[SewDazzle]

Hi all,
Can I print T's using the ink that came with the WF1100. Or do I need the sublijet kit. Also, I was thinking of investing into a screen press starter package. Which wold be a better investment if I already have the heat press and cutter? Subliject + Ink or the Screen press starter package.

 

[tfehrenbacher]

Hi There... Let me try to help answer some questions for you.

Sublimation we suggest mainly for doing hard surface items, such as ceramic tiles, metal, MDF boards and FRP Plastics. The ink, when heated turns to a gas and the pores in the blank item open up - sucking the ink into it and then as the item cools down, the pores close back up allowing the ink to become part of the item itself. Does that make sense? The main catch to these blank items is that they are polyester coated and that is the coating that allows this process to occur.
If you use sublimation ink and apply it to a fabric - that fabric must be 100% poly and white in color to get the best & brightest image result out of it. If you use a 60/40 for instance, you may get a more vintage type look over the bright image when using 100% poly.

If you're wanting to do darker colors, pastel colors and stick with more 100% cotton or 50/50 blends then you should stick with a regular ink jet printer (like the WF1100) and use the regular Epson inks and buy some transfer paper. Now transfer paper doesn't become part of the garment like sublimation does, but you will get a nice, bright image and you will be able to use the 50/50 blends or 100% cotton.

A couple suggestions on paper are the JetPro SoftStretch for light garments. This paper has a nice, soft feel and will stretch with almost any type material.
A paper for darks, would be the 3G Jet Opaque - this paper works great on 100% cotton and will have a little more ply-ability to it over some of the other more stiff opaque papers.

Hope this helped a little and please email me should you have any other questions!
Tracy

 

[lben]

In addition to what Tracy said, if you are going to be doing shirts or other fabric with heat transfers, go to cobraink.com and buy some refillable ink cartridges and some bulk pigment ink. You will cut your costs dramatically over the epson ink carts. To get a good idea of what you can print on with sublimation go to conde.com and look at the sublimation blanks.

A screen press starter package would also be a good investment. I suggest the semi-pro package from Ryonet. For that you will need an epson 1400 with all black ink (black max), accurip software, color separation software like simple seps, and design software like coreldraw. The software is pricey but worth it. Remember too with screen printing comes a big learning curve.

With the cutter you can also go into rhinestones and vinyl signs.

I've got my fingers into a lot of pies - sublimation, heat transfers, vinyl transfers, foil transfers, screen printing, rhinestones, and crystal imprints. And that's just what I do in-house. Everything else is farmed out.

 

[charles95405]

The 1100 will work fine for either sublimation OR regular inkjet transfers but you cannot switch back and forth..sublimation will require a dedicated printed...and should be used often to avoid nozzle clogs. Also the 1100 OEM ink is pigment ink and is what you want to use. Not all Epson printers have pigment inks...such as the 1400 which has Claria inks....great for photos..lousy for garments. As stated, if doing garments in sublimation they must be 100% polyester in white or light pastel..you can use 50/50 blend BUT the ink will only stay on the polyester fibers. For hard surfact items, they must be polymer coated for sublimation

For dark garments....I just don't do...I don't like the feel or finished product

 

[Fenrir]

The Epson branded ink tends to over-yellow when heat pressed. You can try it, but decrease your yellow saturation in the software. Some companies sell heat transfer inks with a duller yellow that balances out. Others sell regular (all purpose) refill inks but the yellows on these don't overpower as much as the Epson brand. I've seen complaints that the Epson OEM yellow really can't be corrected for, especially in an image that has a lot of green and orange hues which will come out yellow-green and yellow ochre.

In any case, the Epson ink is far too expensive for you to use for mass production! Unfortunately, the Workforce 1100 and the Stylus Photo 1400 have been discontinued. The 1400 can be refilled with pigment inks. You will have to use a color profile for all printing if you do this.

If you are lucky, your local Staples may still have some on clearance. The Stylus Photo 1400 has been changed to the Artisan 1430, which is similar. The Workforce 1100 however, has been completely reformatted into the WF-7010. This uses a bottom paper tray, forcing the paper to go through a C shaped/180° turn inside the printer. I can't imagine how much of a disaster this is going to be. If you want to print on card stock or heavy photo paper, I have never seen a printer with a sharp-bend paper path that doesn't jam constantly, especially if you want to print a lot of envelopes.

 

[SewDazzle]

Thanks everyone for the great valuable information, this has cleared up a lot. I'm glad I asked before making unnecessary processes. I already have the WF1100 but didn't know about about the WF1400 for screen printing. I'll research that further.