Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Does anyone know of any pros and cons using the " Color Print " material for large eco/solvent ink heat pressed transfers ? The first printer that comes to mind using eco/solvent ink is the Versa Camm.
hello Don pros and cons hmmmmm..... I have used the cp2160 the company i work for sales alot of this material for the most part to people running roland printers. there are now a few different types of this material that have just came out a clear and a matte the regular cp2160 is a semigloss. A pro is we sale it by the yard on 24"and up roll up to 50 yards per full roll . another pro is when using a roland printer not alot of wasted material big print size or alot of little prints. pro is using a roland printer lets say you are doing 25 shirts front and back once done printing it will automatically contour cut around each image making it easy to weed and apply.another pro is its a solvent based material so the ink is very reseptive and prints nice. another pro it is more durable than most other heat transfer materials out there that are made for the eco sol inks. cons ill have to get back with you on that .......
I have some that i have not tried yet.. Just not gotten around tuit yet.. (been sitting there 5 months now).. The one cons ive heard of, off hand is that it really smells bad when using. and that it is hard on your cutting blade.
Its also kinda expensive, it seem like its about 20 a yard or so.. or was when i bought it.
so you do have a roland ? it smells alil but not that bad it is solvent based media but vs. the not smelly heat transfer material its worth the smell lol
GSG _ yeah i have a roland versacamm 540v.. with Max inks. (I have and run a busy sign shop in southern calif)
We also have a the oki data laser sub system, so mainly have been using that when we make shirts. The part about the smell I heard from the salesman at our main supplier who uses the colorprint himself.. I think He meant it smells bad when pressing it on, and his words were that it smellled Realllllllllly Reallllllllly bad .. .. I am hoping one of these days to get more time to play and see for myself.. but the dang customers keep wanting more signs and cutting into my exploring time.. rof..
Hey Mystysue,
I private PM'd you from sign forums, but thanks for answering my questions here.
Seems to me that if eco'solvent inks have a limited life outdoors then being constantly
run through the washing machine, life span would be even less. I also wonder how comfortable a non breatheable big vinyl print on a shirt would be. I did see some flesh colored pics using this method and they were big, beautiful and perfect. I assume that if there is a smell using the color print it comes from the heat of the transfer. I also wonder if there are any other printers cheaper than the versa Camm for using this material with.
I still have not seen any good portrait pics using the dyesub and Oki. I have given up.
However, I have seen some super portraits on cotton and 50/50 using duracotton HT paper.
My customers would not pay extra for polyester shirts.
I hate to contaminate my new oki I bought for dyesub with OEM toners, but to experiment with either method, OEM is cheaper. Also heard there is NO hand with the duracotton HT and the OEM ink actually goes into the shirt, not on top.
Tarus.. sorry i never checked and saw the Pm from the other forum.. You can feel free to email me any time.. i think you can do it thru here or thru signs 101 and I will get it.. Ive not found any problem with the life expectancy with any prints on my versa camm we sell digital prints for outside use daily. I have heard that the life expandancy for t-s done with colorprint is about 20 washes. ..... but not having used it i cant say for sure.
We dont do many portraits on tees, with the oki data (its been a couple months since we have had a request for that).
I think and this is just my humble opinion that knowing your in the sign business like I am, Your missing one of the best uses for the t-shirts and printed transfers. To me the money is not in the one-ups or portraits but in doing like company shirts.. for our regular customes with logos and such on them. We often have a customer that we have made vehicle graphics for also order t-shirts.. Then you are dealing with a logo or design you have already made, and just printing say like 25 transfers there is not any tweaking required on the logo.. just print applying the color profile. We also do mouse pads with logos. (and some with portraits that people give as gifts). and company name tags. I think the thing is to think about selling more than just the one-ups as they are really time hogs. I have a couple of T-s done with logos hanging within view in the shop. and also have my practice shirts so i can show people the colors. We went with the laser instead of the ink jet for the dyesub because we do not use it daily and i didnt want to deal with the head cloggs and such that can happen, and I only sub onto 50.50 shirts .. People here in california as a rule are not fond of 100% poly shirts.
Thanks Mystysue, you are a great help. Thanks alot.
You are so right, one shirt at a time is not worth it. Seems here many people want pics of their dead loved ones ( people and pets ) on shirts. At the moment, durabrite inks and spectra bright paper works for me. Wish I could find a vinyl that the C88+ would print on. The durabrite inks give stunning color and great durability. The ability to print on cotton and 50/50 shirts is a plus. After getting a taste of the market here I am thinking of doing just shirts and hats. I have the things to make cups with, but doubt anyone where I am located would buy one. So I will be selling the new cactus wraps real soon.
Thanks for the heads up on the colorprint material. I understand you don't know for sure, but 20 washes seems like a short life cycle to me. I still would like to have a Versa Camm. Thought about borrowing the money for one.
Thanks a lot Mystysue, hope it is warm in california cause it sure is cold here.
Making big prints with Color Print material 
