[dmhorn156]

If you can please help me. I am looking to sell t-shirts, mouse pads mugs, ceramic tiles, all with my artwork on it. I currently have no set up at all if you can please tell me exactly what to get and where. printer, inks, supplies, heat presses...etc. I am really lost on what to get. It will really be appreciated if you can help me out....thank you , Maurice

 

[cprvh]

Maurice,

First off you will need an Epson printer that will print as wide a transfer as you may need. For tiles, mouse pads and mugs a letter/legal size printer will do. If you want transfers larger than legal size for shirts, you will need to move up to a 13" or 17" printer. You only really need a CMYK printer.

There are currently three choices of dye sublimation inks available...Sawgrass, Artanium, and TOG. I would suggest a bulk ink system or refillable cartridges. You will also need dye sublimation transfer paper for your substrates. Some are specifically for hard or soft goods, other work well for either.

There are many choices for heat presses. If you are planning on transfering to tiles and thicker substrates, I would suggest a swing away press rather than a clam shell. Small presses start around $300 and go up! Match your press and printer sizes accordingly.

There are many suppliers for sublimation blanks, just Google "sublimation blanks." There are many choices to consider.

You should also visit www.dyesub.org. There are lots of good articles and reading there.

Good luck in your venture!

 

[Rodney]

Hi Maurice, if you don't want to print everything yourself, www.cafepress.com offers all of those products using their free service .

 

[dmhorn156]

thank you so much.....do I use sublimation ink:? whats the cheapest way of doing all this?

 

[dmhorn156]

Hi Maurice, if you don't want to print everything yourself, www.cafepress.com offers all of those products using their free service .

I don't believe they do private labeling? do you know who does?

 

[dmhorn156]

Maurice,

First off you will need an Epson printer that will print as wide a transfer as you may need. For tiles, mouse pads and mugs a letter/legal size printer will do. If you want transfers larger than legal size for shirts, you will need to move up to a 13" or 17" printer. You only really need a CMYK printer.

There are currently three choices of dye sublimation inks available...Sawgrass, Artanium, and TOG. I would suggest a bulk ink system or refillable cartridges. You will also need dye sublimation transfer paper for your substrates. Some are specifically for hard or soft goods, other work well for either.

There are many choices for heat presses. If you are planning on transfering to tiles and thicker substrates, I would suggest a swing away press rather than a clam shell. Small presses start around $300 and go up! Match your press and printer sizes accordingly.

There are many suppliers for sublimation blanks, just Google "sublimation blanks." There are many choices to consider.

You should also visit www.dyesub.org. There are lots of good articles and reading there.

Good luck in your venture!

do you need special software to print the art work? for all these items

 

[cprvh]

Just depends on how involved your graphics are. Many people use Corel, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign or Printshop. I have even printed transfers from MS Word. The higher end software will offer more in the way of color management features.

Many people get along just fine with the ICC's provided by the ink suppliers. In our shop we build our own ICC's for specific substrates and are able to get the colors back on line when they do drift.

 

[Rodney]

I don't believe they do private labeling? do you know who does?

No, they don't do private labeling. I don't know of anybody that does sublimation and private labeling.