Help in setting up new T company.

[Bruno]

I'm a designer wanting to set up a seriously cool T shirt company.

The problem is my designs are quite large around A2 in size and I need to find some gear to produce these on a limited budget.

I found a heat press on ebay for £259 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281464459792? ... EBIDX%3AIT which would do I think at least for a year or so.

The next problem is finding a printer. I was wondering if I could buy an A2 printer and convert to dye sublimation. I've seen lots of A4 & A3 printers at reasonable prices but nothing bigger.

If I bought an Epson stylus pro 3880 could this be converted - I see it has 9 pigment inks which may be a problem. Or a second hand printer would be fine too.

I'd appreciate any advice on offer.

Bruno

[JMugs]

The answer to your printer question is yes, some of the current supported printers are here
http://www.xpres.co.uk/search.aspx?Sear ... submitBtn=

Most epsons can run sub ink.

Janners

[Bruno]

Thanks Janners - I've seen the Xpres site but all their printers are very expensive - If I bought an Epson 3880 and found the CiSS kit could I not set it up myself? Also can you tell me I've seen compatible sub inks being sold ay much cheaper rates than the brand versions. Someone told me sub dyes are all basically the same - do you know if this is correct - Or should I stick to the brand version?

Cheers

Bruno

[JMugs]

If you stick to sawgrass and sawgrass compatible printers you can use a sawgrass ICC, otherwise you need to get your own done.

My advice on this is sit down for a week, search every way possible in this forum, and the options will start to become clear. I say do it this way as it really well make more sense as you explore at your own pace.

Janners

[Justin]

I would seriously consider outsourcing your shirts in the first instance. See how it goes and get some money behind you first. I did this with a clothing range and printed the matching gifts in house. Screen printing and DTG may well be your best bet

[Bruno]

I've costed out screen printing and my problem with it is - it becomes a catch 22 where you have to order quantity to get a good price then you have the problem of too much stock to shift. The problem is my designs are quite large - covering most of the shirt and also involve printing both sides of the shirt - so extra screens - print costs etc push it up.

I tried out sourcing sublimation prints and again both sides I get charged so much to produce them there's no profit in it.

I felt if I own the equipment then I can print what I like making the designs unique, no stock issues and the cost would be relatively low meaning I can sell to shops and still make a profit.

[pisquee]

You could partially outsource, get your transfers printed by someone with a large format printer (a few of us here have them much bigger than A2) and then you can use your budget to get a decent UK press.

[Bruno]

Hi Pisquee

You are suggesting I work with someone - possibly yourself from this forum?

[pisquee]

I'm happy to give you quotes for printing transfers, and probably some others here would be too ... it's up to you though.
You'd definitely be in the best position not buying the cheap Chinese press you linked to. In terms of printers, yes, a large format Epson inkjet printer can be converted for sublimation. These bigger pro printers have large refillable cartridges available (usually around 250ml) and licensed sublimation ink for wide format printers is a lot more economically priced.
If I was writing a business plan for you. it would be to outsource a small run to test the market first (if not already done) then buy a good UK/USA press (PressMech, Adkins Beta, Insta...) and outsource your transfers to press yourself. Reinvest profits to save up for 44" wide printer.

[Bruno]

I presume you have a large format printer - what size can you go up to.? My designs cover the whole of a t shirt on the back around 65cm x 45cm and a small area on the front. I could go slightly smaller if needs be - What about your press - could you handle it?


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