Author: Alan Cobourn

The Benefits of Investing Up – Another Look at Wide Format Numbers in 2015!

We’re nearly reaching the end of 2015, and already since visiting the topic in early 2014, the market of dye-sublimation and dye-sublimation ready equipment has rapidly changed. For existing dye-sublimation businesses and those looking to invest into the print process for the first time, it’s time to get an updated look at the landscape of available options, investment levels, and the realistic profit returns you can anticipate with this rapidly evolving print process.

Even while ignoring the third-party fly-by-night ink companies that sell dirt-cheap sublimation supplies on the likes of Amazon and Ebay marketplaces, finding the right dye-sublimation printing solution can be a tricky one. The desktop solutions provided by Sawgrass Ink, the Virtuoso printers, as well as the options available for the extremely popular Epson Artisan 1430 printer, have opened the door for many new professionals to begin printing with the incredible dye-sublimation technology. But is that always the right choice for every serious professional?

Often times, a small investment cost upfront costs a high production user hugely in the end. Just take a look at ink costs across the available options on a per-milliliter basis:

Comparing Ink Costs across Platforms

Ink Name/Type

Ink Cost

Cost per mL
Epson UltraChrome DS $115 per 1 Liter $0.115 per 1mL
J-Next Sublimation $149 per 1 Liter $0.149 per 1mL
J-Eco Subly Nano $125 per 1 Liter $0.125 per 1mL
Virtuoso 24” – dual CMYK $110 per 220mL cart $0.50 per 1mL
Virtuoso SG400 $73.50 for 29mL
$105.00 for 42mL		 $2.52 per 1mL
(average)
Virtuoso SG800 $126.00 per
68mL/75mL		 $1.81 per 1mL
(average)
Epson 1430 – with SubliJet IQ cartridges $88.00 per 13mL $6.77 per 1mL
Epson 1430 – with SubliJet Bulk CIS $147.00 per 90mL $1.63 per 1mL

 

Or even the general differing costs in media across the platforms? Sheeted paper costs nearly double the amount of roll paper when you’re comparing feet to feet!

Comparing Dye-Sublimation Transfer Media Costs

Epson UltraChrome DS Paper $0.14 per square foot
TexPrint HR Paper $0.10 per square foot
TexPrint Tacky Paper $0.11 per square foot
Image Right R (Ricoh Printers) $0.23 per square foot
Image Right (Epson Printers) $0.20 per square foot

 

Still, the average users considering the jump to sublimation, or even current printers weighing their options to the next print size up, tend to be very leery of the nearly $8,000 price tag on the new 44″ Epson SureColor dye-sublimation printers.

So, what kind of money can you realistically expect to gain back with printing t-shirts with an Epson SureColor printer? Just a quick look at the numbers reveal some serious money-making potential!

epson_t-shirts

 

Okay, well sure, of course printing t-shirts is something that a really big printer is great for! But what about the smaller items – even phone cases? Well, turns out there are even BIGGER profit margins to be made there!

epson_phones

 

Of course, this doesn’t take into account the never-ending list of small factors and variables that can eat away at your revenue – electricity, labor, design time if you’re creating your own prints, customer service, and much more – but with margins like these, there’s a LOT of room to gain in that respect as well.

New Advantages of Laser Transfers with OKI Printers

Laser heat transfer papers have always been a tricky transfer process to perfect, especially since that the same basic principle to transfer the image to the shirt is used to apply the image to the paper. This makes it nearly impossible for some transfer papers to run through your printer without wanting to make a t-shirt inside (not the best place for t-shirts to be made) and sticking to everything. But then again, transfer paper is a thick media – the printer can’t run too coolly, otherwise you’re just going to end up with messy, streaky prints. These battling facts have always made it pretty difficult to support and provide papers for a wide range of printers that are likely not to work with them.

This is what makes the entry of the OKI Data LED laser printers so appealing. Even with the entry-point OKI C831TS printer, you’re getting a printer that is capable of rich, beautiful prints across a wide range of papers, including self-weeding favorites like ImageClip Laser Dark and Digi-Trans. And, it prints up to 11” x 17” and has plenty of features to make it equally efficient for in-house office printing on the penny. It’s common knowledge that laser printed images are a fraction of the cost of inkjet, but now laser printer users don’t have to sacrifice print quality for efficiency and cost! The business friendly C831TS isn’t the only trick OKI has up its sleeve in the new LED laser line, however – they also mixed things up in the color department. Continue reading “New Advantages of Laser Transfers with OKI Printers”

Laser Heat Transfer Printing 101

laserpaperLaser transfer papers have some really unique abilities, like the possibility of ‘no weeding’ transfers, but many people are unprepared for the challenge that PRINTING with heat can sometimes become!

You may have run across one of the many issues below when printing and using laser transfer papers:

– Toner streaking, pooling, and spotting all over printed sheets in a large mess

– Toner brushing off surface of paper when transfer paper is handled or peeled off backing

– Transfer paper jamming inside printer

– Transfer paper leaving printer fusing unit covered in toner

– Transfer papers fading after washed, but only one color fades

– One sheet of transfer paper will print fine, but multi-copy prints subsequent copies jam

All of the above issues are caused by one of the following two primary issues:

Either the printer is running too hot for transfer paper, and is causing it to soften and jam inside the machine.

OR

The printer is running not hot enough to fully fuse the toner powder and is creating an incomplete or messy print to the transfer sheet. Continue reading “Laser Heat Transfer Printing 101”