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which type of Cobra dye sub ink is suitable for a Brother printer?

1188 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Amw
I know people have and are using Brother printers for dye sublimation. I've been using one, a MFC-475DW. Most of the Brother printers have Piezoelectric just like the Epson printers.

During my experiments and learning process about this business, I have been buying cheap generic dye sub ink from Ebay. It's worked well but I'm not getting colors as vibrant as they should be.

So I wanted to try a better quality ink and contacted Cobra to ask what the 4, 4.1 and 4.2 specifications on their dye sub inks signified and asked which one would be suitable for my Brother printer. I just got back a canned reply that they only make ink for Epson printers.

But again, with the same technology in the printheads, I've had perfect success using Epson inks in this printer before I started using it for dye sublimation. I've read experiences from others that get the same great results and have not read about anyone NOT getting the expected results when using ink engineered for an Epson in most of the models of Brother printers.

When I Google Epson and 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 the only results that show are feedback ratings in those numbers. I can find no information on how those numbers relate to the ink and/or Epson model numbers. The 475DW is a 4 cartridge printer, CMYK so I just need to know which ink would be most suitable to use. I'm not expecting Cobra to warrant their ink in this printer. As far as generic Epson dye sub ink, anything that has stated it's for Epson has worked flawlessly (again just colors a little duller than they should be). Even some other companies that claim to make their own ink stamp just 'Epson' compatible. Cobra is the only source I've found that claims to make 3 different types of dye sub ink for ink.

So any suggestions?
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I could be wrong, but my understanding of Cobra's ink numbering is based on ink formulation tweaks and how those tweaks impact color profiles??? They have a different color profile for each of their ink versions.

Since you're not going to be using his profile, if I were you in this situation, I would probably buy and test 4.2 since presumably those tweaks were to obtain better color output.

Wild guess here.
Color has as much to do with the profile as it does the ink used. You can buy the most expensive high end ink and without a professionally done profile you will have subpar colors.
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I could be wrong, but my understanding of Cobra's ink numbering is based on ink formulation tweaks and how those tweaks impact color profiles??? They have a different color profile for each of their ink versions.

Since you're not going to be using his profile, if I were you in this situation, I would probably buy and test 4.2 since presumably those tweaks were to obtain better color output.

Wild guess here.
That's all I was needing to know. Thanks.

This is just for experimenting mostly I'm not offering dye sublimation for sale.
That's all I was needing to know. Thanks.

This is just for experimenting mostly I'm not offering dye sublimation for sale.
If you want the best colors make your own profiles. They will always be better then anything made on other peoples equipment. Also with the right equipment you can get your monitor to closely represent what your print will look like.

Good luck!
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