Could the Roland BT-12 be Right for You

The Roland VersaStudio BT-12 is a low cost Direct to Garment (DTG) printer for printing directly onto cotton substrates. With this printer, you can print full-color graphics, photos, and logos onto cotton very easily and cost-efficiently.

The Details
The Roland VersaStudio BT-12 is an all in one direct to garment printer. The printer and finisher are stacked on top of each other leaving a very small footprint. The BT-12 is 15.7 × 29.9 × 11.5 inches and has a 11.5 x 8-inch printable area. It is a CMYK direct to garment, which means there is no white ink. This printer works best on 50% to 100% cotton, light colored garments. The design and print software are even included with the purchase!

Pros
There is a lot to like about this printer. First and foremost, it is easy to use and maintain. A standard DTG printer with white ink requires daily maintenance. If you do not run the machine daily, the white ink can clog the machine quickly. The BT-12, on the other hand, does not require this daily maintenance since it is a CMYK printer. It can go unused for days and will still work when turned back on.

The second benefit to this is the quality of the print for the price. The soft print from the BT-12 is unmatched! For $3495, you can get a DTG printer that easily prints HD images directly onto the shirt. There isn’t anything else on the market that can do that for close to this price. Cotton t-Shirts come out bright and feel amazing!

Another benefit is that the BT-12 can do small runs with ease. There is almost no setup to printing onto a garment, meaning if a customer only wants one shirt, you can have it to them within minutes. This allows you to keep the small jobs and make your business even more money. The printer and the finishing unit can be used simultaneously, meaning you can print a garment while the other is in the oven finishing. The machine is portable, so you could bring it to events, mall kiosks, or to various shops selling t-shirts. Its versatility allows you to do a lot while only taking up a small amount of space.

Is this right for you?
Before you purchase a BT-12, you need to know if this will work for you and your business. Do you plan on printing on dark garments? Are you going to want prints larger than 11.5 x 8 inches? Are you doing large production runs?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you may want to look at another option. However, if you can push your customers to light colored garments and work within the 11.5 x 8-inch parameters, you can have a great, high-quality print for a low cost. For small runs, it will not take you long to pay off this machine. At $10 profit a shirt, you will only need to sell 350 shirts to break even.
If you already have a machine that makes t-shirts on dark garments, then this machine could be a perfect addition to what you already have. It would allow you to make high quality prints on light garments that your customers will love.

If you don’t currently have a way to make t-shirts and are looking to get into the business, this is a great starting piece of equipment. It allows you to make complex designs and print it in minutes. It also gives you the some of the softest feeling prints on the market. With the ability to print on 50% cotton and higher, you are not limited to only polyester like Dye Sublimation, and you are not stuck with a high maintenance schedule of the DTG with white. You do not have to weed any vinyl for heat transfer material. You can simply place your design in the software and print.

Take a look at our tutorial video for an in-depth look

If this sounds like a printer that will work for you, please contact us here at Wensco.com in the contact section or give us a call at 800.253.1569.