Epson SureColor P600 - should I buy it?

Pumica

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I have a question about this printer. I was looking for printer that is good for graphic design, cardstock and tshirt transfers. I know that this printer is recommended for photography so I wonder will this printer be good also for my needs? I am newbie for this kind of printers. I see many many compliments about ticking noise, print-head clogging, stop working after a while.. So I want to know are you satisfied with this printer if you own one?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...-printer/792&usg=AOvVaw10Kfc9z7bOa7M3U9bzhni7
 

Ink stained Fingers

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Yes and no, there are quite some questions around such printer before you actually spend the money - what is your typical printing volume - what are you doing with the printouts - is A3+ the right format for you - are you considering refill or use of 3rd party inks to plan to save some money and more. Or would a lower level A3 printer suite your requirements as well ? You are addressing t-shirt transfers - the best way to do that is the use of sublimation inks instead of the pigment inks of the P600 on those transfer sheets. But that would require ink swapping. It is correct that transfer sheets work as well with regular dye or pigment inks but not as good - colors may wash out much earlier. Only these sublimation inks invade the polyester fibres of the fabric during the heating process and remain stable there.
 

Pumica

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Thank you for your response. I'm considering this printer for for a startup business, so my printing volume will be low at first. I would like to use it for printing nursery wall art, birthday banners, t-shirt transfers for baby onesies.. A3+ format is not my main focus but I would like to have it as an option for future business ideas. I was thinking about sublimation but I would like to make transfers on cotton so I gave up on that idea. For a start I was thinking to have a printer that can satisfy all this ideas on one printer. I know ink is expensive for this printer and I am considering to use 3rd party inks in future after I get to know the printer better. Do you think this is a good printer for me or maybe you have some other suggestions? Thank you.
 

mikling

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You must stick with an Epson type printer for sublimation. It is better to have printers models where the cartridges are attached to the printead allowing a short path to the nozzles. This is for two reasons....the switch to sublimation is done quickly. Sublimation ink is known to be very tough on printers and some level of clogging is to be expected so regular use of the printer is a requirement and the ability to clean directly is best when there is a clog.
Today the more popular printers having the above requirement is the C88+ ( appears to be reintroduced by Epson, perhaps for this market), and the 13" printers like the 1430. I snagged a Open Box sample myself for testing some sublimations.
If you do not have some type of profiling setup, be prepared to pay with color sliders to lock in the color on each substrate.

https://epson.ca/For-Home/Printers/Inkjet/Epson-Stylus-C88+-Inkjet-Printer/p/C11C617121F

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ...gBLJRBTLxGCrUDLI_zYSQTVyVrkTlEYhoC7gQQAvD_BwE

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/272864584454?chn=ps&dispItem=1

Notice the variance in pricing. Epson themselves is the least expensive as like I said, this machine is so old but it has resurfaced for some reason.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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Sure that printer would do most of your printing jobs, but you should look as well to the economics, printing banners with Epson inks will become pretty expensive so I'm not yet in the position to really recommend that printer to start with, and going on a learning curve with refill with this one may not the best choice either when you have stress and other things in mind with the startup of your business, but I don't have a good - better alternative yet I would recommend in this case. And I'm hesitant about the t-shirt transfers. There are several ways to get a print onto some fabric - for babies or other, one is the sublimation process which goes through several steps - you print your artwork with a special sublimation ink (!) onto a transfer sheet - use that transfer sheet in a heat press to transfer the ink via the sublimation process onto polyester fibres in your fabric - this implies that you are using a special ink - and you need to use fabrics - cotton + >50% polyester fibres. If you change these elements in the process you get inferior results - less durability - washing out easily . This transfer process does not work well with other fabrics, and does not work well with other inks, e.g. the standard pigment inks of the P600. The point is that the inks do not adhere very well to various types of surfaces, inks need a receptive surface - special inkjet coating of papers for printing, or the polyester fibres for the sublimation inks. If you want to persue textile printing I rather would recommend to get a printer dedicated for that job. There are companies offering start up kits for the sublimation process - an Epson printer + ink set and refill cartridges and other supplies you may need . Another approach would be printing directly to the fabrics, DTG - direct print to garment - but that requires investment into a modified printer and would only pay off with a steady business volume.
 

Pumica

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Thank you for your very useful informations. So for textile printing this printer is not the best choice. I'll have to explore the other printers for that job. I have one more question. If I use this printer only for cardstock and wall prints (graphic illustrations) is that printer over the top for my needs?
 

Ink stained Fingers

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yes, evaluate the questions around textile printing further and go for a dedicated solution.
The P600 offers you lots of options - supports a wide range of papers, allows you to do poster prints .
But whether it would be an overkill - I don't think so, if you go for a lower featured printer you should be aware of the limitations, and once you hit them you start thinking to buy another printer anyway. But you will know for sure only in 6 months or later.
 
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