Fespa 2013 meet up

[Sawgrass]

Why were Inktec selling SC-6000's, there are only 2 authorised resellers of the new epson dye-sub printers and neither of which are them!! The epson ink is nice and cheap at just over £100 a litre, it also happens to be made by Sawgrass for Epson

Must correct this misconception: the Epson dye-sub inks for the SC-6000 and SC-7000 printers are made by EPSON, but under license from Sawgrass, so fully legal.

[smo]

Must correct this misconception: the Epson dye-sub inks for the SC-6000 and SC-7000 printers are made by EPSON, but under license from Sawgrass, so fully legal.

So as I said, its Sawgrass ink. Regardless of what factory it comes from its the same formula!

EDIT: your comment about being legal suggests Sawgrass have a hold over large format dye-sub, which they dont so unless it was actually sawgrass ink there would be no need for licenses from SG.

[Sawgrass]

So as I said, its Sawgrass ink. Regardless of what factory it comes from its the same formula!

EDIT: your comment about being legal suggests Sawgrass have a hold over large format dye-sub, which they dont so unless it was actually sawgrass ink there would be no need for licenses from SG.

No, Smo, it is not the same formula - but the same technology. Sawgrass own the world-wide patent on dye-sublimation technology, and several large-format manufacturers pay a license fee to Sawgrass for the right to market products using this technology. You can find the list on our website.

[smo]

Sawgrass only own a patent for small format/desktop printers, I cant believe anyone pays a licence which isnt needed such as large format. Epson will be on the list for small format stuff but I doubt they are for large format.

It seems you and EPSON have different views on who makes their ink as they say you do!

[Sawgrass]

Sawgrass only own a patent for small format/desktop printers, I cant believe anyone pays a licence which isnt needed such as large format. Epson will be on the list for small format stuff but I doubt they are for large format.

It seems you and EPSON have different views on who makes their ink as they say you do!

Smo - please read the following page: http://www.sawgrasseurope.com/about-sawgrass which explains who we are and what we do. There is no way that EPSON would ever claim that we make their inks, as they have recently paid a 7-figure sum for the right to produce dye sublimation inks for wide-format use.

[smo]

They clearly did make that claim as that is where I got my information from, whether that person was right or wrong remains to be seen but as I dont know who "Sawgrass" on DSF is I cannot accertain if you are the MD or the tea boy!!

Epson are not listed on that page, i'm also sure they wouldnt want you disclosing any informaiton about how much they are paying for anything so i'd remove that claim about 7 figure sums if I was you!

[socialgiraffe]

Calm down SMO

The member Sawgrass on here is not the tea boy although I am sure he/she does make a fine cuppa. You only have to look at their posts to see that the member does know what they are talking about.

Also you are a bit contradicting. How can you comment on who Sawgrass is and then in the same thread make a comment that is reflecting your own personal view and not those of another company. I am sure there are many on here who have opinions about Sawgrass (nine times out of ten it is the price ). But one thing is for sure, they are a good, reputable, reliable company and most (if not all would agree with that statement). Without a shadow of a doubt any press release or news item concerning finances would have been approved by any concerned party so commenting on behalf of Epson is a bit of a non starter.

Going back to the original part about who makes the ink (which is completely off topic). Does it matter? The reason I say this is because if the ink is legal, works and produces good results then who cares? Is this not the same as Xpres or TMT rebranding an Adkins and no one seems to bother about that.

[Sawgrass]

Thank you socialgiraffe. To clarify and leave no doubt as to validity of anything which I may post on this Forum: I may have my own private opinions on matters, but on this Forum will always post information which, to my knowledge, is correct and in line with Sawgrass policy and procedure. I am Head of Sales/Sawgrass Europe ( and yes, I do also make tea).
I met with a few Forum members, I think, during FESPA last week, only wish that I could have met with more of you - the better we understand how our end-users ( or indeed non-users) are working, the better we can help you.

As to the EPSON agreement, a press release on the subject was sent out on 19th January this year, and can certainly be found on Printweek archives.

My objective when joining this Forum is to get to know the market better, and where possible to improve relations with the dye-sub community - not in any way to be conflictual or "bang on the table".

[s31teg]

futher to my last post, they wanted to sell their demo machine from the show.

but i dont see the point when the ink for epson/SG is basically the same price

[Andrew]

Forgot to add...!

Sawgrass were showcasing a few sample garments. The thing that impressed me the most was the quality of the sublimation on garments that were 50% Polyester 50% Cotton.

They had a few coloured Gildan garments on show that they had sublimated with some lovely one colour designs which looked fantastic. If you are in the garment design/fashion side of things then it is worth experimenting on 50/50 garments for designs and prints that are not colour critical.

Were these freshly printed or being showed after washing etc? I would think part of the problem would be the ink staying in place after the first wash. I trialled this a couple of years back and whilst it came out great after printing looked very faded after washing. Is it something different this time around and new?

Gutted I missed the show now and think I have missed out on some potentially business changing machinery. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for any pointers and feedback. Feel like I am falling behind in the game now