If you are using an ink jet printer to produce dye-sublimation transfers (mugs, license plates, nametags, ceramic tiles, mousepads, etc.) or T-shirts, this is the right page for you!  There is a higher quality, lower cost alternative to your existing solution.

Typically ink jet dye-sublimation runs anywhere from 2 to 3 cents per square inch for bulk inks to 4 to 6 cents per square inch for filled ink cartridges.  If you are making products that use a good bit of ink such as Hanes Sof'Link T-shirts, license plates or mousepads, you quickly will price your finished goods out of the market due to ink costs.  For instance, a typical T-shirt will have art on it that is 8" by 13" with about 2/3 coverage.  That means there are about 70 square inches of ink being used to make the T-shirt.  At 4 cents per square inch, you have spent $2.80 in ink.  The blank T-shirt is $4.75, so you have $7.55 tied up in the shirt and ink, plus another 20 cents in special release paper.  Using a color laser printer loaded with color accurate dye-sublimation toner and ATI release paper, you can produce that same T-shirt for $5.95.  You can use that same artwork and apply it to a $1.20 50/50 blend T-shirt using a 47 cent sheet of Hottee transfer paper and 53 cents of laser dye-sublimation toner to yield a completed T-shirt cost of $2.20 per T-shirt.  If you want the zero hand feel and zero visual presence using 50/50 fabric, you can use a 25 cent sheet of ATI release paper, slightly more dye-sublimation toner (about 95 cents worth), and 10 cents worth of dark prep liquid to produce a color fast, zero hand 50/50 shirt for $2.50.

Laser printers have additional benefits besides cost per print.  Some of those advantages are:

• Print Speed: Fast print speeds measured in 12 - 16 pages per minute rather than minutes per page.
• Reliability: No clogging of jets since the toner is a powder that doesn't dry up (it is already dry) and the laser has no jets.
• Accuracy: Accurate, vibrant full color transfers, first time, every time.
• Flexibility: The laser can produce all of the standard dye-sublimation products at least as well (normally better) as the ink jet dye-sub, but can also produce 50/50 T-shirts using Hottee transfer paper or ATI Release Paper. 
• Low Cost: Don't forget, the low cost per print of laser is less than half the cost of the ink jet dye-sub print! If you are producing 100 T-shirt prints per month at a cost savings of about $1.80 per print, the savings can add up quickly.  Being able to use 50/50 T-shirts yet yielding much the same result as 100% polyester, your savings add up all the quicker.

If you are looking for a solution where you can have one printer that does it all (hard surface dye-sublimation transfers, and lower cost 50/50 T-shirt transfers), take a look at a color laser printer solution.  Now with white toner giving you the ability to also produce uncoated hard goods and opaque transfers, this is the best solution, period.

   We gladly accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

Send mail to wfwatson@earthlink.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: July 14, 2007