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mattk7198 · May 10th, 2009

Hi all,

I saw some posts touching on this subject from different angles but I did not find a solution. I am also new at this interest so my
apologies in advance if there is some misundertanding in my post.

I wanted to buy an entry level ready-to-go integrated solution for DTG printing, not on t-shirts necessarily but for Prepared-for-print(PFP) fabric (50% cotton ok, white ok, cut as printer prefers ok) and that is based on the DIY principles (as I cannot afford 15-20K, i have a budget of
2K).

I plan to cut the printed PFP fabric into garments after printing.

I think the cheapest but complete system
would be

1. the printer with wide format and 6-8 channels, perhaps an Epson R1800 or 4880

2. some loading mechanism (but perhaps the existing one can be used since we are not requiring t-shirt but cut fabric printing?)

3. the dtg ink (which will be pigment based ?) possibly filled through a continious ink system (CIS)

4. Software, RIP and color profiles for that printer system.

So my main question is can I buy such a system complete with a budget of about 2K and where?

I found one well known (on t-shirtforums) web site (dtg---.com ) that sells this 4880 not sure if it has all parts necessary...

If no company sells an integrated solution then is the above complete? Any specific recommendations?

Thank you in advance.
Matt

DAGuide · May 11th, 2009

Matt,

I don't want to burst your bubble, but your budget is not realistic. First off, the MSRP price on a 4880 is $2,000 in itself. Most dtg RIPs sell for $1,000 or more. The startup ink that comes with these printers list for around $1,000. You also need to get something that will cure the inks (i.e. heat press, conveyor dryer) that is large enough to cure the items you are printing.

I would suggest that you find someone that will do the contract printing for you until you can build a customer base and increase your budget. Right now, sorry to say you just don't have enough capital and your expectations are not realistic at $2,000 - even for a used printer.

Best wishes in whatever direction you go,

Mark

mattk7198 · May 11th, 2009

Thank you for your reply. For a number of reasons I cannot outsource. So I am looking into
perhaps a stretched-cheap solution where if something goes wrong I have not lost much.

According to my initial research I can get an R1800/R1900 for 500usd, textile ink for about 2-300usd,
CIS for 100usd and rip 850usd.

But if i have to stretch the budget then I have to... I would be ok to stretch the budget even more (3k?),
if I could find an integrated ready solution that i know could have a good chance of working soon.
This is more important than budget because time is of essense.

Thank you for your replies and suggestions.