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[charles95405]

Short story....sublimation inks are speciality inks made to be printed on special paper. The paper is pressed on a 100% polyester garment ( or polymer costing on hard goods). The ink reacts to the heat, creating a gas that the pressure forces into the surface and bonds with the polestar. Works on white or light garments. Will not work on cotton or darks

[graphicrocketah]

Thank you, do you know of anywhere I can get the ink and paper?

[charles95405]

It is not as simple as just getting ink,paper....you need a printer that will tae the ink. You ate limited to a few Epson printers and a couple Ricoh printers. Ricoh uses a sublimation gel ink and they have subject of some failures. The Epsons tend to clog unless used very frequently..like about every day. Sublimation is sold by Sawgrass through distributors and is pricey...for carts the are about $80 each. You cannot switch back and forth between sublimation and regular ink. You need a dedicated printer.  Suggest you join www.dyesub.org for more info

[t_fehrenbacher]

With all the companies out there that offer sublimation & all the information online, it can get very confusing. Over the past couple years there have been a couple new printers come out that offer a bigger ctg/lower cost system. I would suggest searching the Ricoh GXE3300 (8.5x14) and the GX7000 (11x17) online.
Those printers offer a gel based sublimation ink, they are quick printing, and the cost of your print will be less, since the sublimation ctgs in these machines are much larger in size (28ml for the 3300 & 58ml for the 7000 supposed to the Epson printers where most aare around 13-16ml each).
And the cost for these ctgs are quite less expensive than the Epson modesl you may have seen in the past. (3300's are about $60 each and 7000's are about $110 each).
I would be happy to help you with any further questions you may have and help you sort out the confusion :)
Feel free to call me.
Tracy 314-447-2131

[charles95405]

 Have, and use, a Ricoh 7000 BUT based on the high failure rate reported in past 9-10 months, I would not recommend or buy ANY Ricoh. They had a couple models they have pulled. Right now there are divided opinions...is the failure due to the gel ink an maybe leaking carts or is the failures a mechanical one.

[American logoZ]

Hello & welcome to Tracy from Coastal! 

I haven't had the greatest luck with the Ricoh dye sub setup.  No ink spills , just unexplained dead printers.  I must say, though, that Coastal's customer service treated me well during my latest Ricoh failure.

[American logoZ]

Almost forgot:  there are great members here who do beautiful dye sub work.  I bet you could outsource your transfers until a reliable desktop solution is identified. 

If you go the Ricoh route, to be safe you should figure the price of a new system (incl ink carts)  with extended warranty every 2 yrs AND have a backup source for transfers in case the system dies during a job.  If those hurdles result in net profit...go for it. 

Just my opinion....reasonable minds can differ.

[graphicrocketah]

Thank you, I will look into it.