UNDER THE HOOD | EPSON SURECOLOR G6000 Epson PrecisionCore printhead to print Epson’s Ultrachrome DF inks in CMYK plus white onto transfer films. These then need to be processed through an adhesive powder coating unit before being heat pressed onto a wide range of fabric types. The UltraChrome inks are supplied in 1.6l containers and are GOTS-approved, and have Oeko-Tex Eco Passport certification and so are suitable for use on garments. A recirculation system is built in for the white ink to avoid settling or clumping of the pigments, though a daily agitation of the ink bag is advised; the design of the printer enables the bags to lie horizontally rather than standing vertically, which should reduce the depth of any deposition that does occur. There is also an automated printhead wiping system to keep the heads clear and ready for use, while nozzle status electronics allow for detection and correction of any blockages during printing. Feel the Width, and the Quality The print width is wider than in many DTF printers, which typically offer 60 or 75cm, and this coupled with the ability to print to pretty well all of it (the data sheet specifies a 3mm margin at each side), should enable a decent level of productivity and minimal transfer film wastage. Though as ever, there’ll be some cutting out to do before individual items can be heat pressed onto garments, unlike vinyl transfers. With that said, there’s no weeding to do after pressing, which is one of the attractions of DTF. Resolutions range from 300 x 600 to 600 x 1200dpi, but Epson is a bit reticent in providing performance figures, referring in this case to seven ‘levels’ that correspond to the various resolution options and number of passes. The machine provides values of 4.2 and 3.4 sqm/hr for levels four and five respectively, both running at 600 x 1200dpi and printing in bi-directional mode, but with different numbers of passes. These figures are for CMYK-plus-white printing, with the latter requiring a separate set of passes; they double for CMYK-only or white-only printing, so reaching 8.4sqm/hr in Level 4 mode. Whatever the numbers, raw print speed is only part of the DTF productivity equation, given the number of (usually) manual production stages that have to follow. The powder/shaking process can be automated, though, and Epson demonstrated the G6000 at The Print Show with an Adkins unit hooked up, though it doesn’t endorse any particular supplier and recommendations will be made via its resellers, such as The Magic Touch, which added the G6000 to its roster in the summer of 2025. Epson doesn’t make specific claims for the colour gamut achievable or the durability of finished pressed transfers, as there are too many variables in materials and process, though it does claim “crisp, stand-out imagery no matter what the fabric quality” in its product brochure. The supplied software, Epson Edge Print Pro, aims to maximise the use of media, by nesting designs for output. It also offers settings for a range of output media and final textile types, covering caps, pockets, and shoes as well as the more typical t-shirts and tote bags. Epson’s 2024 acquisition of Fiery brought with it the Digital Factory textile pre-press software, which is available as an optional extra for the G6000. This provides pre-flighting capabilities, colour profiling tools, and step-and-repeat artwork generation, plus sophisticated controls for white ink generation and rendering of vignettes and other options that optimise image quality plus ink and media use, while also enabling aesthetic treatments such as very coarse resolution ‘mesh’ screening for ‘vintage’ effects. Epson makes both the inks and the printheads for the SureColor G6000 so should be able to achieve the optimum performance in terms of both finished print quality and reliable operation. Epson’s Customer Experience Centre lead Alex Matravers says: “The aim is for confident eight-hour working”. While it’s true that you can get a DTF printer for well under half of the G6000’s price tag of around £9,500 (plus VAT), lost time, wasted materials, and energy, plus dissatisfied customers can very quickly erode that difference. It’s clear from The Print Show that many prospective users preferred to wait for Epson reliability – or found the hard way that they didn’t have it – so if you want the security of a brand that you already know and trust, look no further. Maximum Roll Width: 900mm Resolution: Up to 600 x 1200dpi Speed: 1.9 to 17 sqm/hr, depending on quality and number of colours Ink Type: Epson UltraChrome DF Colour set: CMYK plus white Statistics ▼ The Magic Touch was annouced as a G6000 reseller in July, 2025 ▲The SureColor G6000 is a roll-fed DTF printer for the print, garment, and signage sectors 20 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk Issue 357 - November | December 2025
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