Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I am still weighing getting that heat press, but in pricing plastisol transfers I am not convinced I'd save much money over having shirts screen printed. Now I am thinking about heat transfers as well.
I'm getting a bit overwhelmed reading about CIS, printers, dyes, etc. So your post abovemade me hopeful. Your sample photos look great. I have an Epson R300 which uses , I am pretty sure, photographic ink.
I've read that some people here have used a system with that printer -- but you are basically saying I can get good (professional) results provided I use the JPSS?
(edited) would youj explain a bit more about "fiber lift"with 100% cotton?
Re: Can I use my Stylus Pro 7800 To print Heat Transfers??
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Originally Posted by jrotem
Hi Kelly
I am still weighing getting that heat press, but in pricing plastisol transfers I am not convinced I'd save much money over having shirts screen printed. Now I am thinking about heat transfers as well.
I am so sorry, Jean. I missed this post until now. It's been a long time... not sure if you've found the information you were looking for by now. I can try to help out, and point you in the right direction the best I can.
For plastisols, seems like the price break comes from not having to order such a large minimum, as is usually the case with screen printers.
You've probably seen how different plastisol suppliers have different rates, so that plays a factor.
With the plastisols, there is no buying inventory in sizes and colors that aren't yet sold. When an order comes in, grab that size and color and press away. It help keeps stock flexible, thereby helping reduce the amount of stock needed to fill orders. That's in instances where there's a website and a blue medium is ordered. With screen printing, you have to carry stock of everything you sell in every size, etc.
Not with plastisols. So that is one of the benefits that people often to refer to as a way to save. It's really a nice way to save on tying up the money in inventory.
And, for particular size orders, it can be more cost effective when dealing with minimums.
In a case where you know what sizes and colors you need when placing an order for screening, it might be cheaper to outsourse the screening. Plus, applying plastisols will be using your time, and with outsourcing, not so.
It really depends on your unique situation, so if you feel plastisols aren't more cost effective for what you've got going on, they probably aren't. It's not always the better choice.
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I'm getting a bit overwhelmed reading about CIS, printers, dyes, etc. So your post abovemade me hopeful. Your sample photos look great. I have an Epson R300 which uses , I am pretty sure, photographic ink.
I don't see the kit they refer to in the description, but the guys name is Ross at inkjetcarts.us, and you can ask him if you are still interested in using this printer for inkjet heat transfers.
There are other suppliers for 3rd party generic pigment ink. Some are inkjetfly.com, shopdyesub.com, and I can't remember the other one I've been seeing lately. I just looked at Ross' site because I am most familiar with how to look things up at his site. I plan to use him for refill carts when I place my first order (running very dangerously low on OEM carts, probably should've placed my order by now. ) But I've heard great things about each of those suppliers. More so than any problems, but refill carts (and bulk systems/CIS) aren't always the easiest to work with, so that's sometimes part of the trouble.
Anyway, if you want to stick with just using JPSS (Jetpro Sofstretch) - you might not have to change your ink whatsoever... as you saw in my thread. My Canon dye did not fade at all. But that could be my blank helping that out.
If you haven't moved way past this point already, just do a test on your ink and what blank you want to try. See if it fades.
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I've read that some people here have used a system with that printer --
Oh, okay. I've you've seen that, you might want to use the same supplier that they are using and having good luck with the inks. That's why I am going with Ross. My friend on here has great luck with her carts and ink and we have the same printer. So I am going to learn from her success and just follow suit.
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but you are basically saying I can get good (professional) results provided I use the JPSS?
That's a matter of opinion for each person. And a matter of the customer's opinion. Depends on what you think of it, and what your target market is.
Professional to me, can mean that one can sustain a business from the sale of the product, and in that sense, yes, that is being done.
Professional can also mean professionally produced according to the industry standard, in which case, probably most on the forum say JPSS falls short.
There are debates on it. Some feel it can be an acceptable substitute for DTG, some feel it is as good as screening, others disagree... so personally testing a sample and judging the product is pretty much a must.
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(edited) would youj explain a bit more about "fiber lift"with 100% cotton?
That is called "fibrillation". The cotton fibers break/break loose, and raise, giving the appearance of a fade, when really, there is none. It is the small fibers.
I found this link that might help explain it alot better than I can:
Again, my apologies, Jean. I surely would have posted up for you if I had seen this earlier.
Where are you at with everything at this time? Did you decide which direction was right for you?
Re: Can I use my Stylus Pro 7800 To print Heat Transfers??
Oh boy, oh boy. Thank you so much, Kelly, for the long, informative post, and no worries. It's taken me a while to even get where I can reply, and even so I can only tackle so much right now. Why? Because every time I start to think about how to move ahead, a bunch of other questions come into play (as you well know) and I can hear my brain saying "no more! no more!"
OK, so I finally got to the point where I wanted to get a Seiki 15x15. The price can't be beat for the size and the reviews here sound very good. So I hope to get one shortly.
So far so good. Then I realized I would need a printer. I have the R300 but after I considered changing the ink I realized that as a graphic designer I still need a printer than uses photographic ink. So then I started to research printers here and most Epson printers I saw were not in the budget.
Then I saw an ad for an Epson C86 on Freecycle that supposedly had a paper jam and the giver didn't want to deal with it. I found the bit of paper jamming it and it seems to work fine. Score!
Trying to match up the best ink with the best transfer paper is making my head spin as I sort through the many threads in this wonderful forum. Since the C86 uses DuraBrite and the nice people gave me an extra black cartridge, I think I would like to start there and see how it goes. From what I am reading here it seems that DuraBrites are working well for many people using Jetpro Sofstretch paper. That means light shirts only, yes? OTOH I am not encouraged by your comments re JPSS falling short of the "industry standard." What would that standard be? Are there other heat transfers I should consider instead?
I also went through Rodney's plastisol test thread and tried checking out some of the vendors and their prices for custom designs. My head is swimming.
I really wanted to do this in part for plastisols but right now I don't see where they would be price-effective yet, even if ganged, unless I make small designs. I do need to explore further.
Back to the heat press. Is a T-square ruler for placement absolutely necessary? Can I use my regular T-square or is the t-shirt kind different somehow?
It seems I need teflon sheets. Are they all the same?
Kelly, thank you again for all the info and I apologize if I've taken this thread off it's original track.
Now where's that smiley that bangs its head on the desk?
Re: Can I use my Stylus Pro 7800 To print Heat Transfers??
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Originally Posted by jrotem
Oh boy, oh boy. Thank you so much, Kelly, for the long, informative post, and no worries. It's taken me a while to even get where I can reply, and even so I can only tackle so much right now. Why? Because every time I start to think about how to move ahead, a bunch of other questions come into play (as you well know) and I can hear my brain saying "no more! no more!"
You're welcome and I totally understand that feeling. I get it again every time I think of Coreldraw. Sorry for the delay, Jean.
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Then I saw an ad for an Epson C86 on Freecycle that supposedly had a paper jam and it seems to work fine. Score!
Cool!!! Good score indeed. I have the model up from that - the c88 - and it works fine for this. You should be good with that as long as it prints fine, and it sounds like it does. =)
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Trying to match up the best ink with the best transfer paper is making my head spin
It did mine, too. After many months of reading and following people around and waiting for their feedback on their results, I've decided to go with the 3rd party ink from Inkjetcarts.us. If you search them on the forum, you'll probably turn up many of the same threads that helped me make my mind up.
I do use Durabrite right now, but because it is so expensive, I won't stay with it. We print too much. Not just transfers, papers as well.
Some people get something called "color shifting" with Durabrite ink. That's where the black may turn olive under the press, or green turns purple. Your design changes colors when the heat is applied.
Sometimes reducing the "yellow" ink in the printer setttings solves it for some people, for others, they have to go to the 3rd party generic pigment inks, like from Inkjetcarts.us, or some go with shopdyesub.com, inkjetfly.com and there are some others who's names escape me now, but a search for "generic" or "3rd party" pigment ink should bring more around if you want to find some more. Also, google will do the trick, but personally, I trust the friends who use inkjetcarts.us, so that's why I am going with them.
So that's what I basically can share on inks. If you have any questions at all, please let me know. Sometimes I leave stuff out, but it's not intentional. I just can't always remember to write everything down. That's also why I love to write in the threads, because other's can easily spot if something is missing and pitch in or add another great supplier. I do love this forum for that. Lots of great resources available. I hope I'm making up for my late response!
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From what I am reading here it seems that DuraBrites are working well for many people using Jetpro Sofstretch paper.
Yes, that's true. I am also one of these people for now. There are also alot using the 3rd party pigments inks, and some using Claria. The Durabrites seem to sometimes suffer from color shifting, the Claria seems to sometimes suffer from an occasional red or black bleed for someone, yet the 3rd party pigment inks seem to have the most consistant success from what I read in the threads. I've never done a poll on it, but the transfers seem to work best.
The problem the 3rd party inks run into isn't with the transfer, but with clogging the printers. Once you move to bulk ink systems (especially) and re-fill carts (less so) you have to be mindful to print pretty regular with re-fill carts, and pretty much daily with bulk ink systems to keep the print heads with flowing ink.
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That means light shirts only, yes?
Yes, white being the best, but light for sure.
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OTOH I am not encouraged by your comments re JPSS falling short of the "industry standard." What would that standard be? Are there other heat transfers I should consider instead?
The industry standard of screen printing being the overall preferred method of printing by consumers in general. It's a very generalized statement, but one that is held by many on the forum.
When it comes to "heat transfer papers" - it's my opinion that JPSS is the *best paper* out there at the moment. It's a well respected paper in the heat press section.
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Back to the heat press. Is a T-square ruler for placement absolutely necessary? Can I use my regular T-square or is the t-shirt kind different somehow?
Some who own it might say so, I get by fine without it. Motoskin posted a trick of just folding the tee-shirt in half, and pressing that.
That kills two birds with one stone. First, you get a center line on the tee, second, you get the moisture out of the shirt.
Unfold the shirt and no matter how it is cut, you've found center and it's pre-pressed and ready to go. I like the method alot. =)
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It seems I need teflon sheets. Are they all the same?
Pretty much. Just keep a rag, or a Magic Eraser handy to keep it clean. If it gets ink on it, it can transfer that ink onto your next clean shirt that you are pressing.
Here are a few posts for you on pressing. They address also, some of the problems I ran into pressing and how I fixed them. Hope they help, Jean.
Kelly, thank you again for all the info and I apologize if I've taken this thread off it's original track. Now where's that smiley that bangs its head on the desk? jean
No worries, hope I've helped and that it's not too late in the day.
This is a discussion about Heat press questions - printers, plastisols, papers, inks that was posted in the Heat Press and Heat Transfers section of the forums.
Heat press questions - printers, plastisols, papers, inks 
) But I've heard great things about each of those suppliers. More so than any problems, but refill carts (and bulk systems/CIS) aren't always the easiest to work with, so that's sometimes part of the trouble.
