DSF

....as I'm till new to sub printing, Im currently doing mugs/moneyboxes but it seems to me that to have a chance of sustaining a good profit, in the near future I may need to open things up a bit... I honestly have 'not much of a clue' as to what is required to also offer canvasses and mousemats, t-shirts etc...

If anyone has a few mins to kill, would you be so kind as to give me a brief overview - or point me in the right direction? For example, I presume I need a different printer/ink for canvass printing, but Im thinking that a heat press will print on to most (subli) things, but does that include canvasses etc?

ManyThanks!

i use a HP z2100 24" wide format printer with 300-420 gsm, 18 meter rolls of fine art canvas with high quality HP pigment ink series 70 cartridges for my canvas prints. tees and the other subli stuff are done in a similar way to mugs. i use a ricoh gx3300n with subli gel cartriges i get from martin at BMS.

the HP printer was about 1700 quid and the cartridges are 60 quid each and theres 8 of them. But you get an amazing amount of product from them as they have 130ml of ink in them.
the Ricoh is thirsty when you put the subli carts in it for the first time (something about the tubes getting filled inside) but then all is good. No messing about and no clogging so far with it so far. carts are bout 48 quidplus vat i think plus delivery for the ricoh.

hope this helps

thats great - thankyou!

I have a ricoh with subli carts for mug printing - so it seems it wouldnt be very expensice to move into printing Tees and other products - I assume I just need a flatbed press and...? Is it a different type of paper from the trupix I currently print on?

The Majority of Inkjet printers will print onto canvas Just make sure the printer is set to canvas printing not gloss or mat paper. We use a Epson Pro 7880 seems to handle most jobs although the profile for canvas is something else.

TPM;22542 wrote:thats great - thankyou!

I have a ricoh with subli carts for mug printing - so it seems it wouldnt be very expensice to move into printing Tees and other products - I assume I just need a flatbed press and...? Is it a different type of paper from the trupix I currently print on?

Trupix paper is fine for tees, mouse mats and just about everything else. If you want to experiment with canvas printing with your sublimation set up then there is sublimation canvas as well although your prints would be on the small size with an A4 printer. Have a look here...
http://www.printerowners.co.uk/sublimation/509/sublimation-canvas.htm

so...all I need is a press for tees and products? oeerr....how much is one likely to cost??

I'll take a look at that link - thanks Martin!

They vary in price from second hand on ebay to new from a supplier/ebay. Price is also dependant on size and syle

If you have the space, go for a swing away one, saves burning the fingers, lol

Thanks Kaz - so, whats better a flat bed or combination? I presume a combi gives a lot more flexibility for products, but can a flat bed still do door plaques, frames, mats, costers, keyrings etc etc?

I've got both, started out with the combi, but the flat bed part is smaller than A4 so bought a flat bed aswell, that way I can do a mug and something else at the same time.

And yes, a flat bed can do all the items you mentioned

it depends on your own preferences lots have a combi and lots have dedicated units

i think a combi is ideal for ppl starting out as it gives you everything you need in a press for a good price.
but once things take off for me i will be looking for individual presses, plus that way i will always have the combi as a back up if one of the others go wrong