Friday morning, at the ARA show, I sat in on the "Sublimation Solutions" clinic.
The format was Q&A from the audience, with questions being answered by a panel of sublimation experts.
The panel consisted of two Sawgrass Technologies representatives, a Sublijet distributor as moderator, Paul Whitehill, owner of Bison Coatings and Clarence Matney, of Universal Woods (Unisub).
I've been involved with sublimation for a number of years and have a good grasp of fact and fiction on the subject.
To my surprise and delight, the answers imparted, were free of Sawgrass propaganda. All members of the panel were well-versed on the subject and delivered solid, responsible and well-articulated responses.
From newbie to the experienced, nobody was able to stump the panel.
Some of the conclusions drawn were:
1. If you're performing full-color sublimation, like it or not, you're in the graphics business and a command of graphics programs will play a direct role in your degree of success.
2. If you're a Mac user and want to take advantage of the Sawgrass PowerDriver, you're out of luck. ICC profiles are all that's offered. Buy a $600 PC.
3. If you're using small format printers, build the cost of a new printer into your business plan, on an average of every year and a half.
Don't expect small format printers to be as robust as more commercial models, such as the Epson 4000/4800s, which should last an average of three years.
4. Refurbished printers are fine, as long as they're refurbished by the factory, or factory authorized agencies and come with a full warranty.
Steer clear of refurbished printers from a friend of a brother-in-law's nephew named Ralph, who slips in printer repair work, between shifts at Burger King. :-)
Those were a few of the high points of the discussion. Other aspects included trouble shooting of some of the audience's individual sublimation "challenges."
All-in-all, I felt the live Q&A format was more effective than a canned presentation, which possibly would have left questions in people's minds, which may have gone unanswered.
I give the clinic two thumbs up. :-) David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA |