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This of course, will vary depending on the DPI used, the percentage amount that the paper is covered with ink, and any other variables. The prefilled cartridges will not begin to get this many per set.

You should be able to find on the printer box, however, what the Epson company estimates the number of prints per cartridge is for your particular printer. You can also find the cartridge capacity for your cartridges if you plan on refilling or for the purposes of estimating your own cost per print.

Black goes into the making of many colors, so when the black is even slightly different, this causes all of the other shades to be slightly off as well.   In the case of the Magic Mix inks, the difference is very slight.  This is good for us! The print out is rarely different in color enough to have to use any special color profile, nor is it noticeable for most graphics and photos.

When it is noticeable enough however, many people have told me that they simply adjust the color on their software slightly, making it darker or brighter than they want it to be, so that it then becomes the accurate blend.

Some inks, such as dye sublimation inks, are so different in appearance, that they really need the color profile to get the print out to appear the same.

Make sure that the printer you choose is a supported printer for the dye sub inks that you plan to purchase. We carry the ArTainium UV+ line of dye sub inks. You can find their currently supported printers on our dye sub inks page.

You might also consider purchasing a bulk ink supply unit. We do not sell these, but highly recommend the use of them as it reduces greatly the cost per print, reduces the headache of refilling and reduces the costs of disposable prefilled cartridges.

You will likely have to do a chip swap. This is done very simply, by removing the OEM chips carefully from the outside of the OEM Epson brand cartridges.

You then pop out the 3rd party chips and throw them away as they are single use chips only.

Place the OEM chips that came out of the Epson brand cartridges and carefully, but firmly place them into the coordinating 3rd party cartridges. Note: This information is for information purposes only. We do not recommend for or against this method.

If you peel off the label on the top of the cartridge, it will expose 2 sets of holes; three on top, three in the middle. The top buttons are the vent holes and are smaller. The middle holes are the fill holes and are typically filled with little rubber plugs.

You remove these plugs to fill the cartridges. The openings on the bottom of the cartridges should be sealed completely with a good quality tape. Some people do not remove this tape when they are finished; however many still do as that is the norm for refilling.

The capacity that each cartridge can or should hold is important. Overfilling will result in wasted ink as it will leak out through the cartridge bottom.

For most papers, but ours specifically, the temperature is vital. You must heat the press to at least 350F, though some use 360-385F and have not had complaints of scorching or other problems. 

It is highly recommended that you 'pre-press' the blank item without the transfer being placed for about 3-6 seconds first. Doing this will steam out any chemicals that were put in the blank by the manufacturing process. Then, you place the transfer and press for approximately 10-18 seconds. I personally press at 350F for about 12-14 seconds.

The peeling of the paper should be smooth and immediate (while HOT, not cold) in a diagonal pattern from a corner near you to a corner away from you.

If you still have problems, you will likely need to contact a screen printer or sign supply house to get a heat strip or heat gun to determine if your press is actually getting as hot as you think it is.

For example, if you are going to press a pocket area graphic and a larger back print, you would want to place the blank shirt on the press.  Pre-press the shirt without a transfer for the recommended 3-6 seconds.

Place the first transfer, press for 10-12 seconds at the temperature you typically use. Peel immediately.

Flip the shirt and place it on top of the Teflon sheet (so the first side is touching the Teflon, thus protecting the platen from the fresh transfer). Do not do a pre-press this side as it's already been done.

Place the second transfer in place and press for 10-12 seconds as you did the first one.  Peel immediately.

The only difference is that you do peel the first one immediately. Do not keep the paper backing on it. And use the Teflon to protect the transfer and the heat platen when doing the second side.  Voila!

Inks, being liquid, can find their way out through many tapes, so make sure that you use a tape that gives a good seal. After you follow the steps of the refilling instructions, you will need to let the cartridges wait for an hour or so.

Remembering that time is your friend with refilling; you can remove the tape from the bottom of the cartridges (over newspapers or something else that can get inky and that will not absorb to the point that it draws the ink out of the carts).

It's important to know how much ink to put into the cartridges as overfilling will do nothing more than allow the excess ink to flow right out the bottom. This is totally normal and in fact is a good thing (better that the excess leak out onto newspapers than inside your printer).

To get a bit of a visual; think of a kitchen sponge. Imagine you put that sponge in a tub of water and it's totally filled with the water. Now, you take the sponge out of the water (this is when the bottom tape is removed).  the water that the ink can't hold onto drips from the sponge, but there is still a lot of water in that sponge.  Now though, it's only what it can hold, no more, and unless you squeeze water out of it, no less.

The spongy material inside the cartridges functions that same way.  you want to fill that sponge, not the cartridge chamber, but not over fill it. Over filling will cause the excess to leak out and potentially cause messes that are avoidable.

A

Most likely your printer is just not printing all the colors properly.  The simple way to check is to go to the Printer Preferences section on your printer icon. Click on the Utility or Maintenance tab and then click on the Nozzle Check icon.  You will want to print this very brief page of mini grids/bars. You will notice that you are likely not printing all of the black bars or some other color if another color is not printing correctly.

Simply do a print head cleaning from that same area on your utility for your printer. Then print another Nozzle Check to see if it is better. Never do more than 3 at a time as it is warned that doing multiple print head cleanings will eventually burn out the print head(s). If you do a head cleaning, print a nozzle check page and it still isn't good enough; wait about 15 minutes and try again. If you do this process 3 times, and still do not have good results, it might just be that you are actually out of ink(s).

I noticed my ink in the bulk unit bottles is starting to separate. I don't print very often. Has it gone bad or what?

Nope. Unless it's 2-3 years old or over, it's likely just fine. Usually about twice a month you might want to just gently shake up the bottle to keep the ink pigments from settling down to the bottom. It is very common after some time, so (make sure you don't make a mess of course) just shake it up a bit...but remember, g-e-n-t-l-y!

:)

Magic Mix� inks are pigmented inks.  Dye sublimation inks are dye based inks (which typically bleed).  However, the difference with dye sublimation inks is that these are specially formulated dye, made to go from a liquid to a gas.  While in gas form, they impregnate the fibers of the fabric.

Magic mix� inks do not do this; they don't actually sit on top of the shirt like a decal either though.  Basically the inks that are partially absorbed into the carrier of the transfer paper are transferred into the top layer of the shirt.  Some absorbs into the shirt I'm sure, but for the most part it is held into/onto the shirt because of the paper. 

Both are considered archival as both methods (assuming a professional quality ink and paper are used for either method) will last many, many years... often longer than the shirt or blank itself.

They're very different, but both very useful methods of transferring digital artwork to imprintables.

The one that typically sits onto the shirt like a decal would be an opaque paper. These you print normally (not in mirror) and cut around it. They're used on dark colored tshirts with an ink like the Magic Mix�.

 This is typically a decal type only instead of having an adhesive on the back; they essentially melt onto the top of a shirt.  Sometimes these peel, crack, etc. so be careful to use an opaque paper that you've tested and are comfortable with.

  Make sure you have a top quality transfer paper when printing with the Magic Mix� inks though... paper and inks are equally important when creating a top quality  product.

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