what printer do i need to print mugs and t shirts please?

[apples69]

i'm a subli virgin and have been reading the posts on this awesome forum for a few days now after work, really love the forum and the members

i dont want to end up making a costly mistake and want to get it right the first time

i want to start printing mugs and t shirts, i've seen the bms presses which i will probably end up buying if martin can arrange the df1 offer to me please

t shirt printing, i want a swing away press for t shirts, so i dont get burnt when opening the press

also what printer do i need for mugs and t shirts?, is the Epson Photo 1400 a good choice and how does a CISS thing work with this?

last question - can i print onto hot pants and how?

sorry if i posted this in the wrong section

[Justin]

You've got the right idea. Many folk start off buying cheap and nasty equipment and then wonder whythe products they produce aren't very good. Generally you do get what you pay for. That said, you sometimes don't need to spend a lot.

I've used mug presses that cost £700, the one I have now cost well under £200. I get on better with the cheaper one

Swing away press - Adkins are great presses, costly though. Latest models aren't quite as good, imo, as the older ones. Older ones do come up on occasion but command a high second hand price.

Printers - Yes, the 1400 is a great printer. i'm just setting another one up myself. The CIS means you don't have to keep refilling the cartridges.
Providing the printer gets regular exercise, i.e. every couple of days, it should be fine and shouldn't block.
Many users are turning to the new Ricoh 5050 (A4) & 7000 (A3). They use cartridges and print a lot quicker. I have a 5050 and I'm getting mixed results but hope to sort the problems soon.

You've probably already started pricing things up so you'll have seen it isn't cheap. Inks are a set price as Sawgrass have the small printer licence sewn up in the UK. On the up side you don't have to shop around for the best ink price!

Hot Pants? I personally wouldn't print on my own, I feel that print and diamontes on shocking pink really doesn't go LOL.
You could print on them in theory but the surface has to be a high polyester content and also it needs to be very light coloured. Otherwise you'd be looking at vinly or dark transfer. Some companies offer ready made transfers for this type of thing.....so I'm told.

Justin

[apples69]

hi justin!

do you think the Ricoh 5050 is better than the epson 1400?

i've really got the hots for the DF180 Mug Press, just been checking the youtube vids - damn sexy

i'm not an expert with either photoshop or coreldraw - how do i get templates to print onto t shirts and what software do i need?

who are sawgrass?

from what i've been reading i will need to use a teflon sheet onto of the picture, then press it, remove the picture sheet and put the teflon sheet back on and press it less than 5 secs to get a good finish

after you print the mug press template, do they have to have 1/2 inch at the top and bottom and is it good to use scissors or something else to cut the paper?

what is the template size for 11oz mugs?

i've seen videos of templates on youtube, where the template has 3 or 4 areas in the template where you can drag a picture into and other areas to add text, but can't find any so far

[Justin]

From what i've seen myself the image quality on the 1400 surpasses the 5050 very noticably. The 5050 is made for business printing whereas the (6 colour) 1400 is made for photo printing so you get far better skin tones/gradients etc.
Most people don't notice that much difference but i feel for what you're paying the image should really be top notch.
The biggest difference is the speed. A print on the 1400 may take 1 or 2 minutes. The same print on the Ricoh will be out in 12/15 seconds!
The Ricoh is a much cleaner system, enclosed cartridges so no messy refilling etc.

You can find out more about Sawgrass here http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/
At this stage the main thing you need to know is that all ink used in small format printers is licensed. That means no-one else can come along and sell cheaper sublimation inks in the marketplace. Cheaper inks do exist but sometimes havn't been tested to the same level and you won't get the same support.
If you go the Ricoh route your only choice is licensed ink.

If you're just starting out my advice is stick to the licensed stuff. Artainium/Rotech/SubliJet are the 3 brandnames you'll see around.
The inks are very expensive but if you price your products right you'll still be able to make a healthy profit.

I stopped printing sublimation tee's years ago. I hate the feel of them and you aleays get a rectangle press mark aroud the image where the polyester outer has melted slightly. Many others sell them quite succesfully so that's just my opinion.
Yes, always use a protection sheet topand bottom of your blanks to protect your platen from ink/damage.

Not sure about templates for tee's. You can get frames/templates for other items, mugs, mouse mats etc. If you take a look in our Member to Member section you'll see postings from Paul, he sells templates suitable for mugs.
He'll also tell you the size for 11oz. Again, I choose to use 10oz as many of my customers didn't like the heavier weight of 11oz.

CorelDraw is great for printing sublimation as it's well supported for setting up etc. Photoshop is a little tricker but better for photo editing/insertion.

[purpledragon]

Hi apples
when you say youre starting from scratch you really mean it
heres a basic run down
you need a computer with software a compatable printer the correct paper and a mug press
you obviously have a computer
software would be corel draw or photoshop for best results mug templates can be obtained Paul has a nice range or you could create your own though you will need a working knowladge of your chosen software.
your printer must be compatable for sublimation ink an epson 1400 is ideal
a cis is a set of external tanks which contain each colour of ink as it runs empty you refill it hence the term continuous ink system

So you have your art package you have created a mug template of a picture of little jimmy on holiday you now need to print it .
As mentioned your ink needs to be sublimation ink, artanium is an excellent brand cheap brands will cost you more in lost prints. Paper must also be sublimation paper i use trupix but there others out there again cheap paper is false economy.
now cut your paper to the correct size unless u have amazingly steady hands invest in a guillotine wrap the paper around the mug and fix with heat tape (bms sell heat tape)
assuming you know how to use your mug press heat it up put the mug in and sit n wait a couple of mins for your mug to cook.
dunk your mug (or not depending on your opinion of dunking and thats a whole new post) un wrap it and marvel at the wounderous mug you have just created. chuck it in the bin because a bit of it is blurred or not level do it all again until you get it right and thats it good luck
i have posted a step by step guide with pics in general chat have a look it should help
Brett

[apples69]

i've decided to get the epson 1400 printer thanks to your advice

If i'm using epson 1400 ink cartridges, surely the ink cartridges would finish rather quickly, are you using CISS on your 1400 printer?

last question whats the difference in a 10oz mug and a 11oz mug? - is the size different or just the weight?

i'll pm paul for template advice, he had a video tutorial on his site for his templates but that was for pshop

[purpledragon]

you will need an artanium cis i don t think you can get the cartradges and they cost the earth if you could
brett

[Justin]

You can still get the cartridges but they're really expensive and if you're just starting out you'll get through them in no time.

I will be using refillable cart's with mine because I'm doing some different tests and don't want to go down the CIS route just yet.

11oz mugs are a bit taller and chunkier yes.

[Paul]

i'll pm paul for template advice, he had a video tutorial on his site for his templates but that was for pshop

this is tutorial for corel. is not the best b ut i am not good in doing tutorials. but it will give you some idea how simple it is link here: http://rapidshare.com/files/314236852/CorelDraw_tutorial.pdf

you can use this method with other templates too. Justin posted some links to nice sites with frames. I checked them and they look interesting.
any way... whatever templates you have. this simple steps r always this same

regards

PAul

[apples69]

hi paul

did you get my pm?

from your experience whats better to use corel or photoshop for mug templates?