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Need to order Transfer Paper - Looking for some suggestions

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All,

 

I bought a Graphtec CE-6000 from US Cutter and I got a $200 credit with them as part of their promotion.  I've been doing Signs, Lettering, thermal vinyl, and Sandblasting for years and I'm going to try to ease into doing some printed T-Shirts as I may already have a 300 garment order in the pike through a family member. Unfortunately, I'm pretty 'printing obtuse' and I think I've over-read and over thought this, so I wanted to get some input from those doing this.  

 

I ordered a Workforce 7010 printer with stock ink.  In this market, I don't think Polyester would sell real well.  Everyone wears cotton sweatshirts, and T-shirts (Vermont).  So I'm looking to go with inkjet transfers, not sublimation.  In this market, people often tend to wear darker colors for the sun absorption factor.  So I'm looking for doing medium and dark cotton Inkjet transfers (no Chromablast as I understand once you move off their papers, for dark garments, it's really not worth it).  Looking to do logos (not pictures) on them, and planned to utilize the plotter to cut them out.  I'm assuming 8.5 x 11 may be ok for some things, and since the printer does I think 13" wide, it may be good to get some 11" papers for the larger sizes ie XXL - but would like some input on what you all find?

 

Can someone recommend some inkjet transfer products from US Cutter (want to use $200 credit).  Not sure exactly what I need (ie Mask, etc) to also go with it.  If you've got the time to include some product/model numbers, that may help as I'm really green here with this :)

Any help identifying some products, and other suggestions/tips would be largely appreciated! 

 

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I have a smaller Epson that only does the 8.5 x 11 sheets and I have found that while a lot of the transfers that I do are about that size you will need more space around them if you plan to contour cut so you probably will be better served with the larger sized sheets if your printer can handle them. Once you print registration marks and leave a little off the back it seriously reduces the usable space on the sheet. 

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I personally can't recommend any usc has to use the credit but you want JPSS for lights and 3G Opaque for darks for a recommended paper.   use the credit to buy some oracal vinyl and some transfer tape .  .   just an idea

 

while we love you to buy everything thru usc sometimes the stuff we like just isn't sold there and I for one can't recommend something I haven't tried and like

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Outstanding points! Just dont want to start off by limiting myself. Do you use ink jet?

I do use inkjet but I use pigment inks from Cobra ink systems with a tank system (CISS) I second the JPSS for light colors, Super soft feel that you almost don't even know it's there, and I don't like any of the transfers for darks but the 3G Opaque seems to hold color good. (They all feel stiff to me.)  

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siser colormask from USC will help you transfer those contour cut print to the shirts. Other than that I'm with Dakota on the paper I use.

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Thanks all for the feedback.  I was under the impression they had something that would be the equivelent to the 3G paper but maybe not.  I really don't foresee doing many (if any) white shirts.  Mostly medium to darker colors (black, Burgundy, Dark Blue etc).  Guessing while a little more expensive to do, the 3G paper can be used for lights as well, so in the off chance I did need to do a couple light shirts, I'm assuming that can be used.

I believe it comes with DURABrite Ultra pigment ink. Not sure how that differs from Cobra's pigment ink, but I would probably invest into a CIS at some point

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Durabrite is good pigment ink so you are good to go. To save some money in the long run you might check out Cobra when it's getting time to re-fill. 

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Thanks for the info Wildgoose!  

If anyone else is familiar with any papers (and if they're worth it) from US Cutter, please let me know, otherwise, this afternoon I'm just going to order a bunch of Vinyl & HTV and will order 3G from someone online (any cheap recommendations?)

 

Thanks All

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3G works on white but has a heavier feel that jpss. I have a couple customers that prefer that feel on white shirts but most prefer the softer jpss.

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3g and any for darks will have that plastic heavy hand it is just the nature of the beast to cover the colors - like jay said

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jpss is whites only. The farther away from white you go the more tint you'll get from the shirt color showing through.

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Yah, that probably won't work for me unless I'm doing whites, but the majority will be darks so 3G (or something comparable) will be the way to go I guess.

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I have a smaller Epson that only does the 8.5 x 11 sheets and I have found that while a lot of the transfers that I do are about that size you will need more space around them if you plan to contour cut so you probably will be better served with the larger sized sheets if your printer can handle them. Once you print registration marks and leave a little off the back it seriously reduces the usable space on the sheet. 

I found out a way to get around that issue (without buying a larger printer, which I did anyways)...

Layout your design on an 11x17" page in your design program, but center it and put it at the bottom of the page and keep the design itself within the limitations of a letter sized page.

Then when you print, tell your printer driver to print the bottom/center portion at 100% size - then use a glue stick or spray adhesive to attach the printed page bottom/center to an actual 11x17" piece of paper and feed that into your cutter.

As long as all the registration marks are on the printed page, it will work. That way you can get an image just shy of 8"x10.5" out of each letter sized page.

When I tried doing it with a letter sized page in my design, some times the cutter/software would freak out if I loaded a larger page, so I started doing it this way and it works. Now I have a larger format printer, but still have a stack of letter sized transfers to use up.

I printed a whole bunch of shirts for Zombie Fest that had a solid black background and was able print them 8.3"x10.7", with a tiny 0.15" white margin that I took off with a paper cutter - they were going on a black shirt so it didn't really need to be contoured, but I got every usable square millimeter out of those pages!

Keep your transfers in a heavy zip-top bag and store them flat to keep out humidity and keep them from curling.

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On 4/7/2014 at 8:31 AM, Wildgoose said:

I do use inkjet but I use pigment inks from Cobra ink systems with a tank system (CISS) I second the JPSS for light colors, Super soft feel that you almost don't even know it's there, and I don't like any of the transfers for darks but the 3G Opaque seems to hold color good. (They all feel stiff to me.)  

I know this is old and i already made a new TOPIC post about it and then  came across this post .Where do you buy your transfer papers.. Thanks bud .

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Best prices I have found are on Amazon. 100 pieces 11x17 for about a buck a sheet. There have been different sellers supplying it. The last pack I bought was from a different place than what is up there now but the price is still about the same. 

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3 minutes ago, Wildgoose said:

Best prices I have found are on Amazon. 100 pieces 11x17 for about a buck a sheet. There have been different sellers supplying it. The last pack I bought was from a different place than what is up there now but the price is still about the same. 

Awesome , thank you Buddy..cant wait to order some now..

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