Use my existing Epson 1290 for sublimation or buy all new?

[jimsters]

Hello

i have an epson 1290 A3 printer. i see this can be used for sublimation printing.

is it worth buying a ciss kit and the inks (with am icc profile) for my 1290, or am i sort of wasting my money and should go for a new epson like the 1400 with the ciss kit?

obviously id rather get the stuff for the 1290 but will i come across problems with it?

thanks for any help

[Justin]

If your 1290 is printing perfectly ok then you might be as well to stick with it. The expensive bit is the ink. If for any reason your 1290 packed up you could always buy an empty CIS for your new printer and salvage the majority of the ink :-)

[bms]

Does the 1290 work perfectly now, no blocked heads? If it does then you could use it, but 1290 isn't supported anymore from Sawgrass due to it's age. Do you need A3 printing for sublimation or would A4 suffice?

[jimsters]

thanks for quick replies.
the 1290 was working fine last year but its been sat not being used so ill have to set it up and see if its still working fine.
i know sawgrass done support the 1290 anymore but an icc profile is available with rotech sublimation ink.

thats a good idea about salvaging most of the ink if i get another printer.

i dont specifically need an A3 printer for sublimation, however i thought if i was going to buy one i may aswell buy an A3 printer.
thinking about it though, what would i actually specifically need an a3 printer for? larger canvas subli prints, anything else?

[Justin]

Large trays, sun shades, larger designs on t-shirts....99% of your business will probably fit on A4.

[jimsters]

a4 it is then if im buying a new printer.

so if my 1290 works fine should i go for an empty ciss and buy the ink to fill it up?

ive also read posts of somebody using an epson c21 with great results. i assume this is with just a ciss and inks?

thanks

[Justin]

You can buy the CIS pre-filled, saves a lot of hassle and won't cost any more. You could always siphon a little out and buy some refil carts for the 1290 that way the A4 printer would be used primarily but you could switch over to the A3 should the need arise :-)

You'll find a couple of posts on here about the S21, I have one on test at the moment. Great results for such a cheap printer, P50 is much better built and gives a better image. These printers aren't supported by Sawgrass if that bothers you. Take a look at the B40W (A4) and the B1100 (A3, great value) if you want a supported model.

[jimsters]

this does give some options.......

i cant find a prefilled ciss with sublimation ink for the 1290.
im assuming id have to buy an empty one, buy the ink, fill it myself, and get the icc profile.

im not really bothered if they are supported by sawgrass.
if i go for a non supported printer like the p50, do i just buy an empty ciss and the ink or can you get prefilled ones?
also if i go for one of these what about an icc profile?
if they arnt supported by sawgrass does that mean that you cant actually get the sawgrass ink, or can you still get it using other methods?
or do you just use rotech ink.

i also have an old epson 740 printer that works fine.


is it also an option to buy fillable ink carts, buy some subli ink, fill the carts and test the printer with the subli ink? is it viable to keep refilling these carts with subli ink?

[bms]

You can buy the CIS pre-filled, saves a lot of hassle and won't cost any more
These aren't available anymore from Sawgrass. Sawgrass is the parent company of Rotech inks as well.


im not really bothered if they are supported by sawgrass. if i go for a non supported printer like the p50, do i just buy an empty ciss and the ink or can you get prefilled ones?
also if i go for one of these what about an icc profile?
As they aren't supported then there is no ICC profile for them and that is what can cause you problems. You can put the sublimation ink through any Epson printer but the colours may not match between the image on screen and the final print without a colour correction profile.

[Justin]

Sorry, my typo regarding the CIS for 1290. I think I have a Rotech profile for the 1290 but not sure whether this would be ok for you.