best a3 printer for sublimation

[brent]

Hi im Brent and new to sublimation can someone please advise if epson or the ricoh printer is the better one???

[benwilliamson]

IMO epson have better print quality but Ricoh will give you less issues (blocked heads etc). If you wont use the printer every day I'd go with a Ricoh.

[RogerC]

Ricoh.............no problems with drying print heads just leave it plugged in and it goes into sleep mode and looks after itself.......colours are excellent.

[Justin]

I have a Ricoh 7100 (A3) and an Epson 1500W (A3) here and both are excellent printers but the Ricoh is by far the easier printer to work with. Sure, the 6 colour Epson appears to be a better print but the Ricoh are more than adequate for subli work.

[wadar]

would you use the ricoh a3 for t shirts? im looking to get one of the richos as my first sub printer, from all I have read they are less trouble blocking wise, which is good for me, the main thing I want to do is t shirts, although I would also do the usual promo type stuff too, being my first sub machine im going into the unknown which panics me a little, I have done mugs before and a few other bits im sure an a4 would be good for everything I want exept t shirts,i currently do vinyls and im often asked for larger images, bigger than a4, I wondered would I be better with a laser printer for t shirts or would the ricoh be good enough at a3 size for t shirts, bearing in mind the cost differences, as I will still need a smaller sub if I went with laser, could anyone offer me any advice here please.

I do not want to make do with something im wanting to make sure the products that leave my shop are good, or the best I can do, so I wont be searching for the cheapest papers etc just the most economical on pricing that provide a good result, my budget is around a thousand pounds, but I could move up slightly if pushed, but the ricoh is looking like a good buy for me.

cheers steve

[bms]

would you use the ricoh a3 for t shirts? im looking to get one of the richos as my first sub printer, from all I have read they are less trouble blocking wise, which is good for me, the main thing I want to do is t shirts, although I would also do the usual promo type stuff too, being my first sub machine im going into the unknown which panics me a little, I have done mugs before and a few other bits im sure an a4 would be good for everything I want exept t shirts,i currently do vinyls and im often asked for larger images, bigger than a4, I wondered would I be better with a laser printer for t shirts or would the ricoh be good enough at a3 size for t shirts, bearing in mind the cost differences, as I will still need a smaller sub if I went with laser, could anyone offer me any advice here please.

I do not want to make do with something im wanting to make sure the products that leave my shop are good, or the best I can do, so I wont be searching for the cheapest papers etc just the most economical on pricing that provide a good result, my budget is around a thousand pounds, but I could move up slightly if pushed, but the ricoh is looking like a good buy for me.

cheers steve

Think you need to consider if sub work is what you want for t-shirts. Sublimation inks work on the white polyester based t-shirts, but if you want to print onto cotton t-shirts then sublimation isn't the way to go. Consider an A4 Ricoh SG3110 with SubliJetR inks for sub work, possibly the A4 SG3110 with ChromaBlast inks for printing cotton t-shirts (there is an A3 SG7100 option for both Chromasblast or Sublimation). All options print onto light or white t-shirts. Printing onto black or dark t-shirts means using subliflock or sublidark sheets which 'stick' onto the materials and can feel quite heavy if they are large prints - or you have other options using white inks, laser, screen print and so on...

[wadar]

Hi bms, thanks for the reply, idealy yes I would use cotton t shirts as I already stock them, chromablast is something I know nothing about, I shall do some research today, sounds like I would need a sublimation a4 for the promo stuff and a larger chromablast a3 to cover the t shirts, I will do some more research, thanks again.

steve

[wadar]

Hi all, i have looked into the chromoblast and that sounds like what i am after for t shirt printing, this will save me stocking the subli shirts as i already have tonnes of t shirts in cotton for the vynals, i now have the problem of finding someone who can supply me an a3 printer and the inks/gels, i have phoned bms all week, around 11 calls only two were answered but could not speak to anyone to find out a little more and buy one, does anyone elso know of a good reliable supplier for chromablast in the uk? i will also be going for the new ricoh in a4 for the sublimation products, which i am going to get on tuesday for all my smaller printing, mainly mugs, but it would seem wrong not to try the other things too when the equipments there, could anyone reccomend a good paper for sublimatin images, the trupix is sounding good from my research and its only a little more than the standard papers, but any tips from you guys would be appreciated please.

cheers steve