cameront21

Hello all

I am new to the forums and have been using this site as a resource for the past week to help choose between all the different technology's. Originally I was wanting to persue screen printing but soon discovered that it would take a far larger investment in time and money and consume more space. Now I am looking into heat transfer printing. My dilema is now that I want good quality which brings me to sublimation printing however I would like to be able to print on dark clothing. Which I am also unable to do with chromablast printing. I also believe that you are not able to press on dark clothing with inkjet printing. So all that leaves as far as I know is plastisol transfers but this seems to not be a reasonable option for small runs and would decrease profit margins. So I guess either way all my options suck. To print on darks i have to use plastisol printing. So lets say I get over not being able to print on darks which do I choose? sublimation printing, chromablast printing, or inkjet printing.

What I am printing: High quality/resolution graphics on clothing. At this time I have no desire to print on tiles or license plates. Possible some mouse pads.

I plan on starting out with an epson c88 printer and bulk ink refill kit available off ebay. I do not want to have to purchase a cutter unless somebody knows of where i can purchase one for very cheap. And am still undecided upon a press.

Thank you for future responses of advice and recomendations

Cameron

 

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Twinge

There is, of course, no perfect solution or we wouldn't have all the options =)

You CAN print on dark shirts with transfer paper (requires a special 'opaque' kind), but personally I wouldn't recommend it as the quality is low.

Besides screen printing, your options for dark shirts include Direct-to-Garment printing (also quite expensive, but may come down in the next few years), Plastisol transfers (runs as low as 12 can be reasonably priced for 1-color, and you can often gang up multiple designs on one sheet), and Vinyl (you will, of course, need a cutter; a good new one will run you $1200+, but this is your only quality option of small runs on dark shirts besides DTG).

You might call around to see if you can find a used cutter somewhere local for a decent price; local is good because it saves on shipping and you can check it out before you buy it. Try sign shops, t-shirt shops, etc.

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