Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Im new to the t-shirt forum, but have read most of the threads on here pertaining to which epson printer to choose. Im kinda stuck right now. Im opening up a t-shirt business where I will be doing customized t-shirts (about 100 a month). Now my question after reading all the threads is which printer should I buy the epson C88 or the 1280. Most people say to go with the C88 but their are a few who recommend the 1280. It seems to make more sense to buy the C88 for only $100, whereas the 1280 costs $499. Will there be a big difference in the quality of the print on the C88 model compared to the 1280? Is the jamming problems with transfers worth the headache? Its really all about quality and making the customer come back so any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Good morning.. The difference is the ink.. 1280 uses Dye ink and the c88 uses pigment ink which is what is recommended. 1280 is a larger format printer with 6 inks. c88 is 4 inks. If you were to print an 8 x 11 print on the c88 you average cost would be about 50 cents. It would be about 75 cents for the 1280. By the way the 1280 can be found but it is being replaced by the r1800. I am a former epson rep. If all your doing is 100 shirts a month then think in terms return on investment. How many shirts will you need to print before you recover that $400.The other thing is what size transfers you want to do. Hope this helps. Lou
Thanks for the quick reply lou, very much appreciated! If the difference is only in the ink and the C88 uses the ink that is recommened, then I can only assume that I should be buying the C88 and maybe later after the profits start increasing upgrade the epson printer.
HI. Quick question. I was looking into buying the 1280... is that not the way to go? I do need to print larger images but I am concerned about the ink. Will the dye ink work just as well? Also, will I be able to get the bulk ink for the 1280? I am purchasing from Costco online and they have several models. I do not see the C88 there. Im kinda on a budget and dont want to spend what I dont need to.Thanks in advance.
Costco sells just the discontinued models that's the agreement costco has with them. The dye ink could be a problem. But let me explain to you and to others that may be listening. Dye ink from epson can be water resistant. It is not a thermal printer like HP. In fact you will see a lot of paper sellers will make it clear not to use certain HP models.(Dye ink from HP is not water resistant. when I did demos at the Best buy for Epson I would place a picture in water to show the people looking at the printers that Epson does not use thermal print heads. And the picture remained on the paper. Dye ink will separate but not like a HP and inks from Pigment printers, durabright and durabright Ultra are water resistant and will not fade. The only reason I would get a 1280 is if I was going to do large format transfers. You may find one of those bulk systems that you can use for the 1280 that has pigment ink. OK here is a test for you guys. I know that if you have an office supply store near you they all have demo's set up. On the weekends they have Epson Reps there at some. Take a few transfer papers and have them print out a picture for you. They have a chip with sample pictures on them. Or have a clerk do it for you. Just tell them what you are doing. Take the transfer home and print a few sample shirts and wash them and you will see what happens.Don't think twice about asking. That is what they do. I know I did. I would have photographers come in all the time when I was doing it. Lou
Dye ink is just that, a dye. Dye can spread, bleed. Pigment is really poly bits in gel and when they get on the fabric they melt into the fabric. No bleeding. I know a lot of people who buy the cheap inks from internet suppliers and replace the ink that comes with the printer because wow, they are so much cheaper. well folks it is not pigment ink. It is dye ink. You can buy bulk system that use pigment.
You have middle ground. Like I said I use cx7800 all in one. It scan copies and prints. The DPI is 5700 x 1440. It sell for about $180. Uses same ink. When you buy a printer at a higher your not buying a better printer but more whistles and bells. It may be faster in printing. That to me is important.
1200 x 2400 dpi is the scanning resolution of my CX7800. You can scan and save at what ever you feel is the best quaity for your work. I set my scan at 600 dpi as I find that gives me a great picture to work with on photoshop. Cheaper ones may be 600 x 1200 and higher priced ones could be 2400 x 3200. I am at middle ground. My copies and scans are great to work with.
is there a better pigment epson other than the c88? I don't want the cheapest, but I don't want the high end either.
I am awaiting delivery for Magic Mix pigment inks from personalizedsupplies.com. I have read happy reports from users here and on other message boards. I also have two Epson Durabrite printers that can be used as backups for heat transfer printing.
The name of the other non-Epson pigment ink supplier escapes me.
Epson inks will need color adjustments made as I understand there's a slight color shift (I believe in the black).
I will not be using a bulk ink system as overkill for my use and I'm currently not up for all the tweaking needed to get get a CIS going. Plus the initial expense.
Epson Printer Selection?? 
