Dye Sublimation - 4 inks vs. 8 inks

[Some Guy]

Found several 16x24" heat presses for cheap on eBay, about $320.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-16x24-Digital-Clamshell-Heat-Press-Transfer-T-Shirt-Sublimation-Machine/281260860582?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222006%26algo%3DSIC.FITP%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107083349%26meid%3D4857047899796394772%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D20140107083349%26rk%3D0%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D201035768734

There are several dye-sub ink suppliers out of China on alibaba.  Some advertising a liter of dye-sub ink from $1-$20 per liter.  Don't know about their inks, but I have bought empty carts from some that seem much like the more expensive ones (3x) that I get in the USA along with the same misspelled words or color info on the labels.  Just takes maybe 1-3 weeks to get them at times, along with sketchy to no instructions on use.

SG

[mcpix]

Well I picked up a used 4880 this weekend, so I just need to convert it over to dye sub inks and I'll be all set. I've decided to go with Artanium UV+ inks. They have the same 8 ink colors (at least in name) as the OEM Epson inks and I can get an ICC profile to use with them. They are expensive, but I'm hoping that we'll see some price relief this fall when the Sawgrass patent runs out.

It was interesting that many people, including vendors, tried to convince me to go with a 4 ink (CMYK) printer over the 8 ink Epson. I'm sure this would work for many items (mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads, etc.), but I want to take a more fine art approach and I think the 8 ink set will work better.

I still have my 4 ink Ricoh dye sub printer, and once I get everything set up, I'll run some comparison tests and report back.