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TonyM
23-02-2010, 07:02 PM
Hi all,
As a follow on to types of ink, a question about paper to use with the ink.
Is there one type suits all?
I read that there is some for light fabrics and some for dark.
Also is it the same paper for fabric as ceramic?
What about plastics, mousemats, and I understand you can even sublimate to metal or wood.
Does each material require a different paper?
Thanks again and sorry for what must seem really obvious questions to the more experienced of you. but I would wager that there are a few newbies if not now, in the future that will be thinking, Thank God he asked that as I dont want to look silly. :oops:

Tony

Paul
23-02-2010, 07:11 PM
hi Tony! there is no such a thing as paper for dark and white :)
I would recomend texprint or trupix for all your sublimation printing. I use texprint I love it! I use that for my ceramics and for t-shirts.

thanx

Paul

accdave
23-02-2010, 07:19 PM
I prefer Texprint for t-shirts and trupix for everything else.

Justin
23-02-2010, 07:47 PM
Xpres used to sell different papers for sublimation tee's and hard items, mouse mats/coasters etc. but now do a one paper fits all which is very good for the price.

I recently switched to Truepix and it's the best I've ever used. Far more expensive though.

Justin

bms
23-02-2010, 07:49 PM
There are various brands of paper in the market and a good quality sublimation paper should be good for hard surface items as well as softer items - hard surface are items such as metal, ceramics where as softer items are items such as mousemats, t-shirts etc.

TruPix or Texprint are papers manufactured by Sawgrass and are good quality papers.

An economy brand of sublimation paper (not the same as 80gsm laser printing paper) is okay for hard surface items only. The better quality papers allow more of the ink to gas off the paper during sublimation whereas the poor quality papers soak too much of the ink into the paper preventing it from being released.

There are also "high release" papers which produce more vibrant results onto softer items and these include JetCol or Texprint HR (HR = High Release). These papers often need some drying time (approx 10 mins) before use as the ink doesn't soak into the paper very much.

If you looking for a good all round paper then you won't go far wrong with the TruPix brand IMO.

TonyM
23-02-2010, 11:47 PM
Thank you

Once again sensible helpful answers.

One last question until the next one.
Silicon paper? What is that for?

Is it just a protective thing?
Can I not just use a sheet of my normal injet paper and throw if it has ink on it.
What is the silicon paper use?

Regards

Tony

JSR
23-02-2010, 11:59 PM
Martin's too modest to mention that he sells an A4 economy sublimation paper. It comes in packs of 200 sheets and is great for starting out. I used to use it.

These days I do tend to stick with TruPix for hard items and TexPrint for fabric items. They cost a little more but if you factor it into your costs, it's affordable enough. If you're just starting out or doing some experimenting, the BMS economy paper will help you save money if you're printing hard items (mugs, placemats, coasters, etc). Be wary of unknown economy sublimation paper.

Silicon paper is there to separate your work from your press - protecting your press in the event of ink either going through the paper, or gassing around the edges. If ink gets onto your press there's a danger of it pressing onto the next item, and you don't want that. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to ink on your press.

You can either use silicon paper which is good for a couple of uses and then discarded. Or you can use the heavy teflon sheets which are good for hundreds of uses (they cost more but are worth it). I use a combination (belt and braces). I use teflon sheets on the heat platen itself and I used to use silicon paper next to the teflon sheets but I've since switched to Tesco's greaseproof paper - works out a lot more convenient because it's cheap enough to use as a "use once and chuck it" paper.

TipTop T's
25-02-2010, 10:33 AM
I also use greaseproof from Tesco's for the bulk of my printing, but also use teflon for things like a final press when using flex and TTC transfer paper.

Images On
08-04-2010, 03:15 PM
Hi I am quite new to sublimation printing and am using truepix paper at the moment, I do have problems on high saturation photographic images with ink marks, this keeps cropping up just when I think I have got it cracked!
Is there a better paper for high saturation images, I print onto mugs and T-shirts. When I get a clean print the transfer is great so no worries about the image quality of the paper I just want to stop pulling out what hair I have when I keep getting ink marks on my prints.

frizbee
09-04-2010, 11:36 PM
Can I add my two penny worth to this.

Truepix paper is by far the best quality paper and will give you good quality results on solid colours on mugs & unisub.

BMS sell a high release fabric paper, not sure what its called but again, it produces about the best results you can get.

Xpres paper is fine for your standard mug & unisub printing but not up to pure solid colours compared to truepix.

Novachrome, intersting paper as it is just epson matte photo paper, works well for unisub products but thats about it buy it on ebay for £5 a pack do not use for mugs it really is not good enough.

BMS, The magic touch and many others do a pack of 200 sheets enconomy paper, not a bad paper and will give good results but compared to truepix colours are not as sharp but worth keeping a pack in stock for emergencies.

Other paper and certainly the cheap no name stuff on ebay is worth staying well away from after all your reputation is all in your quality and if you need to weigh the couple of pence difference against your quality then you need a new business model.

For the masses who don't already know me, we give the above info based on our actual experience, not sure home many mugs I printed last year but its more than 20,000 probably nearer 30,000 I know we did over 10,000 unisub coasters! and have been through every type of paper and ink and ended up with truepix and epson (only for coasters!)

bms
10-04-2010, 02:34 PM
BMS sell a high release fabric paper, not sure what its called
That one is JetCol.

frizbee
10-04-2010, 03:27 PM
Thank you Martin could never remeber whats its called.

Well there you get it called JetCol and after you've used it once, you'll never change.

NASH
10-04-2010, 04:17 PM
Due to the properties of this paper you may need to allow up to 10 minutes drying time before using the paper and then be careful as you lay this on to the garment to avoid smudging.

This is why i`m reluctant to use this

Andrew
10-04-2010, 04:28 PM
I have found the Xpres paper to be great for alround printing. Solid block colours onto ceramic never a problem so far. I would never touch the cheap unbranded stuff as you will just be wasting your money.

JSR
31-05-2010, 01:04 AM
That one is JetCol.
Martin, do you sell TruPix in 8.5"x11" format? I see only "true A4" on your website.

I find 8.5"x11" to be a more convenient size for many things because it's that extra bit wider than A4.

bms
31-05-2010, 08:44 PM
Martin, do you sell TruPix in 8.5"x11" format? I see only "true A4" on your website

We've standardised on A4, but might have a few packs of US Letter in the office - I'll try to remember to check tomorrow and let you know.

JSR
31-05-2010, 11:37 PM
Martin, do you sell TruPix in 8.5"x11" format? I see only "true A4" on your website

We've standardised on A4, but might have a few packs of US Letter in the office - I'll try to remember to check tomorrow and let you know.
Thanks.

It'll be a lot better if I can order my paper with my order rather than having to keep getting it from elsewhere. I'm normally in favour of A4 size, but I find the extra width of Letter size to be quite convenient for many things.

I'll be placing an order tomorrow so if you can let me know sooner rather than later, that'll help. Thanks!

pipesy
06-07-2010, 01:11 PM
Hi everyone, we're just looking at trying out both trupix and texprint. A couple of comments have said texprint can smudge on t shirts/polo shirts though the results are good. Is this the case generally? Pipesy

sarahann
07-07-2010, 10:43 AM
Hi everyone,

Hope I can help a little here.

Dealing with customers and doing sublimation myself, Trupix seems to be the most popular. Using that with Sawgrass inks gives the best results.

However, there are other papers available. There is ink jet light, ink jer dark and self weeding paper. These are used in situations where the garment being sublimated is not made of polyester and in some cases, is not white. These products work very well but the downside to them is they do not have a long life span. People use these for promotional items such as one day events etc. The reason they do not have a long life span is because the pigment is being transferred to the garment, unlike with standard sublimation paper where it turns into a gas and dyes the yarn.

Hope this helps - it is my first post :)

bms
07-07-2010, 09:31 PM
Great first post Sarah - always good to hear from the end users with their opinions ;)

sarahann
08-07-2010, 10:47 AM
Thanks Martin -- I'm still getting used to the site. I work for a company who supply garment decoration supplies and I use the equipment so I'm trying to give an honest opinion from both sides :)