Need printer recommendation
Need printer recommendation
- Subject: Need printer recommendation
- From: Sharon Shea <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:37:30 -0500
Title: Need printer recommendation
I have not been ‘hands on’ when it comes to the actual hardware used for printing on any significant scale (e.g. hundreds to thousands of cards/pages). I have been using an Epson 2200 printer (using Ultrachrome pigment inks) for making prints of my digital photos. That has worked fine because I am not producing more than 300 prints a year destined to be matted or framed, the quality is good, and I get a decent return for this kind of printing.
However:
The growing part of my business involves selling my licensed digital images as christmas or blank note cards. Those are sent out to commercial printers. There the scale ranges from 50 - 10,000 cards of a given image. This includes printing the outside image and (most often) internal text, logo or whatever other customization.
However, the commercial printers used each specialize in either small or large runs, or using color or black ink. Much has to do with the type of equipment they have invested in, and how much it costs them to run it. It varies widely in cost, (as does the quality), so there is a lot of juggling various jobs between printers. Often a large offset run is done on the outside image, then it is sent to either another printer for color imprint, or black imprint to another. A lot is lost in efficiency during busy times.
So I am exploring other options – in particular to print the short runs in-house if I can find the right kind of printer.
I am interested in what printers are available in the $500 to $800 range that would allow me to produce high quality digital image greeting cards at a reasonable cost. The printer would need to be able to feed and handle greeting card stock and envelopes (our typical card is 10" x 7" overall, 5" x 7" folded) in a variety of weights. Double sided printing would be a "good thing" but not required. Good quality reproduction of digital images as well as good clean text print is necessary. Finally, the cost per card of the consumables (e.g. toner, ink, etc.) would have to be affordable. A typical run would be from 50 cards up to 700. Total number in a year might be on the order of 50,000 cards.
"Good quality" means output that would be acceptable for commercially produced greeting cards, and especially corporate clients, which is the biggest part of the business. Archival isn’t a consideration, but good color management certainly is.
Recently I have read some articles claiming that there has been a watershed in the print quality of laser printers in the last couple of years. Certainly the prices have dropped while I’m assuming quality is as good or mostly likely better.
So... I would appreciate comments and recommendations on this topic. Are there reliable laser printers (or are there other technologies I should consider?) in the $500 to $800 range that would meet my needs? If so, what makes and models are the best?
Thanks - Sharon
Salem Design
http://www.salemdesign.com
Phone: 978-740-5940
Email: email@hidden
Fax1: 978-740-9505
Fax2: 978-776-2317
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Colorsync-users mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden