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Desktop Sublimation Printer

captainron19

captainron19

New Member
So yesterday my Ricoh 3300n Desktop sublimation printer took a dump. Was printing black/gray horizontal lines across my printout. I use it for mug transfers. Company informed me print head is bad and no other choice other than to replace printer - so old it is not worth fixing so basically it is a huge paperweight now.

Looking for any input on a new printer. Company recommended the
[h=3]Sawgrass® Virtuoso® SG 400 8.5" Desktop Printer[/h]Any input on this model? Anyone using it?
 
BESTBLANKS

BESTBLANKS

New Member
Sublimation Printing with Virtuoso Systems

Hi, Perhaps we can help. We are large Sawgrass stocking distributor and we offer all the Virtuoso sublimation solutions plus others. In addition we stock all sublimation supplies, blanks and more.

Depending on your needs we can recommend the right solution for your application.

Click here for all sublimation printers. Please give us a call to discuss your needs. We are glad to help 888-431-7385 or 954-989-1250

Thanks for your post!
www.BestBlanks.com
 
thewvsignguy

thewvsignguy

New Member
Pat White said:
Not to hijack this thread....but what is the process with these desktop dye sub printers?

Do you just print onto sheets and apply to whatever with a heat press? Are the prints that much more durable than a solvent or UV print?

:thankyou:
Click to expand...

Yes, print onto sheets and I do know that the substrate needs to be sublimation ready, shirts, hats, mouse pads, mugs etc. We tried getting into dye sub like 7 years ago, very scratch resistant once applied with "no feel" to it. Pretty neat if you have the time to make it work.

I don't think dye sub will hold up as well as an eco-sol ink, especially in an outdoor application. I don't think there are any UV inhibitors in the ink, I could be wrong and never really kept up with it.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
thewvsignguy said:
Yes, print onto sheets and I do know that the substrate needs to be sublimation ready, shirts, hats, mouse pads, mugs etc.
Click to expand...

For your fabrics, it needs to be polyester and light colors. 100% is what I would recommend, unless you want the grunge effect and then do 50/50 as it won't bond with the cotton fabrics.

For mugs and license plates etc, they usually have to be coated in order to be sublimation ready. I do believe the chemical is a polyester base as well.

There is no "hand" to it, which I like with regard to shirts.

For outdoors, it will fade. No way around that.

For apparel etc, it holds up very well though, certainly more so then other decorating methods.

The biggest thing, particularly with light colors other then white, you do have a little learning curve as it is a dyeing process and there is mixing of the colors, so what you see on your computer screen may not be exactly what you want.



Now, if you want to do dark colors, you'll need to start off white and print all the colors that you want on there. Desktop application won't cut it for that though. Need wide format for this.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Pat White said:
Aren't the sheets white to begin with? Or they aren't opaque enough to act as a blockout? Just wondering. Don't know why I can't wrap my head around this dye-sub business....maybe it's a sign I should just stick to what I know. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Actually, the white you want to start out with for doing all over color is white shirts.
 
thewvsignguy

thewvsignguy

New Member
Pat White said:
Aren't the sheets white to begin with? Or they aren't opaque enough to act as a blockout? Just wondering. Don't know why I can't wrap my head around this dye-sub business....maybe it's a sign I should just stick to what I know. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...


Only the ink transfers to the media/substrate (shirt, mug, mouse pad etc.), something about the heat turns the ink into a gas and is absorbed to the receptive media. So even though you print on a White sheet the sheet is just the carrier for the ink. In order to create a Black shirt the shirt needs to be part if the design as well, so you will have to print the Black, From what I can remember all dye-sub stuff starts White.

Sorry my dye sub knowledge is fading fast.... I ate a lot of crayons when I was a kid :rolleyes:
 
Rover31

Rover31

New Member
[QUOTE="thewvsignguy

I don't think dye sub will hold up as well as an eco-sol ink, especially in an outdoor application. I don't think there are any UV inhibitors in the ink, I could be wrong and never really kept up with it.[/QUOTE]

I am doing research and trying to figure out how to do my graphics work.
Could you expound on your comment here regarding my wants?
I am looking either dye sub or eco solv flatbed print for small flat cnc cut lexan and HDPE pieces. I am going to be putting custom graphics on these. They do get handled and used so I am looking for easy quality application and good wear characteristics.
Which would be the best process for the money?

Thanks!
 
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