Getting into sublimation printing in Ireland - printer and inks question

Molly2021

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Hi,

I hope to get into sublimation printing in a small way using my own illustrations (which are very vibrant & colourful). Just starting off with coasters. Just wondering if anyone can help with obtaining sublimation inks in Ireland or the EU. I am hoping to get a suitable Epson EcoTank printer (again, I need to research to find out which is the best one). Thanks!

Cheerfully

Molly
 

stratman

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I do not do sublimation, but have read articles and watched videos from Google

(https://www.google.com/search?q=eps...wAngAgAEAiAEAkgEAmAEAyAENwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz)

The Epson EcoTank seems very popular. Easiest is to buy a new, never used EcoTank and fill it the first time with the sublimation inks. Otherwise, a used printer with regular inks can be a problem that requires effort to overcome.

That's all I have. Best wishes and will be following your thread to see how it goes. :frow

PS We have a number of members from Ireland, one you may see in many a thread is @The Hat .
 

The Hat

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I am hoping to get a suitable Epson EcoTank printer (again, I need to research to find out which is the best one). Thanks!
Hi Molly and welcome, sublimation printing is not that easy to get into, because you have to buy good ink, good printers and a good hot press just to get started, but then your limited to polyester material to print on to get the best quality prints.

Epson printers are the way to go, but I don’t know if Eco tanks work well for sublimation inks, it will be an uphill battle to get everything right, and I know little about sublimation printing so I’m not the one to get advice from..

Here’s a start for you..
https://serigraf.com/shop/category/sublimation-supplies-sublimation-inks-5
 

Artur5

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Jose Rodriguez ( aka Jtoolman) has a number of videos on that subject in his youtube channel. I have zero experience on sublimation prints but, for what I've seen in his videos, I totally agree with @The Hat. A hard and expensive battle indeed !
 
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Ink stained Fingers

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Sublimation inks are a kind of dye inks and I have seen various reports that they run on lots of Epson printers. I tested them for longevity longer time ago hoping that they perform very well in this respect but they don't without going through the sublimation process in the heat press and migrating into the polyester fibers in vapor state. Sawgrass owns lots of patents for the original heat transfer/sublimation process, took over ink companies, their patents and buinesses. The business of garment printing has expanded very much since then, with more inks, more printers in all formats and methods to print directly onto fibrous materials since then , more than just on polyester containing fabrics - DTG - direct to garment.
 

stratman

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I don’t know if Eco tanks work well for sublimation inks
Well spoken about on many YouTube videos. Seems they are the go to printer for modest cost entry into cottage industry sublimation.
 
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