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[aldcvt]

Hello!  I have been lurking around, and I am hoping to get some good input on what might be my best bet for a setup.  I want to do dye-sub, (mostly for blanks vs. clothing), but want a printer that will do a nice job with photos as well.  I was ready to pull the trigger on an Epson 4880 combo sublimation/chromoblast,  but now it seems as I have other options from what I have read.  Are there dye-sub ink systems compatible with the WF1100?  I was on cobra's website but I can't decipher the difference between dye ink and pigment ink, and if either of them are considered dye-sub?  Then of course, the next question is which paper is best?  I know I may be asking questions that are of personal preferences, but I am hoping you will share your experiences so that I at least have a good place to start!

Thanks!
-Andrea

[charles95405]

until recently Cobra sold what they called 'hi temp ink', just another name for chinese dye sub ink and the did sell the 1100 with a bulk system installed. But Cobra became a victim of their own success and I guess Sawgrass threatened and the stopped selling it...

Not sure what you mean by 'system'  you can buy after market bulk ink system for the 1100 but they can be a PIA...I do sublimation and just buy sawgrass inks...higher but they work and I adjust my price accordingly.

As to Cobra dye ink and pigment ink....for normal transfers you want pigment ink...I have no idea what they mean by dye ink...but I would bet it is not dye sublimation inks

[COCHISE]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

Cobra's dye ink has uses in photography and as Charles mentioned their pigment ink is for heat transfers. IMHO it is the best for that use on 50/50 blend shirts.
I have four WF1100 in service and two in the closet. All use Cobra ink. One for pigment ink, two for office and poster use, and one for sublimation. They are an excellent printer. Two have CIS systems and two have refillable carts. All deliver the same consistent prints. The rule of thumb is to have the printer output some form of color print on a daily basis, NOT just a nozzle check. Your ink flow will be maintained that way.

I tried the chromablast and was dis-satisfied with it. In the imprinting business I have never had the need for more colors than the standard CMYK. I sublimate with CMYK and my customers have always been happy with the vibrant colors on hard and soft goods.
ArTainium Ink is the type I used for years and had good luck with it. Conde Systems is my main supplier for all sublimation products. They sell the sublimation ink. Their generic dye sub paper is good enough for 99% of imprinting and ElastiJet works well for heat transfer.
Avoid Ricoh printers, while some have had good luck, IMHO they are junk.
http://www.dyetrans.com/inks.php?nav=inks&ref=conde
Conde has hundreds of videos on imprinting.

If you go to the main forum menu and follow all the posts in this topic you will learn a great deal about the best way to start your business.

Best of luck.
Ken