[Tinkler]

Hi I've got a Canon inkjet printer.
-For purposes of printing my own Heat press transfers is it possible to by pigment based colour ink and refill the cartridges myself?
-Does it work out cheaper than just going these ink refill shops?
-How difficult is it to do it yourself?
- Are there any suppliers in the UK (Birmingham) anyone can recommend?

 

[Enrique]

I'm not sure the print heads are compatible? You should look into that first.

 

[sben763]

Some Canon printers use pigment and dye in the same printers. Problem is that the dye ink channels won't print the pigment ink correctly. If you want to do transfers get a cheap epson. You can use almost any epson for pigment even if it has dye as the stock ink.

 

[Skidream37]

Pigment inks are oem compatible pure pigment inks.

Any pigment inks can be used for heat transfer or regular printing. Heat transfer pigments further optimize certain inks, like Photo Black is changed/swapped with a high density Matte Black and Yellow is designed specially to solve certain after pressing issues of pure yellow pigment inks and color shifting.

I personally use a Epson R1900 so I’m not real familiar with the Cannon. Sawgrass has a firm hold in the pigmented ink market as “Chromablast”. But inks are inks and you will find, with some homework, that there is a dark secret involving Sawgrass inks and refillable inks.

 

[sben763]

Brandon, don't confuse pigment ink with sublimation, sublimation is where sawgrass has its hold. You can get plenty of suppliers of pigment inks like cobra inks, inkjetcarts, or just about any supply house.

Canon uses both dye and pigment in the same machines and the channels that use dye are not compatible with pigment.

 

[Skidream37]

Correct, I stayed away from the Dye Sub aspect because the thread was specific to Pigment Heat Transfers on what I assumed to be Textiles. (but never assume)
I use a Hybrid configuration and yes, don't cross contaminate the inks. The industry seems to favor Ricoh and Epson. I would expect that the proper Hybrid print driver would separate the channels on a Cannon without any problems like they do on the eight cart Epson? So I will leave software to the Cannon Pro.
Anyone wanting to survive without going broke on ink should contact Ross at Inkjetcarts. I took this thread to heart because I almost gave up due to ink cost and Sawgrass "Shenanigans".
If I had to do it over, I would probably go with a DyeTrans Gel or OKI "GO-UNO" Laser printer for Dye Sub and keep the Epson Inkjet for Textiles.
PS. Thanks for the Cobra Ink lead. I will check them out.

 

[sben763]

Yes so you have a dual CMYK set up which is sweet. Unlike the epson that usally stock uses all dye or all pigment which uses the same print head for both inks it is very easily converted by changing out ink and in your case using both having 2 print heads. The canon uses a mixture of dye and pigment in a single print head. Not all canons do this. I don't know of any software that supports a dual CMYK set up in a canon but I have been wrong before. If you use a wf1100 it is pigment a 1400 dye. You can use the 1100 for pics or transfers but the 1400 with pigment inks requires a ICC profile to get proper printing for pics. The standard print driver does great with adjustments for heat transfers and pigment ink and a ICC profile is even better. Cobra supplies these for their inks and JSSP transfer paper.

 

[Tinkler]

Hi Guys thanks for the input.
Its is for Heat pressing onto tshirts.
I usually get my ink refilled by Cartridge World, they told me that the black inks are pigment based and the colours are dyed based.
Is buying a cheap (epson) inkjet printer an option, in terms of getting decent quality results?

 

[sben763]

Hi Guys thanks for the input.
Its is for Heat pressing onto tshirts.
I usually get my ink refilled by Cartridge World, they told me that the black inks are pigment based and the colours are dyed based.
Is buying a cheap (epson) inkjet printer an option, in terms of getting decent quality results?

Yes buying a epson is what is recommended. The WF1100 is a good choice and is a 13x19 printer. I think is a B1100 in your country but I am not positive.