Epson stylus 7800/9800 pro

i use the 7800 to create film positives only. its a great printer and rated at the top for indoor prints for artist. i use the dye based inks. have had for 2 years with no problems. use zeta film for positives
good luck

 

I have the 10600. It is a good printer but not meant for outdoors. I use the Ultrachrome Pigment Inks which are supposed to be ok for short term outdoor but unless you laminate it I really wouldn't do it.

You said Decals so unless they are for indoors only you might want to look at an ecosolvent. If you are using it for indoor stuff then the machine is really good. The prints are awesome.

 

I spoke with People at Beacon Graphics, at the USSC show and they are Claiming 5 years outdoor Life Laminated..

I currently have a decal that was printed on the r1800 that uses the same inks and has been out side for almost two years and it looks as good as the day I printed it...

I think it mite be a good starting point for someone to get into the digital printing without dumping $15,000.

Yeah the Materials are limited to what you can print on, but for doing decals, Banners, Magnetics, Shirts transfers...etc...with a starting cost of only $5,000.. i don't thinks its that bad of a deal, I rather use this than a PC600 with all the problems Ive heard. and its 44" wide print.

 

Hehehe, try to get Beacon or any other company provide a "written" warranty that states the Epson's laminated prints will last up to 5 years. Also try to find out what their remidy is if the graphics fail within 6 months or a year
Check out this link to see how long epson claims their laminated prints will last outdoors...
http://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/0/000/019/134/Adhesive Synthetic.pdf
Also from their web site...
"NOTE: Actual print stability and longevity will vary according to image, display conditions, light intensity, humidity, atmospheric conditions, and post-printing treatments. Epson does not guarantee stability or longevity. For maximum print life, display all prints under glass or lamination or properly store them."

Checkers

 

The inks on this printer aren't the problem. They are a pigmented ink (rather than Dyes) and therefore will be consistent and last the test of time (based on giclee rating upto 100yrs).

It is the media that tends to limit the life span of the print. Most of the media for this printer have a white paint (or Gesso) applied to the surface to accept the aqueous ink medium. It is typically this gesso layer that fails; and will fail at the edges when the product is laminated. We have run 9600 for years and even extended the laminate by .25" around the print to encapsulate the print completely. We had great success with this, but it is time consuming.

Solvent/eco-solvent is definately they way to go with decals and outside products.

 

Understood but that is using epson media, there are other media availbe that is rated 2 two 3 years.. as kalvix says its not the inks the are the problem its the media.

So if you use the right media you can get several years outdoors..

look at signwarehouses prismjet which is a Mutoh they saying 3 years..

 

Epson

We have an Epson 10600 Ultrachrome, fantastic quality prints, but it does take some time learning to use it and find out why it bands (Run cleaning untill it's OK...), have correct profiles for the media etc. Our rip is ColorBest, can't tell you much about it, except it works. Will try and rip from Flexisign if we ever get the time, but as long as ColorBest works, what's the point?
Anyway, we tried a vinyl decal, 3x8", laminated with Oracal clear vinyl, and stuck it on our car, it only took a couple of weeks before water got in behind the laminate, it looked really bad. I tore off the laminate, left the decal, which still looks good after a couple of months in cold and rain.
So- For short term outdoor it's OK. If you need longer term; laminate and encapsulate, another post higher up mentioned putting on a bigger laminate than the decal, or maybe you can cut 1/2" strips of clear vinyl and put on to seal?
I don't know how it holds up long-time, we use the Durachrome printer for long-term stuff now. We started the business a year ago, the Epson was our first printer, we delivered some outdoor signs that we laminated and encapsulated, they still look good.
One thing to consider though- you mention simulators- aircraft? Then you will not want to use the vinyl that Epson prints on without lamination, frustrated students scratch off the print, it is matte paint, and to look good, it will have to be laminated, which makes the decal thicker...(can be hidden with encapsulating)
Merry Christmas from Norway!

 

I alos have the Epson 10600 Ultrachrome and they are down right lying to you to tell you 5 years. I don't care what media you use on there it will not last that long outdoors. Also even indoors if it is something that people can tough and rub up against you will want to laminate it or the ink will rub.

HEY ColesCreations Do you have any ICC profiles that work with Flexi on that machine???? I have been printing from photoshop with the drivers because no profiles for flexi and the prints suck without them from flexi. The bad part is the photoshop drivers only print to 84IN.

I am having a hell of a time finding profiles for it that work with flexi.

Anyways back on topic epsons are awesome but the outdoor thing just is not true.

 

ahh Madisonsignguy... now here is where i can help. I often print longer files to my 9600, but you have to be clever about doing it. I think what i use to do was to covert the profile to the printer's in photoshop, then output the file as a .jpg. Now here is the fun part. Open Microsoft Paint, yes i said it. Now since you have already applied the correct color conversion for your file and printer, you should be able to simply print. Assuming that you have set the paper size and selected the printer..

have fun.

 

Hmm Wierd I'll try that but I have already tried in a few other programs and it seems like it is setin the driver somehow.... Never crossed my mind to use ms paint

 

Nope Doesn't work

 

To Madisonguy- I just tried to print from FlexiSign once, it came out bad, so instead of spending time finding out why, or finding the right profiles, we just went back to ColorBest, not because it is better, but because it works...
We have Flexisign 7.6.2 Pro, it came with a bunch of icc profiles on a cd, including those for Epson, you have that?