This may have been posted before but i am concerned or unsure about the right type of ink to use.
Can I use a quality based ink for light and dark transfers or do i need to use another type like magic ink, artanium or similar.
I am looking at printers and decided to go with an Epson D88 or R265/R300 which is within my budget but the sublimation ink is way out of my budget. D88 cost £200 and the others are around £300 for a CISS kit.
I admit that I am new to this trade but experience in hard copy printing and designing but not for sublimation/garments/mugs and so on.
Any help and advice would be welcomed, also does anyone know where is the best place to buy the right type of inks at a good price considering that I am in the UK.
as you may know...sublimation ink will only be successful on white/light/ash 100% polyester...on cotton the image will washout as the inks will only bond into the polyester.
For other transfers, make sure you use pigmented inks..dye based will wash out
I am not familiar with the UK and European pricing or inks
ok i am fairly new to this but will try and answer what i have learnt
you need a pigment ink if you are using an Inkjet printer,the Dye inks will wash out when u wash garment,the pigment inks soak into the cloth.as to Dk t/p i would have thought it was the same even though the method if different to light t/p hope this helps when i was using Epson i was using the Dura Brite but i found it worked out expensive,as i didn't have the room for a CIS system i went with a Laser printer and not looked back I do not know about sublimation sorry but i am sure there will be someone here that can answer that for you
the 2 ink company's i have used and found reliable are Printerland and Manxprint
Hi,
thanks for your feedbacks. To be honest I must be really thick because I still dont have a clue as to what ink to use.
Let me give you a breakdown of what i want to do and use.
Heat press
t-shirts, mugs, plates, clocks ect
use light and dark transfer paper
bubble jet printer (epson d88, r265 or r300)
what ink do i use? I am realy confused, do i use pigment ink, sublimation ink dye, artanium? I have got the drift of everything else but not this. Seems like there are so many types of inks but all i want is one that will do all (if this is possible) i need to do and that will not wash off or run in the wash. Ok i know that in time it will fade away but not after a few washes.
Can anyone help or advise mere, or better still let me know where to go. I really dont want to buy the wrong ink and printer and sell bad quality cheap goods.
If u use dye it will wash out u need pigment ink which i think epson uses i have no idea on sublimation (meaning i do not know if u can do sublimation with epson) Epson uses a pigment ink that can be used for either dk or light prints but not sure if u can use on cups, if u look at the site i suggested it will tell u or go to the tab button on the left hand side of this page and look up inks in the posts I'll see if i can find 1 and let u know who did the thread
ps well there r 2 threads marked inks i am sure u will find lots of info in them so good luck
here is a link u may find help://joshellsworth.com/category/heat-press-processes/inkjet-transfer-paper/pful he does a lot of vidio's as well i found it very helpfull
Last edited by deniseg; February 25th, 2008 at 05:50 PM.
Yup, Epson is the way to go and now understand the uses of pigment ink and sub dye ink. It was a struggle and a headache to understand but ka-ching i think i got it.
I will be getting an epson durabrite D120 for transfers and also a D88 or D92 for sub dye as artanium supply the inks for these machines.
Thanks for all your replies, it has been well worth it.
The right type of ink to use 
Re: The right type of ink to use 
u need pigment ink which i think epson uses 
