get into the market inexpensive, go with outsourcing your work first, ordered transfers second, ironall third, screen printing forth, vinyl printer/cutter fifth, dtg sixth, and all others after that. Each has its own perils as you will find out but for the cost of a heat press (2-6+) you can get some good results this way.
> 
> On a side note, consider embroidery. You can charge much more per piece and the technology is proven, e.g. old, and you will not have to deal with all of the problems of printing.



I think it all comes down to your market. What I do daily with dye-sub can not be done with any other printing method - none of the methods mentioned above will work for my clients. Now and then I get orders that are more suitable for screen-printing or DTG - so I outsource them, not very often though. 

I must admit, I don't do desk-top dye-sublimation anymore, but that's how I started 6 years ago. Now I print fabrics, panels for custom-made sports and fashion apparel, "all-over" ready-made tops and t-shirts, swimsuits, towels of different kind, fashion accessories - none of it can be by any other printing method.

What I'm trying to say - all printing methods have their application, figure out where is your niche, what is it you are going to do, who you are going to sell it to, what finish they expect... You can always specialise in one printing method (preferably the one that is not very common in your area) and outsource the jobs you can't do yourself.


I'm puzzled about a comment that sublimated image transfering onto something else - I never folded a printed shirt still warm from the press, but I do press bigger volumes (500+) at a time and pile up the shirts - never had a problem.


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## printimpression (Aug 19, 2012)

I have asked a similar question but it doesn't seem to be showing up anywhere- not sure what I have done something wrong - I have bought a chromablast A3 richo and already have an A3 richo for subli-printing - but have found that chromablast has a 'window' and want to know how to overcome this or if there is another method?

Thanks


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