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I have been outsourcing all of our production to a screen printer in Pittsburgh. I am happy with his work and the costs to me are not terrible. However, to have anything done under 100 prints doesn't seem economical.
I have an Epson Stylus 1400 oversized printer. I've done some research and it seems like I can get set up for under $1,000 (Used press, Paper, Sublimation ink)
I am aware that screen prints are typically higher quality than heat press. I've seen where you can use plastisol with a heat press, which seems to be sort of similar to a plastisol screen print.
My question is this: Is it worth my time and money to invest in the equipment and material necessary to be able to do my own prints? I'm not sure if the quality will be at a level that I can sell using inkjet transfers. I would still use a screen printer for any large jobs, but for prototypes and jobs under 25 prints, do the people of the dobizo community think it is wise to use the method I have been describing?
Please help. I'm trying to make a decision soon, and I'm not getting the information I need through basic research methods.
Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I'm at about the same point now as when I started. lol. How significant is the difference between inkjet heat press and plastisol heat press?
I agree with Joe. We do screenprinting on a daily basis. However it depends also on your market and the design and use of the shirt. We just finished 13 shirts for a family reunion and did them in vinyl, and at the first of the week we did 9 shirts for a gag gift, and used inkjet. The gag shirts were not meant to last, however the fam reunion shirts were. It just depends on your customer and market.
dye sub is nice, but you can only do it on light colored poly shirts. Its nice because it doesnt have a polymere window like regular inkjet transfers, it actually has gases that dye the fabric with the ink once heat is applied. The bad thing with dye sub is that it can only go on light colored poly tees.
Plastitols are nice as they are similar quality to screen print with no polymere window.
Ink jet in my opinion is not up to professional quality. I know I started with them in my business and quickly switched once I got to know the quality they put out. I myself switched to dtg printing to have a better quality product for my customers. Now this is only my opinion and I am sure the people who use inkjet transfers will say otherwise, but I have used both and this is my opinion
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The general consensus (and you will get arguments here) is that inkjet transfers are not ready for commercial sales.
At one time I would have greed with you but the new JPSS is one paper that is holding up to a lot things that older hot peel papers could not handle. The major one is longevity. Lou
Hi. I use dye sublimation and cut vinyl. I've recently done a lot of testing and research with inkjet transfers and although they've come on in 'leaps and bounds' over the last few years, I would still be hesitant about using them on any sort of commercial basis.
I would have liked to use inkjet transfers myself for getting images onto dark fabrics, but there is still far too much talk of 'customer expectations' with that process.
Are inkjet heat press tranfers any good? 
Lou
