You have forgotten the vinyl print / cut systems like the Versacamm. It can be used for both dark and light garments along with short and long runs. The greatest part of the versacamm is that you can use iot for other money making purposes when it is not running shirts like stickers, signs, banners etc! If you are looking for DTG and are worried about volume to justify cost of the machine, I would definatly look at the versacamm.
So for the dye sub on cotton, who produces these systems/inks?
The inks are produced by Sawgrass, the same company that produces sublimation inks. The inks for cotton go under the name of Chromablast. You can google either and get more information on systems, cost and other information. Sawgrass doesn't sell direct to the public, but they do list their distributers.
As with the sublimation inks, the ideal printers are Epson. They now have a complete line of printers to handle just about any need on the market.
Dye sub isn't a one stop shop either. There's a learning curve with that as well and if you don't get it right, you'll spend a lot of money on blanks and ink before you know it.
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Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
Dye sub isn't a one stop shop either. There's a learning curve with that as well and if you don't get it right, you'll spend a lot of money on blanks and ink before you know it.
Very true.
Things to learn:
1. Color profiles.
2. Printer maintenence. With dye sub, you need to do nozzle checks more often.
3. Know your inks. You would think each ink is the same, however there can be variants within the colors of the same brand of ink. For example, in sublijet IQ, the black ink is more oily than the others. So if you have a design heavy in black, you will need to use more buffer paper than normal.
Thanks for the information and sorry for the belated response.
I have to say this is an incredible web site! I have had so many critical questions answered and have saved myself so much lost time and money by having people who are wiling to share what they have learned. Thanks so much!
Hey guys.. I'm a noob wanting to start out in the tshirt bus. I am a graphic designer and also have a diploma in fine arts Printmaking as well as being a fully qualified pre-press operator (after doing a 4 year apprenticeship) I have worked in digital and offset commercial printing environments. With this knowledge of printing process i am pretty confident with my ability to pick up and master new printing techniques and technologies.
I am at the point where i am wanting to put some of mine (and some of my friends) designs on t-shirts - marketed as limited edition tees. I have some experience with screen printing and was thinking of taking that path, but am thinking now that DTG may be better. My only reservation is that i am not too sure about the quality. We are going to be printing these designs on handmade tees - marketed as high quality original designs.
Does DTG really have the quality needed? can it last the distance? and would someone be able to post some pics of DTG prints on black tees?
A t-shirt printer told me that DTG-printed shirts fade very quickly. Is he correct?
Scott
I've seen several threads written by dtg owners on here that all say no, so it may have just been a scare tactic to get you to stay with screenprinting.
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Hard labor kills, make t-shirts instead.
This is a discussion about Pros and Cons of Each T-Shirt Printing Method that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Re: Pros and Cons of Each Shirt Imaging Method 
