[elbellepromotion]

I have been looking at getting a machine for heat transfer printing, what are people recommending? I have been looking at the Sun Angel, does anyone have any experience with this machine?
We have a sublimation printer for white but are looking for something that will print on darker colours.
I am totally new to all this and don't know where to start!
Any advice would be hugely appreciated! Also don't blind me with technical talk as I will just have to keep asking questions just plain simple english will do me
I have about £1k to spend
Thank you

 

[lben]

There is no such a thing as sublimation for darks. Sublimation can only be done on white or very light pastel polyester fabric. The darker the material the less your design will show. Also, there is no such thing as white ink for sublimation, so for any design you print on a colored material where the image is supposed to be white, you will end up with the color of the fabric.

As far as a heat press is concerned you can go expensive or start off cheap. The only difference is that the expensive ones will last longer and probably be more accurate as far as temp and pressure is concerned.

 

[elbellepromotion]

There is no such a thing as sublimation for darks. Sublimation can only be done on white or very light pastel polyester fabric. The darker the material the less your design will show. Also, there is no such thing as white ink for sublimation, so for any design you print on a colored material where the image is supposed to be white, you will end up with the color of the fabric.

As far as a heat press is concerned you can go expensive or start off cheap. The only difference is that the expensive ones will last longer and probably be more accurate as far as temp and pressure is concerned.

Thank you so much for your reply
Yeah I think maybe i didnt explain myself properly we already have sublimation equipment but are wanting some heat transfer equipment, we have so far looked at the Sun Angel and oki printers, there is a huge difference in price and I dont know why! lol

 

[lben]

Heat transfer equipment is the same as sublimation equipment. All you need is a printer that uses pigment ink, unless you're looking to do laser transfers.. In that case you would need a laser printer. The heat presses are the same.

 

[elbellepromotion]

does Laser printing have a better print? So I wont need a SunAngel System? jeez i'm useless at all this lol

 

[Sully316]

I'm the same, very unsure to go with inkjet or laser. Every one has different ideas which work better, if people can help that would be brill .

 

[lben]

Laser is expensive. Printer costs more. Paper costs more. Toner costs a lot more than pigment ink. I know they have self weeding laser paper and there is one type that can use foil on top of the laser print, but the costs are really high. Too high for me to consider, anyway.

 

[Sully316]

I want an inkjet printer, it was just over the last week people had been talking more about laser ones. I take it the print quality and durability are almost the same?

 

[lben]

I don't know. I've never seen a laser print. But I do the inkjet ones and have never had problems with quality. If I had money to burn I would try the laser ones, but I don't have money to burn. I have heard people say you can take your images to an office supply store that makes colored laser copies and use that machine with the laser transfer paper. I haven't tried that though.

You just have to make sure that you use pigment ink with the inkjet printer. Epson printers are the best for transfers and you can buy the ink in bulk and use refillable ink carts. If you make the mistake of using dye ink, the ink will run as soon as it gets wet, so you will have a lot of unhappy customers when they wash their shirts the first time.

 

[Sully316]

Thanks for all that, you have made my mind up to stick with my first thought and use an inkjet printer. Now just gotta find the right one, epson have so many to pick from. Lol and refillable has less problems that CIS?

 

[lben]

With CIS you have to worry about kinked lines, bubbles in the lines and so many other issues. I just find the refillable carts to be better and less expensive. Cobra Ink has refillable carts and pigment ink, and they have the ICC (?) profiles for the ink for each epson printer. I would go to their website to see what's available as far as ink carts go and then get a printer based on the ability to use bulk ink.

 

[Sully316]

Thank you, you have made my mind up on that as well now. You have been a big help. waiting for them to get back to me about shipping to the UK.

 

[elcielo]

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