I'm about to venture on sublimation printing and would like to focus on sports apparel such as jerseys...etc. I will be purchasing the Epson Stylus Pro 7880, 16x16 print press and others such as ink and sub paper. I will be using Photoshop as my primary design software.
Do you think this will do the job? Anyone here using the same or similar set-up? Any review particularly on the Epson 7880?
I agree with Steve on the press, I myself am looking into sublimation but looking into the printers as I've read so much on different printers, that I cannot commet to any one printer. Now I am reading about a new printer ( Ricoh ), I thought Epson was the only one that could use Sawgrass Inks?. I guess that there is more research to be done.
Your 7880 printer is fine. You will need to decide between ArTainium and Sublijet inks. No question, get a 16x20 heat press. US companies HIX, Stahls' and Geo Knight each have 16x20 swing away and clamshell heat presses.
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Jack - staff@alphasupply.com - Alpha Supply Company - Dye Sub Tips
Heat Press Equipment and Supplies - 1-800-908-9916
I have the Ricoh printer and am very happy with its quality and also speed.
For a press I didn't have the room for a swing-away, so bought the Hotronix Draw press.
The heating platen stays stationary, and the surface you put your material on slides out towards you.
I have been very happy with it.
I'd prefer a swingaway press vs a clamshell; you can adjust the height and do thicker items like plaques, tiles, etc. better on one of those because the head goes straight up and down. I recommend the Knight DK20S as a good manual swingaway 16x20 press, and Knight has great service should you need it.
Regarding the Ricoh - it has lower maintenance, faster print speed, and a better overall design when it comes to ink usage and effeciency than an Epson. The print quality is slightly better on an Epson, but "slightly" is a relative term subject to user preference, and not even noticeable by most.
I went by their store and was very impressed with the GX7000 over the Epson they do not clog as much and produce better blacks. Print much faster and cost less to run.
I will be buying one some time in Jan from them.
What looks amazing is the photo tiles and pannels in many sizes you sub on to.
There are several advantages of the Epson 78XX. First you qualify as a large format printer which dramactically lowers your ink cost. We are not talking just a few percentages but more in the range of 5-7 times less then desktop printers. This is not a huge issue if you are doing mugs but if you are doing apparel it is a big difference. Coming from experience there is only one Sawgrass ink that should be used - Sublime. The vast majority of vendors will point you in this direction. The colors are great and most important - NO CLOGGING!
My start-up sublimation set-up 
