[Techamongous]

Hey all looking to step up from my 1430 and Cobra inks to a Epson Surecolor 5720.

Any experience here with surecolor printers and refillable cartridges?

I get great service from Cobra but their ink is even more expensive than sawgrass. However I don't know if I need any special profiles to use sawgrass in a 5720.

Any help is appreciated. Where to you all buy your bulk sub ink?

 

[JYA]

JTeck; 8 years without problems.

 

[Signature Series]

I would guess the majority of wide format shops use J-Tek. Great colors (with a good profile) and pretty bullet proof plus the cost is way below a Cobra Ink set up
.

 

[mgparrish]

Hey all looking to step up from my 1430 and Cobra inks to a Epson Surecolor 5720.

Any experience here with surecolor printers and refillable cartridges?

I get great service from Cobra but their ink is even more expensive than sawgrass. However I don't know if I need any special profiles to use sawgrass in a 5720.

Any help is appreciated. Where to you all buy your bulk sub ink?

Cobra is cheaper than SG on the desktop models, but larger volume inks used by larger format printers they are not.

You do need special software on any sublimation setup if you want accurate colors, be it an ICC, Powerdriver, or a RIP, so yes you do need special software if you want the best quality prints.

 

[Techamongous]

Cobra is cheaper than SG on the desktop models, but larger volume inks used by larger format printers they are not.

You do need special software on any sublimation setup if you want accurate colors, be it an ICC, Powerdriver, or a RIP, so yes you do need special software if you want the best quality prints.

Cobra is the same price per oz no matter what. And about $200 per liter vs everyone else @ $75-$150

I have been using them for years but now that I am growing I need faster/more reliable large format printers, The old 1430s have done me right for 3 years but even with 2 running they just can keep up anymore =)

 

[mgparrish]

Cobra is the same price per oz no matter what. And about $200 per liter vs everyone else @ $75-$150

I have been using them for years but now that I am growing I need faster/more reliable large format printers, The old 1430s have done me right for 3 years but even with 2 running they just can keep up anymore =)

I mentioned that Cobra was cheaper than SG on the desktop so that others reading here are not confused, SG on the desktop is over 500% more expensive, apples to apples. I wasn't disputing liter pricing apples to apples.

But your statement "Cobra is the same price per oz no matter what" is not correct. Cobra pricing from 1 OZ to 32 OZ gets cheaper per OZ as you buy larger bottles.

see the screen shots attached from

https://www.cobraink.com/store/#!/Sets-of-all-4-Color-CS-4-0-Sublimation-Ink/p/70830268/category=21215013

4 color set 1oz per bottle, 4oz total, $34 for 4oz $34/4 = $8.5 per ounce

4 color set 32oz per bottle, 128 oz total, $712 for 128oz $712/128 = $5.5625 per ounce

Savings at 32 oz = 5.5625/8.5 = .6544 or appx. 35% savings buying 32oz bottles vs, 1 oz bottles

32 oz is just shy of 1 liter, 1 liter = 33.81402 oz

Converting Cobra to liters 33.81402oz = 33.81402/32 = 1.056688125 cost multiplier.

So liter pricing of Cobra inks comes out to $188 per liter, not $200, but still more than SG on large format only.

$178 (32oz) * 1.056688125 = $188.09048625 per liter

Conde pricing on SG Sublime = $150 per liter

One thing to consider when you are shopping for larger format printers and sublimation inks is your warranty. Most in large format are buying their printer and sub inks from the same place and the dealer will handle the printer warranty if you buy their inks and printer.

So unlike a desktop printer and Cobra sub inks where you can go buy a desktop printer on your own and then get Cobra inks, you have to consider on large format the printer warranty.

So I don't suggest that you go out and get a large format printer on your own and pick inks from elsewhere. If you get your inks and printer from the same dealer you can get your printer warranty covered plus support and a color management solution at the same time.

But your example makes a good case for not using SG Ricoh or SG small format Epson on the desktop, your clearly doing enough volume to get killed by SG desktop ink prices, even Cobra inks you are concerned about the cost of those. For those that say ink prices don't matter, they sure will once you get some significant business.

But congrats on your success, growing pains means your growing.