• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Question I want to get into sublimation printing

N

netsol

Active Member
lets start by buying a sublimation printer.
your roland has given you so much of a hard time lately, it would not be a good candidate for a conversion to dye sub

were you asking about equipment choices? how to find clients? potential niche markets to pursue?

by the way, how is the roland doing?
 
N

netsol

Active Member
are you thinking garments? feather banners? cell phone cases?

i wouldn't mind having the ability to print a feather banner (flag) in house. not sure if i can sell them successfully, but i see enough of them at gas stations, grand openings, etc. it sure seems like a good market to pursue
 
J

Jim Hancock

Old School Technician
What is the largest thing you want to print in sublimation? Epson's new desktop sublimation printers are a hot item now, easy to use and the ink is cheap!
 
balstestrat

balstestrat

Problem Solver
Here printed sublimation products like fabrics, flags, mesh etc. price has been ran so low that you can't beat the prices the big shops make them with quick and large machines.
So I would not get a machine for it but straight source it out. Yes you have to wait a day or two but you won't have to do anything.
It would need some work ready for the machine to make it worth while.
Maybe it's not such a competitive market out there.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
If you're talking about apparel or things of that nature, I just bought the Uninet Icolor white toner printer. You can swap out the toner for sublimation toner. I LOVE IT SO FAR. Weed free full color transfers. Everything he says about this is true and you can also do transfers for wood, mugs, etc.
 
Last edited:
mpn

mpn

New Member
If you're looking for desktop size printers get one that runs the gel ink if you're not running it daily. We've been through all kinds of printers and our work for sublimation comes in groups but spaced out long enough that the benefit of the gel ink is worth the cost.
 
Stacey K

Stacey K

I like making signs
mfatty500 said:
Stacey, what Icolor machine did you buy? I have the 600 and am having a hard time with getting good vibrant colors. Here's a a couple of good FB groups to join if that's your thing. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WhiteTonerSuccess/about

https://www.facebook.com/groups/WhiteTonerTransferSupportGroup/about
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm in the second one mentioned but will join the other one! I've only run a few smaller jobs so far and I struggled with getting the white to print and found a fix in the FB group. I'm making a note here that you also own one incase I have a question you might be able to answer.
 
mfatty500

mfatty500

New Member
I'll be glad to help...if I can. I was struggling with the white sticking to the garment, but I think I have it figured out right now.
 
C

CENTERVILLE SIGNS

New Member
netsol said:
lets start by buying a sublimation printer.
your roland has given you so much of a hard time lately, it would not be a good candidate for a conversion to dye sub

were you asking about equipment choices? how to find clients? potential niche markets to pursue?

by the way, how is the roland doing?
Click to expand...
ALL of the above. Roland is much better, but still some head strikes THANKS
 
J

Jim Hancock

Old School Technician
Again I ask what size of items do you want to do? It will determine what kind of printer I would suggest.

My experience with sublimation is running large volume printing for a promotional products company for 7 years with Epsons, Mutohs, and Roland/Chinese clones, at one time running 12 printers at once. Everything from 17" to 54" media, including sublimation profiling and creating templates for large volume printing.
 
J

Jim Hancock

Old School Technician
This is my suggestion for equipment. This particular printer does letter size, which will work for mugs, mousepads, hats and small shirt designs.
Printer - Epson SureColor F170 Dye-Sublimation Printer - Epson SureColor & HP Printers - Dye Sub, DTG, Sign, Photo & Giclee (dtgweb.com)
Heat press - JetPress 9x12 Swinger - Epson SureColor & HP Printers - Dye Sub, DTG, Sign, Photo & Giclee (dtgweb.com)
Mug press - Mini Mug Press (bestblanks.com)
Hat press - Hix B-250D Cap Press, Includes Golf, Ball & Youth Platens! (bestblanks.com)
 
J

Jeremiah

New Member
netsol said:
are you thinking garments? feather banners? cell phone cases?

i wouldn't mind having the ability to print a feather banner (flag) in house. not sure if i can sell them successfully, but i see enough of them at gas stations, grand openings, etc. it sure seems like a good market to pursue
Click to expand...
I will not touch feather Flags. There are 4 people in this small town that order from China. They are at war with each other! 75 . 69.00 65.00 60.00 for a complete set up with pole and base now. How low can they go to compete with the other. Such a shame for business to act this way.
 
N

netsol

Active Member
Jeremiah said:
I will not touch feather Flags. There are 4 people in this small town that order from China. They are at war with each other! 75 . 69.00 65.00 60.00 for a complete set up with pole and base now. How low can they go to compete with the other. Such a shame for business to act this way.
Click to expand...


maybe my mindset is wrong. (hard to tell since this is my "retirement businesss" and covid has put everything in slow motion. i a year or two we can see if my ideas are correct

this is the disagreement with people like kcollins (a very smart guy, who i am allowed to disagree with, have learned a lot from his posts)
he would never own a printer, where i am trying to have capability to produce everything we sell in house (i don't have to do it, i can still use signs365, or someone else, but i would never try to sell a product where i dont have the ability to do a redo or rush job inhouse. to me this is the cost of being a viable vendor. there are a million resellers,
but i want to be "one step higher on the food chain". i would not order a sign from someone that didn't have a plotter in the building

what happens when the reseller screws up, and i am waiting for an event banner & you need a reprint because of human error & the event is tomorrow morning?

i guess it is just a matter of mindset

i used to argue with our fastsigns rep. he said they are a marketing organization, i want to be a manufacturer or commercial print house
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top