# espon printer compare with plastisol when using a heat press



## Dave 2006 (Apr 13, 2006)

*Re: where to have heat transfers made*



> Most people just print the transfers themselves with an epson or HP printer and the right inks.


i was just curious about how does the process of using an espon printer compare with plastisol when using a heat press? is it safe to say that the printer will produces a better looking (details and gradients), but not be as strong as the plastisol. is the ink used in the espon printers similar to the plastisol ink?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

*Re: where to have heat transfers made*



Dave 2006 said:


> i was just curious about how does the process of using an espon printer compare with plastisol when using a heat press? is it safe to say that the printer will produces a better looking (details and gradients), but not be as strong as the plastisol. is the ink used in the espon printers similar to the plastisol ink?


It depends what you mean by "better looking".

You seem to be looking at it at an ink level - at that level the ink in an Epson printer is not at all similar to Plastisol, and no it won't be "better looking", but rather much much worse. If you take a very simple design (I [heart] NY for example) and print it with plastisol and with Epson ink, the plastisol will look a lot better.

_However_, that's on a level playing field. If you're comparing full colour shirts, shirts with gradients (as you mentioned), etc. then the heat press result is going to be _much_ more practical. You _could_ still produce a better looking print using plastisol ink (although probably not with a transfer), but it would cost you upwards of five times as much. Realistically, most people using plastisol will restrict their palette to keep costs down to a point where profit can still be made.

Plastisol isn't just stronger - it has very good opacity. For a t-shirt print that you want to read well (high contrast, visibility, etc.) that's generally a big plus. There's no getting around the fact that plastisol will give you superior results, but that's not the only practicality in printing a shirt.


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