# Anyone Tried Colorblast Sub for Cotton Yet?



## bugleboy88 (Oct 7, 2006)

Hi Folks:
New to the Forum!....We are looking at purchasing a Epson 1280 Printer with Quick connect and Bulk ink System (sawgrass) Then Bang just as I'm about to Buy up comes Colorblast for Cottons on a desktop inkjet sub system..Details Herehttp://www.chromablast.com/overview.html Just wondering if anyone has tried it yet before I buy a system I would need to upgrade ?ps epson 4800 required or c88. Thanks 
Bugleboy88
NewYorkSportswear
Upstate NewYork


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## jdr8271 (Jun 16, 2005)

It sounds pretty much like any transfer I have ever used, so I wouldnt rush out and buy it. A film transfers and traps the ink under it...I dont buy this crap about the ink bonding with the paper either. When you melt a transfer over a pigmented ink, they are going to stick together. Thats the same with any transfer paper. And every light colored paper I have ever used washes away when you wash it. It sounds like a gimmick to get you to buy both ink and paper from them.

The softest paper that I have used is the iron all paper. At least try iron all before going with chromoblast.


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## bugleboy88 (Oct 7, 2006)

jdr8271 said:


> It sounds pretty much like any transfer I have ever used, so I wouldnt rush out and buy it. A film transfers and traps the ink under it...I dont buy this crap about the ink bonding with the paper either. When you melt a transfer over a pigmented ink, they are going to stick together. Thats the same with any transfer paper. And every light colored paper I have ever used washes away when you wash it. It sounds like a gimmick to get you to buy both ink and paper from them.
> 
> The softest paper that I have used is the iron all paper. At least try iron all before going with chromoblast.


 

Thanks for the reply Jdr.............I really want whats best for my Customers before I get into something I may regret, Is Iron all Paper good for subbing on T-shirts (white)50/50 with a Pre Spray (White Rain)?? appreciate any input..I have an international Karate Tournament Order comig up


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I have seen ChromoBlast at a couple of tradeshows. The colors were not as bright as you can get with dye sub or traditional inkjet transfers, but that might had to due with the graphic that Sawgrass was printing. The hand is pretty soft, if not the softest that I have felt for a transfer. It is still is a transfer and I was told it would cost over $2.00+ per a transfer (for ink and paper). It is also only on light garments and no hard substrates like dye sublimation. The only shirts Sawgrass was printing was white, which makes the design look better - but how many shirts do you sell that are white.

The part that turns me off the most is the consumable cost - $2.00+ a transfer. I can get my transfer paper (ImageJet Lite II) for $0.45 / sheet. Another $0.10 for ink and I am about 25-30% less than ChromoBlast. Granted, the feel of the shirt is not going to be as good as ChromoBlast. 

I have no clue about the wash tests as I have only seen it at a tradeshow. But before you invest in it, I would recommend getting one of your graphics printed by it and doing your own wash tests.

Hope this info helps. Best of Luck.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

bugleboy88 said:


> Is Iron all Paper good for subbing on T-shirts (white)50/50 with a Pre Spray (White Rain)??


Iron all is an inkjet transfer paper, rather than a dye sublimation paper. So essentially the answer would be no I guess.


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## bugleboy88 (Oct 7, 2006)

Hey Thanks Folks!!
I think I'm going to go ahead with the Sublimation Package from Sawgrass,and wait on the chromoblast technology to upgrade itself.. and I will Try the Iron all for the inkjet transfers,I currently use transjet II which have been good to us on 50/50 t-shirts.I have some other questions and I will post later...You Folks are Great!!


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi there!
I just purchased the Epson 4800. I am hearing good things about it. I am also using it for other kinds of print jobs but will definetly be using it for heat transfers. I am not a big company so I needed a printer that could do quality jobs for many things. If you ask photographers they will tell you that this printer is awesome. Alas tho' we are not photographers. I will post as soon as I get it up and running and do some runs with it and see what I can do and what I can't and how much it all costs, etc. Also you can use this to put graphics onto dark shirts but it's a process of printing on one kind of transfer and transfering that image to the white backing then onto the shirt. A process that I will also try.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

We got a sample of a chromablast shirt and it looked shabby after one wash. Stretching the fabric slightly cracked the image. We will pass on this one for now.


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi, 
I'll have to experiment and let you know what happens. I know there are 3 different kinds of black ink for this printer so I will try them all. I imagine the gloss will crack. I was told not to use the gloss, that the matte should be used for T-shirts. Hopefully it is as good of a printer as the photographers say it is and I can get some great copies of my artwork on canvas. We'll see! It should be up and running by next week and I imagine I will have something worth reading about, ha! Thanks for everone's input, this site is great and all the experience is wonderful!


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## Impresspromo (Jul 9, 2006)

I have a epson printer, R1800 and use sawgrass ink with chromablast . . . it works as you guys said only on white and light colored garments. It has its applications like the one one and two shirt jobs I need to ptint ( I also screenprint) I have sold it to customers since my purchase and they have been happy with it. I did do a wash test on many garments and the chroablast holds up with some fade. The hand on the shirt looks and feels not bad. I also used a spot cleaning gun on the shirts to see it the pigmented ink subs into the shirt and it does. What I can say this . . process has its limits but its much better that the other Conde heat transfer paper I have used in the past. 

Mike


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## moontown (Aug 30, 2006)

I would suggest you to spend more money to by epson 4800. I heard that Sawgrass just improved their epson 4800 driver. you can print both sub ink and colorblast ink from one printer.
I tried chromablast transfer paper with epson 4800. I would say this product have a good balance between the softness, image quality and wash durable.



bugleboy88 said:


> Hi Folks:
> New to the Forum!....We are looking at purchasing a Epson 1280 Printer with Quick connect and Bulk ink System (sawgrass) Then Bang just as I'm about to Buy up comes Colorblast for Cottons on a desktop inkjet sub system..Details Herehttp://www.chromablast.com/overview.html Just wondering if anyone has tried it yet before I buy a system I would need to upgrade ?ps epson 4800 required or c88. Thanks
> Bugleboy88
> NewYorkSportswear
> Upstate NewYork


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi everyone (Moontown),
No printer yet. I'm tying up a few jobs and getting them out then going to have to clean shop to house this printer. Small biz here so there's not much room. I'm glad to be having some more people respond about the chromablast inks, specifically the 4800. There is alot of buzz about it from the photographers. They swear by it's ability to print the best images so far for them so it must have some pretty impressive abilities. I found http://www.outbackphoto.com/printinginsights/pi037/Epson_R4800.html#20050810 to be quite informative with tidbits of information that I will want to rememeber. Ink is expensive. I say expensive, but not too expensive thus making me not want to purchase it. I'm going to call Epson and ask about that driver for the sub inks. Sometimes quality is worth the price but that remains to be seen for the shirt industry. I really think that like all equipment what this printer really needs to make it's niche in the Tshirt business is a really persistant designer that insists on using it to make quality shirt prints and finds out just how to do that. I most certainly feel up to the challenge. Sometimes a little creativity can mean a world of difference. I just hope it's not going to be like good old Ben Franklin's, "I didn't fail, I just found 10,000 ways it can't be done!" What would I do with 10,000 crappy shirts? LOL! Happy printing everyone and thanks to all who have responded! Dottie


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Dottie,

Calling Epson for info on the print driver for dye sublimation or chromoblast is probably not going to get you any where. The print drivers for those inks are made by Sawgrass - not Epson. These inks require a different amount of ink to be dropped than what you would use for photographs on photo paper. In fact, the amount of ink changes depending on what substrates you are using (i.e. dye sub shirt, ceramic tile, glass cutting board, metal,...). I doubt anyone at the 1-800 # for Epson will know anything that you are talking about. 

I will say that the 4800 printer is definitely the best small format / desktop printer out there in the market for all the reasons that have been discussed in past threads. I know that there are people working on a solution that will make the 4800 even more powerful and will provide everyone this information when it is time for it to be released. Good luck with your decision. 

Mark


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks! You saved me some run around for sure! Dottie


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

I have heard the terms Ink-jet, Sub and Sublimation and Chromoblast all used within these posts. Please understand that Dye sublimation and Ink jet printing are two completely different printing techniques.


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi Everyone, My printer arrived and it is huge! Definetly took two of us to get into it's working space. It appears somewhat intimidating but that could just be me. I will power it up sometime this weekend. I did some research and found that the 4800 can swing between Artanium ink and Chromablast but is a 'draining' process that could cost alot of time and money. So I have to decide which I would like to do with this specific printer, cotton T's or textiles. I decided to stick with the cotton imprinting as I think the print quality will allow me to be more competative. I decided to purchase the Epson C88 for my textile printing. We will see how this all works out and I will keep posting. Thanks to all that have provided me with info! Dottie


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## moontown (Aug 30, 2006)

I remembered that you can load the Artanium ink on your left side channels, and Chromablast ink on the right side channels. You just choose different printing drivers for different applications. Definitely, you do not need to use any ink to 'draining' the whole system when you switch inks. Maybe you need ask sawgrass for the new 4800 drivers.



dotron said:


> Hi Everyone, My printer arrived and it is huge! Definetly took two of us to get into it's working space. It appears somewhat intimidating but that could just be me. I will power it up sometime this weekend. I did some research and found that the 4800 can swing between Artanium ink and Chromablast but is a 'draining' process that could cost alot of time and money. So I have to decide which I would like to do with this specific printer, cotton T's or textiles. I decided to stick with the cotton imprinting as I think the print quality will allow me to be more competative. I decided to purchase the Epson C88 for my textile printing. We will see how this all works out and I will keep posting. Thanks to all that have provided me with info! Dottie


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I am not sure if I understand what you mean. Here is the process as I know it if you put all 8 ChromoBlast cartridges in and then want to switch to the hybrid system that you are talking about. If you have a 4800 printer set up with 8 colors of ChromoBlast, you are going to have to drain all 8 lines with the cleaning cartridges. The reason why is you placed the LC, LM, PK, LK in the slots on the right side. You have to remove the ink from these lines completely before you slide the C,M,Y,K cartridges in there. Then, you can put the sublimation C,M,Y,K cartridges in on the left side. Once you do this, there is no need to switch it back. 

In addition, you potentially are going to have two other problems (unless Sawgrass already fixed them). If you look at the top of the C and LC cartridges, you will notice that there are tabs in different locations. These tabs help prevent you from accidently putting the cartridge on the wrong side. You also have to have the chips on the cartridges switched out or the printer will not read it properly and you will get an error message. You should be able to open the plastic shell of the cartridge and switch out the ink bladders and it will resolve both of these problems.

However, if you wanted to switch from 8-color ChromoBlast to 8-color Sublimation and then back to 8-color ChromoBlast, you would be wasting way too much money. That is why Sawgrass came up with the RIP software to run both systems. The problem with Sawgrass' RIP is that it requires you to run ChromoBlast and Sublijet IQ inks only (i.e. more money for them).


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi everyone,
I spoke to a representative at Sawgrass tech. and they sent me a fax of the flyer that advertises the new Hybrid dual decorating system for the Epson 4800. You have SubliJet on one side and Chromablast on the other. Everyone I call says, "Huh? I've never heard of it, let me talk to my manager and get back to you". Must be very new! I'll be finding out today what kind of cost this is going to be and let everyone know. I've had a chance to 'play' with my new Epson 4800 and WOW! The prints are really awesome. I don't think I'm going to be disappointed. However, it all lies in the cost now does'nt it? I am begining to wonder if the cost of the ink can easily be justified by the cost of the printable shirt vs the 100% cotton. Although I noticed someone said they were printing on 100% cotton with pigment inks? Any one willing to give me a quick briefing on the difference between sub ink, artanium and pigment? Thanks everyone and I will let you all know what the cost of the Hybrid conversion kit is. Dottie


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## periscope (Sep 14, 2006)

Another solution you could use for imprinting dye sub transfers onto 100% cotton is to use a polymer base. Duracotton 98 can be use for this purpose. Lay a blank sheet of Duracotton 98 on the t-shirt, press for 10 sec., remove backing and place your dye sub transfer over the polymer. Press at 400 degrees, heavy pressure for about 45 sec. Peel hot. Cost per imprint is much less - .55US for a sheet of letter size Duracotton 98 plus your dye sub paper. 

If you are doing many t-shirts the best route to go is to buy a color laser printer for $400 and run the Duracotton 98 straight through it and apply transfer directly to the shirt. It doesn't leave any hand and washes very well.

Ed
Periscope Promotions Inc.


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## dotron (Aug 31, 2006)

Hi,
Well, my Epson 4800 is up and printing. I decided to use the photo inks that came with it for my practice jobs. I am so impressed with it! The photo's are frame quality for sure. Anyone that has this printer or is purchasing one will not be disappointed! I called Sawgrass and asked them about being able to use two different inks and YES I can! I will be using Sublijet on one side and Chromablast on the other. Sawgrass directed me to ACP.com and they walked me through everything and answered all of my questions. They are extrememly knowledgeable and extrememly helpful. The owner of the company has been in touch with me since I purchased the inks and is going to walk us through the whole set-up. They also offer support for Corel X3, which is what I have. Some one else had a Chromablast T sample sent to them and they said that the first time they washed it that it cracked. I heard that the reason is that the proper pressure was not applied during the transfer process, but I will do some experimenting of my own. Evidently pressure applied by the press is extrememly important. So far I am very pleased with the support from Sawgrass and the support from Acp. I will probably be printing and testing by the end of next week and will have more information about this new Hybrid Dual Decorating System. Happy printing all! 
I read about the Duracotton and If the Chromablast does not perform well then I will definetly try it!
Dottie


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