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1678 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by WalkingZombie, Oct 10, 2017

dbias

Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2017

Ok, so I mainly print tshirts using JPSS. I will continue to do that on white and light colored garments. However, I just bought an Epson 7110 and I plan on printing socks and other things using sublimation ink. Sublimation items will only be gift items. I know that a top brand ink a lot of people use is Cobra. I really don't want to put out that much money for gift items. So, my question is, are there cheaper brand inks out there that produces decent results. I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel, but something mid-range. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

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mgparrish

· #2 · Oct 5, 2017

dbias said:
Ok, so I mainly print tshirts using JPSS. I will continue to do that on white and light colored garments. However, I just bought an Epson 7110 and I plan on printing socks and other things using sublimation ink. Sublimation items will only be gift items. I know that a top brand ink a lot of people use is Cobra. I really don't want to put out that much money for gift items. So, my question is, are there cheaper brand inks out there that produces decent results. I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel, but something mid-range. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Cheap inks might be OK but in order to sublimate as accurate as possible those inks need an ICC profile. Either the ink supplier provides or you have one made.

The reason you can find ultra low cost sub inks is that they lack profiles and support.

Cobra inks are affordable inks.

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JaeAmera

· #3 · Oct 6, 2017

Derrick,

Take heed to what Mike stated....the LAST thing you want is for a gift experience to become a nightmare with bad inks /color results.

Remember, You get what you pay for.

A suggestion (trying my best not to be biased)..if just using sublimation for gifts, why not outsource the purchase of sublimation transfers instead of buying inks, etc to attempt it in-house?

I have bought four or five DTG shirts within the past two years...the last thing I thought about was trying to BUY a cheap D.T.G machine to satisfy gifts or very sporadic requests. I let someone with professional quality and mastery of the process...save me the headaches and potential waste of time and money. Just a thought.

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Signature Series

· #4 · Oct 6, 2017

Jae hit it on the head. If you think Cobra ink is expensive then you are not ready to do this in-house. Spend your time/money on sales/marketing and wait till you build up enough business to justify doing it in-house.

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Resu

· #5 · Oct 6, 2017 (Edited)

dbias said:
Ok, so I mainly print tshirts using JPSS. I will continue to do that on white and light colored garments. However, I just bought an Epson 7110 and I plan on printing socks and other things using sublimation ink. Sublimation items will only be gift items. I know that a top brand ink a lot of people use is Cobra. I really don't want to put out that much money for gift items. So, my question is, are there cheaper brand inks out there that produces decent results. I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel, but something mid-range. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

For less than $100 you can dip your toes in the sublimation pool and get the equal if not better results than using Cobra Inks. I started with Cobra Inks and once I learned the sublimation game I found equal or better inks for less.

Head over to Printpayless.com and purchase (2) empty set of carts, (1) set of pre-filled cleaning carts and (4) x 100ml CMYK bottles of their sublimation ink.

You can print using Adobe RGB 1998 or my fave, ColorMatch RGB for your ICC vice needing a custom one. Don't forget to assign your artwork the Adobe RGB 1998 color profile and you'll be sublimating with a minimal invest. You can bump up your setup with a real 252XL black cart from Cobra or Inkjetcart.us as the one included from Printpayless has an XL chip but the capacity isn't XL.

From experience I've found the refillable cart reset/refill process on the newer WF-7620/7610/7110's is more fickle than what you'll experience with the older WF-7520/7620/7010's. So check around for the latter models on Craigslist as they can be purchased for a reasonable price.

Good luck and happy hunting.

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dbias

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 6, 2017

Resu said:
Head over to Printpayless.com and purchase (2) empty set of carts, (1) set of pre-filled cleaning carts and (4) x 100ml CMYK bottles of their sublimation ink.

What's the reason for 2 empty carts?

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mgparrish

· #7 · Oct 6, 2017

dbias said:
What's the reason for 2 empty carts?

Set of carts, not 2 empty carts.

2 empty sets of carts = 8 individual carts, CMYK x 2

But I disagree strongly about using ICC profiles meant for non-sublimation inks such as Adobe RGB 1998, perhaps it's better than nothing, but if I had the time I would post the differences, it's night and day, especially doing anything photographic.

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Resu

· #8 · Oct 6, 2017

mgparrish said:
But I disagree strongly about using ICC profiles meant for non-sublimation inks such as Adobe RGB 1998, perhaps it's better than nothing, but if I had the time I would post the differences, it's night and day, especially doing anything photographic.

I don't doubt you!! I was giving the straight "cheap" solution as requested.

The workaround was to suggest buying Cobra's cheapest sublimation ink set to get the profile and use that profile with the Printpayless.com sublimation on future ink re-ups.

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mgparrish

· #9 · Oct 6, 2017

Resu said:
I don't doubt you!! I was giving the straight "cheap" solution as requested.

The workaround was to suggest buying Cobra's cheapest sublimation ink set to get the profile and use that profile with the Printpayless.com sublimation on future ink re-ups.

ICC sublimation profiles are specific to the ink brand and printer model used.

Again, it may be better than nothing, but wasn't designed for that ink.

It's also a misuse of Cobra intellectual property.

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Resu

· #10 · Oct 6, 2017

mgparrish said:
It's also a misuse of Cobra intellectual property.

LOL!!! You flag waving for Cobra? Lest we forget they were selling their "high temperature" (sublimation) ink during the Sawgrass bully era. So I'm sure they wouldn't mind a paying customer re-purposing a tiny ICC profile? That'll be like a thief crying about getting short changed.

I'm through on this thread. I gave 'em "cheap" solutions to the question posed. Insert smileys here>>>>>>

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mgparrish

· #11 · Oct 10, 2017

Resu said:
LOL!!! You flag waving for Cobra? Lest we forget they were selling their "high temperature" (sublimation) ink during the Sawgrass bully era. So I'm sure they wouldn't mind a paying customer re-purposing a tiny ICC profile? That'll be like a thief crying about getting short changed.

I'm through on this thread. I gave 'em "cheap" solutions to the question posed. Insert smileys here>>>>>>

1. As to your "it's OK to steal as long as you're stealing from a thief" insinuation ... just a little history lesson, Cobra had an agreement with Sawgrass not to use the term "sublimation" for their sub inks so that their sublimation inks would not turn up in web searches. There was never any litigation against Cobra hence the agreement.

2. Cobra changed from having their ICC's online due to people doing exactly what you described. They no longer have profiles download to the general public anymore.

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WalkingZombie

· #12 · Oct 10, 2017

dbias said:
...I know that a top brand ink a lot of people use is Cobra. I really don't want to put out that much money for gift items. So, my question is, are there cheaper brand inks out there that produces decent results. I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel, but something mid-range. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Cobra is decent and affordable as far as dyesub ink price, plus they have your profiles that you need and support for them. Yes, they are up there as far as popularity, but if you think Cobra ink is expensive, you better be glad you weren't looking at prices 'before' the SG patent ended. LOL

Those who were buying ink before the SG patent (like myself), were so relieved when it ended and the competition floodgates opened. I was paying $900 for 6 colors and only like 100ml each color.

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