Does it Make Sense to use Epson Sublimation ink?

[oparsy]

I'm interested in purchasing a printer for sublimation work: mask, t-shirts, flip flops and wanted some advice on Epson's inks.

The entry level Sawgrass printers are inexpensive to purchase but the inks are extremely expensive when compared to those of the Epson F570.

I was considering purchasing an Epson ET-15000 and using the inks from the Epson F570.

Can someone share some experience or opinion on this please?

I'm a designer looking to get into the dye-sub game.

Thanks.

[pw66]

The et 15000 is only a four colour machine, so should be ok. You will need to get a colour profile made to get accurate colours. Epson ink isn't particularly cheap.

Most American users tend to use 'Cobra' ink. They should have an ink with a ready made colour profile for your printer.

There was a recent post over on the T-shirt Forum from someone having colour issues with the ET15000. The print dialogue doesn't over very comprehensive colour profiling options.

[oparsy]

The et 15000 is only a four colour machine, so should be ok. You will need to get a colour profile made to get accurate colours. Epson ink isn't particularly cheap.

Most American users tend to use 'Cobra' ink. They should have an ink with a ready made colour profile for your printer.

There was a recent post over on the T-shirt Forum from someone having colour issues with the ET15000. The print dialogue doesn't over very comprehensive colour profiling options.

Thank's, I appreciate the input. I checked out the website but they are still more expensive than the Epson inks for the f570. I can find the Epson inks on sale are $17.99 for 140ml bottles c,m,y,k are all the same price.

It's great to save some money, but more importantly I'm wondering if Epson's dye sub inks are as you would expect as good or better than third party inks?

[pw66]

It's great to save some money, but more importantly I'm wondering if Epson's dye sub inks are as you would expect as good or better than third party inks?

There will probably be a user seeing this sooner or later who can give you a good answer to that question.
I haven't heard any bad comments about the quality of the Epson ink, but from a UK perspective it is a hard question to answer. Epson is a lot dearer. A lot of us ( non Sawgrass, small format users) use a brand called Inktec Sublinova. It is excellent quality and cost £10 per 100ml as opposed to £24 ( including tax) for 140ml of Epson ink, and is also available in more colours. Sublinova isn't easily available in the USA.

Don't underestimate the value of a ICC profile that matches your printer to the ink.

Also you really need to look into the print dialogue settings on the ET15000. The apparent inability inability to turn off colour management could be a game changer.