Kevin,

Does Johnson Plastics sell ArTainium ink or just Sublijet?

I'm asking, because I heard there's an issue with ArTainium ink and hi-release transfer paper, in that, it tends to blur or run on the paper.

Apparently the formula of the ink (ArT) has been changed.

Hi David,

We do sell both Artainium and Sublijet inks.

When I used to have my business, I used Artainium inks with the Epson 3000. I was using the Texprint 95, and had no problems. After a while, I started having blurring issues when I printed yellow next to black. They would run into each other. I talked with the Beaver Paper people at a trade show, and was told that that was an issue, but they had the new Texprint XP, and had taken care of that issue. I used the XP paper and it worked great........for a while, and then I started to have the blurring issue again.

I did some testing using the Truepix, and our JP paper, and with the Texprint paper, and I found that there wasn't much difference in the images between them. We have discontinued the Texprint paper.

The accuplot paper is a thinner bond (21 lb) versus the 31 lb of the JP and Truepix. In my testing, I have gotten better color with the heavier bond paper, so that is what I prefer.

So to answer your question......I think it is a paper issue rather than an ink issue.

For anyone considering entering the world of sublimation, you might want to read the thread at DSSI regarding a new offering of Laser Sublimation being introduced by Colorstar.

I for one would not be buying inkjet today, unless I absolutely had to have larger format, without taking a look at what they are offering.

Doug

Hi Doug,

I agree and disagree with your statement about Inkjet sublimation versus laser.

I agree that people should check out ALL available technologies before purchasing any equipment. They need to find the technologies that best fit what they are looking for. There is not currently ANY technology that does everything. You may very well need a mixture of technoligies.

Laser (both sublimation, and non-sublimation) has its pros and cons, and inkjet certainly has its pros and cons. Neither is perfect.

I certainly believe that inkjet sublimation is a very viable and profitable business. If you have the proper equipment and support.

Kevin...you're right. It is like engraving...some stuff works best with laser, some with rotary, and some in the sandbox...but...I doubt that most engravers started with all 3 at one time.

My thought is, as troublesome as inkjet is, especially if not used regularly, laser is a good direction to look into...much less trouble for the startup.

I switched to OEM laser a couple of years ago and other than large format, I've not found anything that I could not do and some that I could not do with inkjet.

I was just trying to alert folks here that might be looking that there was emerging technology being introduced over on DSSI...

Doug

Doug,
Good idea to point that out. As a sublimation neophyte, I started with inkjet. I did that because I did not like the "look" of OEM but I have recently ordered some paper from Cactus and will be playing around with it.
It was either in a post that I read or a comment someone made that in essence states it is good to have both processes.
Like you mentioned in another post one needs all processes.

Anyway, thanks for pointing that out.