Using EPSON Ultrabrite ink for copies

[AllenClapp]

Good news! The EPSON Ultrabrite ink works with Tom White's Transfer Magic and the transparencies that he sells, i.e., the same transparencies included in the Dubber/Schowe design transfer series.
Bad News: office supply stores don't seem to keep ink in their demo inkjets like they do toner in their laser printers, due to trouble with clogged heads when not used much. As a result, you can't try out inkjet printers to see what works with what transparency films. Most of the HP inkjets using known good cartridges are no longer available, so finding a new HP printer that you know will work is a crapshoot.
Even better news! The EPSON Ultrabrite inks are still available in a variety of printers. Ultrabrite inks are available in colors, so you can use a color printer to do backbones in one color, leaves in another color, etc. Yellow doesn't show up well, but blue and red show up almost as good as black.
Etc. As usual, you do need to carefully check the result to make sure that you have burnished ALL the lines before completely removing the film. Taping the film on with a piece of Scotch tape to keep it aligned when you lift to look is a good practice.
I dug out an old EPSON printer that used these inks and invested in the time and $$ to clean out the heads and put in new ink and I got good results.

 

[jeceb90]

EPSON and canon are reliable printers, while going with long. For better performance carefully head cleaning is the right option.

 

[sb3]

Alan,
Thanks for the helpful info. I was about to pull the trigger on a new printer after the old one died. Are you by chance using a prismacolor pen on your workpiece to transfer? If so how long are you letting it dry for the durabrite?

 

[AllenClapp]

Alan,
Thanks for the helpful info. I was about to pull the trigger on a new printer after the old one died. Are you by chance using a prismacolor pen on your workpiece to transfer? If so how long are you letting it dry for the durabrite?

I used the Tom White Transfer Magic (the white version which dulls reflections off the metal). I will try the pen when I get back after the 4th and see. I have used it before with a Canon inkjet print on Pictorico transparencies and don't see any reason that the EPSON Durabrite ink would not work with the pen. The Prismacolor pen dries quickly. Touch it with your finger when it starts to look dull and check.

 

[sb3]

Thank you Alan. I had trouble with the dye based ink from our Canon printer so I picked up one that uses the durabrite. I'll also give Tom's transfer fluid a try.

 

[percman48]

Weather ultra bright or standard ink jet cartridges - if you don’t use them much, the ink dries and renders the cartridge unuable. When ink cartridges are new, the business end is covered with clear tape. I have been removing my ink cartridge following every transfer orint and covering the head with fresh tape. Since starting that, i have not run a head cleaning event. My ink cartridges work like new each and every time.

 

[sb3]

That's good information. Are you just using scotch tape?

 

[AllenClapp]

Thank you Alan. I had trouble with the dye based ink from our Canon printer so I picked up one that uses the durabrite. I'll also give Tom's transfer fluid a try.

Dye inks DO NOT WORK for the transfer process. The ink must be a PIGMENT INK. Unfortunately, there are many color inkjet printers that use a pigment black with dye colors, so you have to look at the specs for the individual inks to figure out if the printer's color inks are also pigment based. If you want to have pigment colors (which tend to make better photos) to be able to printer parts of a transfer in color, rather than black, you have to have a printer that uses pigment colors as well as black. They exist; they just take a little extra online work to find. A lot of office supply folk have no clue.