Hi Brandon, read that link I gave you. Inside that link is another link to a thread on the pros and cons of each printing method. You will learn alot by doing this.
To put photos and high detail onto shirts you can you inkjet HT, laser transfers, dye sub or DTG.
As you know, DTG is expensive to buy.
Dye sub only works on polyester shirts (not highly favored over cotton shirts by customers, and they are more costly then cotton). Dye sub ink is very expensive.
Then there is laser transfers. I was told there is a paper that can do dark shirts, but what folks said was that it is costly and tempermental to work with. I linked that thread discussing this laser paper for darks to the printing methods and quality thread above.
If you read that thread, you will find out alot about the processes.
Last but not least is the inkjet HT. This is the cheapest to get into, and probably the cheapest to produce overall.
Yes, if you use the 1400 you can use "re-fill carts" or "bulk inks". I hear great things about the inks from "inkjetcarts.us", then there is "shopdyesub.com", and now "Leo from inkjetfly" has come out with a reformulated "pigment ink" CIS that he made a custom "color profile" for the "JPSS" (jetprosofstretch) paper. If you search for this thread "Ivancuriel inkjetfly 1400" you will find a thread testing these inks. Ivan is a great guy that tests alot of the inks for the 1400 printer.
"Durabrite" ink is a pigment ink that comes in the c88,c88+,c120 and it can "color shift". I use Durabrite and it's does not color shift on me.
"Claria" comes in the 1400 and most folks have great success with it.
If you are going with a refill cart or bulk ink system, none of that will matter because you won't be using and Epson ink anyway, you'll be using the 3rd party generic ink from whomever sells you the refill carts or bulk ink system.
Buy your ink and system at the same place so you have one person to deal with when setting up. It makes things alot easier than ink from one and system from another, then you'll be stuck between the two, and set up can be difficult sometimes. Once you get past the set up, most folks seem quite happy and content with their ink systems. The ones I am referring to are happy customers of the above websites.
Dye sub and inkjet heat transfer are really so different. You'll need to decide if you want to sell polyester shirts or cotton shirts. If you know you want cotton, you are really down to laser and inkjet. Laser transfers offers a nice paper called "image clip" for lights, it is a two step process but it leaves barely to no window on the shirt. The drawback is that paper for darks with laser. Read that link on it in the thread above. The link is in the last few pages.
Inkjet has a paper for light/white shirts that is amazing: Jetprosofstretch also called JPSS here. LOok it up, you'll see the feedback. Papers for darks haven't come as far yet... they still have a heavier hand (feel on the front of the shirt) but otherwise, there are a few favorite papers here, "Ironall Dark" and "Jet Wear", that folks really like... color fast and don't crack. Nice qualities.
Hope this helps. To make it easier for you to find out more info on anything I've talked about, I ""quoted"" good search terms that will help you with that.
