# Printer for mug sublimation



## cindychaley (May 21, 2017)

HELP!!! I am needing advice on the printer and sublimation inks to get so I can start doing my own mugs. I have outsourced the sublimating for the last year and I am ready to start doing it myself. I have read and read and researched. The more I read the more confused I get when it comes to printers and ink. Epson Printer? Ricoh Printer? I have read the epson tends to clogg. Inks? Expensive sawgrass Inks? Or another brand? What about the ICC profile? Do I need to have it installed before I purchase the Printer? I am just confused. Can somebody help me?


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## Amw (Jul 2, 2012)

You will need a mug press, like a geo knight DK3 (Made in the US and great support). If you are that confused I would use a Ricoh printer. It will have a lower learning curve (We use all Epson printers). The ICC profile will come with the ink/printer. Epson printers will need custom profiles to have great results. You will need dye sub paper, like Texprint and heat tape ($5/roll)...also a tape dispenser is very handy. Don't forget some heat resistant gloves so you dont burn your hand!


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Mugs are the easiest things to print in the world, ten minutes start to finish.
You'll need,, for zero hassle and maximum profit,, A small Ricoh (not the 2100 as it's cra9) running sawgrass ink (no way is it expensive when it doesn't miss a beat and ruin mug after mug trying to get it right) on trupix classic pre-cut mug paper (300 in a pack for the same price as A4 trupix ) heat tape (I always use the green tape, it's medium tack and quite thick, the blue is high tack but can leave a stain, the brown is complete rubbish and curls in your hands) and a mug press. (mines old and one of the 'all in one' setups) an oven and wrap is used by many but is a steep learning curve and that is where you WILL need gloves (not needed for a press).
So,, you take delivery of your new press and mugs.
You also get your printer that includes no standard inks fitted and the sawgrass carts with it.
Bung in the dvd and install everything before connecting the printer.
Put the ink carts in and power up, it'lll whirr into life and prime and clunk and do it's thing. (it'll also use 25% of the ink filling up the lines to the heads, this is a one off thing and won't happen when you install carts at a later date because they are already full, besides, you'll still have enough ink left for at least 100-150 mugs before you even have to think about buying a new cart, even when it complains about low ink it'll go on for ages giving you plenty of time to get a new one, and it's never the whole set, I find I use cyan mostly so it'll usually be one at a time and wont cost you the million pound a litre as bandied about).
Connect the printer and let the comp find the drivers etc.
yeah do a test print if you feel like it. (it'll look rubbish using the dyesub ink and kind of faded, that's okay, )
Register your printer!
Then go to the Sawgrass website and register there (tell 'em where you got the setup from and download the 'powerdriver'
(you know when you select a printer you will be using on your computer?? you will be selecting the 'powerdriver' as the printer not the Ricoh)
There will probably be updates along the way but let it do it's thing because it knows best.
Right. That's nearly it. There is one small complication that will make things so much easier and that is to tell the powerdriver you will be using a custom size paper when using the pre-cut mug wraps, there is a drop down in the powerdriver for the paper size and you will need to add one using the plus sign in there. (mines called mug2 because I screwed up the first one teehee).
I also use Serif PagePlus as my design studio and have a custom size paper in there which is spot on for the wrap, I save the whole 'page' as a jpg onto a stick and pull that up to print it.
so hit print, on Windows the first window you get has an 'options' bottom right in blue. hit that and if you've selected the 'powerdriver' as the printer another page will pop up and you select the second line (printer options?? dont have my comp here so cant see. but it's the second line anyway) And another window will open which is where you select all your substrates, paper, mirror print, saturation etc. and is where you add a page size.(it's worthwhile saturating by 5% for mugs, it really makes them pop, if you do more it'll bleed a bit. and I always go 10% when printing on glass as it needs to go through the white surface.)
Go okay and it'll take you back to the first window, default paper here is letter so correct that, (I never 'fit to page' so deselect that) and hit print.
The Ricoh is slow to start and doesn't cope very well with more than 4 prints at a time but it'll get there.
Meanwhile the press is on and set for 180c for 200seconds.
When the print turns up it's just a case of putting the mug on a level surface and a piece of tape either side of the mug print, wrapping it around so it's nice and level and the tape is sort of through the handle.
put a clean sheet of copy paper in the press and insert the mug, hit go when the temperature is back up (it'll drop waaay down). meanwhile put the kettle on. (for cooling, not tea!) at around 60 seconds left fill a plastic mug size container with the boiling water, then when the timer goes off, take the mug out of the press (the handle wont be hot) and whilst walking to the hot water just tear the wrap open sort of diagonally (it doesn't all have to come off but with practising putting your thumbnail just under one corner and ripping it away you'll soon get the hang of removing three quarters in one go) then dunk it in the hot water (no it's not going to crack or haze or do anything weird and you don't need a cooling set-up or fans or anything else at all whatsoever) try not to hit the bottom of the container as the mug may get scratched in it's delicate state first off.
Then empty the mug and fill it with cold water to the brim. 2 minutes later you have a beautiful glossy mug to be proud of.


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## cindychaley (May 21, 2017)

Thank you so much for the information! I actually just printed those detailed instructions you posted. They will help a lot!


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

You're welcome. and it's 'printer properties' in the second window via 'options' which takes you to the substrates etc

by the way, looking forward to you posting your very first mug!!!


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## seeker99 (Jul 6, 2017)

OMG this was the best response ever !!! does this apply if you have an epson printer? where do I get a custom color profile for the Epson C88+ thaaaaaaank YOU


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Absolutely no idea mate.
I will only ever use a Ricoh


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

seeker99 said:


> OMG this was the best response ever !!! does this apply if you have an epson printer? where do I get a custom color profile for the Epson C88+ thaaaaaaank YOU


 I use Adobe 1998 or my calibrated sublimation monitor setting. Never a issue. I also printed out color Cmyk swatches oon poly and on hard substrate to match colors perfect with my client. They want a royal blue use that code to match it. All I use is epson printers for the past 6yrs. Even conde is switch to epson printers like there new printer coming out. I think it's the ip600 or something


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Dekzion said:


> *Mugs are the easiest things to print in the world,* ten minutes start to finish.
> You'll need,, for zero hassle and maximum profit,, A small Ricoh (not the 2100 as it's cra9) running sawgrass ink (no way is it expensive when it doesn't miss a beat and ruin mug after mug trying to get it right) on trupix classic pre-cut mug paper (300 in a pack for the same price as A4 trupix ) heat tape (I always use the green tape, it's medium tack and quite thick, the blue is high tack but can leave a stain, the brown is complete rubbish and curls in your hands) and a mug press. (mines old and one of the 'all in one' setups) an oven and wrap is used by many but is a steep learning curve and that is where you WILL need gloves (not needed for a press).
> So,, you take delivery of your new press and mugs.
> You also get your printer that includes no standard inks fitted and the sawgrass carts with it.
> ...


Mugs are the easiest thing to print in the world? Really?

Flat items are harder?


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## john221us (Nov 29, 2015)

mgparrish said:


> Mugs are the easiest thing to print in the world? Really?
> 
> Flat items are harder?


You only need one piece of tape for a mug  Actually, though, there isn't much difference to me, flat or 11 oz mug. Latte mugs are a pain, though.

Epson printers work great and some of the ink vendors offer free color profiles. I use Cobra ink with an Epson WF 7620 and refillable cartridges.


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Okay Mike, ONE of the easiest things in the world, once you know how to do it correctly, sorry for the misdirection.


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

djque said:


> I use Adobe 1998 or my calibrated sublimation monitor setting. Never a issue. I also printed out color Cmyk swatches oon poly and on hard substrate to match colors perfect with my client. They want a royal blue use that code to match it. All I use is epson printers for the past 6yrs. Even conde is switch to epson printers like there new printer coming out. I think it's the ip600 or something




Thanks for the mention. We have not switched to Epson desktop printers for dyesub. The Reveal printer needs more than four ink channels to support the clear/white ink. We continue to recommend the ricoh based printers.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

john221us said:


> You only need one piece of tape for a mug  Actually, though, there isn't much difference to me, flat or 11 oz mug. Latte mugs are a pain, though.
> 
> Epson printers work great and some of the ink vendors offer free color profiles. I use Cobra ink with an Epson WF 7620 and refillable cartridges.


When I mentioned flat items I was talking about tshirts mousepads and thin unisub stuff.

Mugs and tiles have the longest learning curve to get things dialed in.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Dekzion said:


> Okay Mike, ONE of the easiest things in the world, *once you know how to do it correctly*, sorry for the misdirection.


Mugs have a learning curve much more so than anything else.

Everything is easy once you get it dialed in. 

Mugs are some of the hardest things newbies struggle with till they get it dialed in.


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

And that is why I gave an absolute start to finish instruction on the matter.
John, absolutely agree with the point on Latte's, damn things keep sliding in the press, like squeezing out tooth paste! and it doesn't feel right jamming it against the stop. and lining up your image. And spreading it around the curve takes some practice to get it looking decent. They might be better off done in an oven, I wouldn't know on that as I don't use one, but I do know it takes me half an hour to get the design to the print stage whereas a European can take just a minute or so.
There is no substitute for keeping records of timings etc, we have a 'bible' with everything in earned through shear cussedness to get it right. At the start we didn't even know that there were pre-cut mug wraps and had to make our own template for the latte's too. It's only by being a part of a forum such as this that you can get to grips with new information and ideas that leapfrog you over the hurdles.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

Dekzion said:


> And that is why I gave an absolute start to finish instruction on the matter.
> John, absolutely agree with the point on Latte's, damn things keep sliding in the press, like squeezing out tooth paste! and it doesn't feel right jamming it against the stop. and lining up your image. And spreading it around the curve takes some practice to get it looking decent. They might be better off done in an oven, I wouldn't know on that as I don't use one, but I do know it takes me half an hour to get the design to the print stage whereas a European can take just a minute or so.
> There is no substitute for keeping records of timings etc, we have a 'bible' with everything in earned through shear cussedness to get it right. At the start we didn't even know that there were pre-cut mug wraps and had to make our own template for the latte's too. It's only by being a part of a forum such as this that you can get to grips with new information and ideas that leapfrog you over the hurdles.


What you gave was specific to a specific printer, inks, your press, and your graphic program. That's OK as long as the user selects that option exactly, but your instructions can't be used generically, and you seem to be the only person I know using Serif, most are using PS or CD. 

Even with that setup which you assumed, no mug/mug press combination can be setup generically as you have stated.

Start to finish depends on:

Inks
Graphic program
Mug press (or wraps)
Mugs

Mugs and mug presses are all over the place on temp, dwell, and operation.


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Can'tbebovvered.com


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## john221us (Nov 29, 2015)

Dekzion said:


> John, absolutely agree with the point on Latte's, damn things keep sliding in the press, like squeezing out tooth paste! and it doesn't feel right jamming it against the stop. and lining up your image. And spreading it around the curve takes some practice to get it looking decent. They might be better off done in an oven, I wouldn't know on that as I don't use one, but I do know it takes me half an hour to get the design to the print stage whereas a European can take just a minute or so.


I do use an oven with a wrap. That part isn't too tough (for the latte mugs). The hard part is warping the image so it looks right (one time thing for each image, I guess) and the fact that you don't have pre-cut paper for them. Each one has to be cut out by hand (that adds at least two or three minutes a mug).


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

It took us ages to get the template right and now we have two on an A4 (then export from Serif as an A4 image and transfer the image to the saved template on the Cameo, that way there's no need for the outlines to be used/printed ).
It's lucky that Serif has a built in warp studio because the top of the image can be stretched whilst maintaining the curve easy enough, though oval frames are the quickest solution


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## seeker99 (Jul 6, 2017)

Ok, So i did my first mug yesterday, and it came out beautiful. I have an Epson C88+ with Air Tanium ink. Saw Grass has a free profile on its website for it, and it shows all of the setup items needed for Photoshop. I was nervous at first because the printed image looked SOOOOOO off.. I wrapped it.. I used the blue tape and popped it in my HSN series mug press... Now I got nervous again because the timer starts as soon as it as pressed so I didn't have a chance to wait for the temp to come back up.. Needless to say it came out beautiful. it was super vibrant and glossy and I was very proud in that moment. I dunked it in cold water.. Im not really sure why lol I read it somewhere I guess. I forgot about this post and how it said to dunk it in boiling water I will try that next time.. Why do you do that? anywho I also didnt put an additional piece of paper inside of the press.. Why do you do that?? It was all very simple almost to simple.. did i miss something??


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

See,, Told ya,, Simplz.
Boiling water? IMPO it cools it down to at least very hot coffee temp so no possible bang, and then the cold water should be safe because you'd wash out a hot mug.
clean copy in the press? seeing as no ink ever blows past the rim, I dunno, but I think the initial learning was that it'd keep the press clean like it does with the flat press.
So really glad you got it sorted with the icc etc.
you'll have to wait for the temp to climb before hitting it, my press drops to around 160 before it starts to get back up for the timer to start.
those 20 seconds or so might be important but seems to have worked for you


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## f288 (Jan 18, 2019)

Hi all, on average how many mugs you can print with sawgrassink ink carts on SG400?


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## Signature Series (Jun 11, 2016)

The answer would be the same answer regardless of the substrate - depends on the amount of design coverage on the mug. If one person does a lot of solid colors and the other simple logos the difference could be as much as 10X between the two. In short if you are doing mugs the cost of ink is going to be one of the least of your cost to worry about.


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## f288 (Jan 18, 2019)

Thank you.
I imagined it could vary a lot, but since I'm new to this, I have no idea on how many prints you can get with a SubliJet-HD set.
For example, printing completelly the mugs with photos, I will be able to print 50, 100 or 1000 mugs?
Because I saw that sublijet ink cost about 200€ for a set, so if I will be able to print 100 mugs, it will cost 2€ each (in ink only), so it's not so cheap.


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

f288 said:


> Thank you.
> I imagined it could vary a lot, but since I'm new to this, I have no idea on how many prints you can get with a SubliJet-HD set.
> For example, printing completelly the mugs with photos, I will be able to print 50, 100 or 1000 mugs?
> Because I saw that sublijet ink cost about 200€ for a set, so if I will be able to print 100 mugs, it will cost 2€ each (in ink only), so it's not so cheap.


I don't know where you get the figure of 100 prints from, but here are two points to consider :

1. Most sublimators now DON'T use the horrendously expensive, vastly overrated Sawgrass inks. We use superb quality third-party inks in refillable carts or CIS systems and they perform the same as, or better than, Sawgrass inks at a tiny fraction of the price. 

2. You'll be getting more than one mug print from an A4 sheet. Personally, I get two full-wrap transfers by printing in landscape. Others, who don't require as much coverage for their designs, get three transfers in portrait mode.


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## f288 (Jan 18, 2019)

I thought Starting with SG400 and sublijet ink because I read that's the easier method, with less maintenance needed and also because doesn't need to set the colors correctly.
Which printer do you use?


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

f288 said:


> I thought Starting with SG400 and sublijet ink because I read that's the easier method, with less maintenance needed and also because doesn't need to set the colors correctly.
> Which printer do you use?


I have 2 Ricoh SG3110DN printers and print using Photoshop via an ICC profile. I use CIE inks (UK) and achieve excellent results on the items I print: mugs, totes, aluminium sheet, etc. I use refillable cartridges and buy ink in 100ml bottles at £15 a bottle.


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## f288 (Jan 18, 2019)

Thank you for the tip, I think I will buy Virtuoso SG400 (I saw that Ricoh SG3110 has been discontinuad) and then after using the stock ink I will go fo
r refillable cartridges.
I saw that CIE inks have a kit for SG400 with refillable ink cartridges, 100ml ink (each colour), 100 A4 sublimation paper and also ICC profiles at 90£.


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## f288 (Jan 18, 2019)

Dekzion said:


> I also use Serif PagePlus as my design studio and have a custom size paper in there which is spot on for the wrap, I save the whole 'page' as a jpg onto a stick and pull that up to print it.


Hello Dekzion, can I ask you which setting do you use for your file?
I'm using PagePlus too, but I'm having problems with colors.
I just sublimated design I made (and printed with Virtuoso SG400) and the colors seem having wrong tone and the withe background it's 
yellowed.
At first I thought a problem with press and wrong time/temperature, but then I noticed that the same yellowed background on the jpg file.


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## zoomsub (Aug 27, 2018)

Hi, Epson printers for sublimation is great, you only just need to refit continuous ink supply system, then you can begin your sublimation work. About inks, you can try J-Tech or Inkeco, the transfer color is excellent.


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## Dekzion (May 18, 2015)

Hiya, Sorry about the delayed reply, I've been busy elsewhere in life.
I use the powerdriver for the driver of my Ricoh 3110dn, I only use sawgrass ink. I always export my fie as jpg and then run that through the powerdriver. it says the setting is high quality plain paper.


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