Looking for recommendations - Sublimation Ink

[Rongage]

Hi all!

First post on the site so please take it easy on me!

Anyhow - some background. I am a fine art printer located in the Detroit area. I have been asked by several of my customers to look into doing prints on metal (ChromaLux or whatever). Obviously, this is a sublimation printing process. I want to start off "small" so I can get my learning curve out of the way and keep costs down in the process.

I managed to get my hands on an old Epson Stylus Pro 4000 (yeah, I know - old old printer but it still works). I have finished cleaning it out (Simple Green for the win) and am now looking for a good (and inexpensive) source of bulk sublimation ink in 7 or 8 color. Yes, I know about Sawgrass and Artanium. I want to avoid that cost for now if possible - and I already have a full set of refillable carts just begging to have some ink added to them. I also know about the $70 sets of ink advertised on Ebay and Amazon - those kinda scare me.

Can anyone on here recommend to me a not too expensive ink set for a 4000 printer so I can get my learning curve started. I am already anticipating that the profiling process will be kinda interesting (using Onyx ProductionHouse x10).

Thanks!

Ron - PRG Studios
Westland, Michigan

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

I would recommend Sensient which we use, but they are some of the most expensive. You may want to give Gans Ink a call and see what they would recommend. They carry several lines.

 

[Correct Color]

If I could just caution you...

If cost is a consideration, do NOT attempt to print on Chromaluxe.

I've actually profiled Chromaluxe for clients in several parts of the US, and I think I can say with certainty that I'm very familiar with the stuff.

First and foremost thing to know about Chromaluxe is that is absolutely unforgiving. If you print any imperfection in it, it shows. So unforgiving that even the dot patterns produced by different RIP's can have a dramatic effect on your final results.

And as such, I can tell you that even though I'm an Onyx fan, I would not recommend using Onyx with Chromaluxe. What you'll find is that it works very well for some images, but there are others from which you can't even get a sellable result.

Lots of people use Wasatch with Chromaluxe, but I've seen the best results with ErgoSoft.

But as far as Onyx goes, you'd be better off printing directly from Photoshop.

Last thing to know about Chromaluxe is the infamous yellow cast that is pretty much a part of printing on the stuff. The manufacturer denies it, but it's most definitely there.

I have developed a way to profile a good bit of it out, but that is something you'd have to pay me to find out.

Lastly as far as ink goes, every client I've ever had that prints this stuff has used Sawgrass. And yes, it's expensive, and yes, not too many people are all that fond of Sawgrass, but I just cannot overemphasize: You're not going to print Chromaluxe on the cheap.

If you have clients that need it every now and then, and you don't have some serious money to put into it, I'd really suggest you farm it out.

You might try Adoramapix. I set up their Chromaluxe operation and they get some really nice results.

 

[Atomic DNA]

As far as ink is concerned, we buy our Jteck from Daniel at Digitally Driven. Not the cheapest but at the same time not the most expensive. His customer service is exceptional, too. You can find him here and tell him Mark from Atomic Designs and Apparel sent you!

I can only speak from my experience from printing ChromaLuxe panels. We have only been printing the panels for about three years now and other than the small dust imperfections you may find every once in a while that is about my only gripe. We print for a photography client on a regular basis and I have never once heard anything about a color shift or yellow cast. Weird.

Rips do act differently from manufacturer to manufacturer. We use Caldera and really don't have any complaints there, either. That's my two cents.

 

[Rongage]

Chromaluxe

Thanks everyone for the advice. It is greatly appreciated.

To begin with, I am leaning heavily towards the "or otherwise" part for the photo panels. Again, cost containment to start off with. Eventually, I will move to Chromaluxe after I have my process down - otherwise the cost is just too high to be part of the learning curve. Do any of you good folks have any experience with the "off-brand" photo panels - what to look for or stay away from?

Thanks again!

Ron

 

[Correct Color]

Z06

We print for a photography client on a regular basis and I have never once heard anything about a color shift or yellow cast...

We use Caldera and really don't have any complaints there, either.

Well that's interesting.

I'm a Caldera dealer and have always wondered how Caldera would do with Chromaluxe, but never had a client who used it, and of course since the process is so time and material intensive to set up, I've never had anyone want to just let me experiment.

But the yellow cast otherwise is very well known. And it appears with every other RIP, and when printing direct as well. It's something akin to the yellowing you'll get with optical brighteners, and it's along those lines that I've worked to minimize it.

Also could be the ink, since as I said, I've never actually seen anyone use anything other than Sawgrass.

That'd be pretty cool.

I've always liked working with this stuff, and as I said, I've got a number of clients who print to it. Any chance you'd send me a Caldera patch of your media? I'd love to open it up and take a look if you don't mind.

 

[inkjet frank]

Sublimation ink

In terms of dye sublimation ink, I have seen lots of sportswear manufacturers using Kiian digitsl ink. It's an Italian brand manufacturer, also have a plant in the USA. Heard lots of good things about them, and their ink is not expensive. You can call them @ 323-439-7690
hope this helps