# Starting A Dye Sublimation Business Do's & Dont's Advice



## thednalife (May 11, 2013)

Hey guys I've been in the screenprinting business for about 2 years now, but will be selling it off to partner with a another local screenprinter while we invest in dye sublimation. That way we can help each other expand each others business.

I've done some research & here's what I'm looking to pick up.

Heat Transfer
DK25SP Automatic
I also need a small press for printing tags, so most likely a 8 inch heat press would do I figure.

Printer
Epson 7700

or one of these Canon printers

Canon imageprograf ipf655 24" large format printer
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6450 Graphic Arts Printer
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400 24.0" Printer

Ink
Sawgrass

Heat Transfer Paper
???


So I'm looking for a little help/guidance in regards to which printer I should be looking at, ink, and heat transfer paper. I'm pretty much set on the heat press. I've heard that the Epson 7700 eats up ink and so I was looking for other options, but I'm not sure if the Canon's are any better. The Canon iPF6400 is about $1000 cheaper then the Epson 7700 though. In regards to ink, I heard there were not many options at this size of printing, so I assume Sawgrass is the only option? There's tons of heat transfer paper options, but that makes life tougher since I have not been able to practice with any yet, so if you guys have had success with any please let me know what combination of ink/heat transfer papaer works best for you.

We are mainly looking to do large graphic prints on t-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, etc & later perhaps get into artistic ceramic printing.


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## AiryBri (Oct 2, 2011)

If you are looking at an Epson check out CobraInk.com. They sell epson printers with CISS units already installed. Continuous ink systems save you so much money on ink. You'll here that epson's are notorious for clogging -- they are. But all it takes is injecting the cartridge with hot water and running a few head cleanings and it will work again. Or just use it every single day.


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## thednalife (May 11, 2013)

AiryBri said:


> If you are looking at an Epson check out CobraInk.com. They sell epson printers with CISS units already installed. Continuous ink systems save you so much money on ink. You'll here that epson's are notorious for clogging -- they are. But all it takes is injecting the cartridge with hot water and running a few head cleanings and it will work again. Or just use it every single day.


Yeah, I had an Epson 13x19 printer with a CISS setup for my screenprinting business. Don't think I will be using my printer that much to start since I'm starting from the groundup. I think I'll start as cartridges and then move to a CISS once business picks up. I've done the modification from cartridge to CISS by myself on my previous Epson.

Is there any advantage to cobraink over sawgrass or are you just saying that as a personal preference?


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

if you are doing sublimation, Canon and HP printers are not compatible for sublimation inks. you need to look for certain Epson or Ricoh printers


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## AiryBri (Oct 2, 2011)

thednalife said:


> Yeah, I had an Epson 13x19 printer with a CISS setup for my screenprinting business. Don't think I will be using my printer that much to start since I'm starting from the groundup. I think I'll start as cartridges and then move to a CISS once business picks up. I've done the modification from cartridge to CISS by myself on my previous Epson.
> 
> Is there any advantage to cobraink over sawgrass or are you just saying that as a personal preference?


That's how I started too. I just think they have better pricing then sawgrass. I also received great customer service from the CobraInk.


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## thednalife (May 11, 2013)

AiryBri said:


> That's how I started too. I just think they have better pricing then sawgrass. I also received great customer service from the CobraInk.


Cool. Is there is a big difference in the heat transfer paper that you use or is it like screen printing where there's a few minor things, but essentially it doesn't matter what brand you buy since a transparency is a transparency?


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

For dye sublimation the choice of transfer paper is critical. The major brands all produce good quality paper, but it's intended for different uses. The standard release paper is designed mostly for hard goods, where the higher release papers are better suited for fabrics. 

Some printers, notably Ricoh, require a faster drying paper. These papers are indicated they are for the Ricoh, and usually cost a little more.


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## Riderz Ready (Sep 18, 2008)

Not sure where you heard Epson 7700 eats up ink. Printers only do what they are told to do thus if someone has a 7700 that "eats up ink" they have a poor profile that is causing such.

The advantage of a Epson 7700 is, if I am not mistaking, Sawgrass considers this wide format but ONLY if you buy Sawgrass ink. This still would save you a fortune in ink cost versus other desktop solutions plus I would bet you would be able to purchase Sawgrass Sublim ink which gives much better colors and less "clogging" compared to Artainum ink.


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