rowejd
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Professional Printer Needed
I need a professional printer that can print gorgeous photos, but that can also print really nice brochures. I do photography a little bit, and a client of mine has TONS of brochures.
Here are some of the brochure sizes:
11x17 (folds in half to 8.5 x 11 front and back)
11x22.5" (tri-fold to three 8.5 x 11 sheets! front and back)
And all kinds of folds with 8.5" x 11 and 11x17 -- trifolds, dual folds, etc.
So my question is what professional printer can handle printing this kind of thing? Needs to print borderless. And how do folks usually handle printing & folding stuff like this at a small office? Any advice would be SO helpful!
Here are some of the brochure sizes:
11x17 (folds in half to 8.5 x 11 front and back)
11x22.5" (tri-fold to three 8.5 x 11 sheets! front and back)
And all kinds of folds with 8.5" x 11 and 11x17 -- trifolds, dual folds, etc.
So my question is what professional printer can handle printing this kind of thing? Needs to print borderless. And how do folks usually handle printing & folding stuff like this at a small office? Any advice would be SO helpful!
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ASKER
So if I wanted to go ahead and limit us to 11x17 and go for a laser, forgetting the photo prints for now, but still good quality brochures able to be printed on glossy paper...what would you suggest?
Really depends on the volume. If you print 20 a month, just get the best deal that works. If you are printing 1000 a month, you need a copier. Look around locally for a copier supply company that leases machines. Usually the company will install, service, and set you up with replacement toner. I believe the last one I set up was around $450 a month, for the bells-and-whistles model. What kind of volume is your client producing?
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http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-Printer-Standard-Model/dp/B000ID3L50/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1213986204&sr=8-1
very good Ray, I didn't see that model. I would say that would be a good candidate for lower volume.
The suggestion about having a printer company print productions copies is good too.
very good Ray, I didn't see that model. I would say that would be a good candidate for lower volume.
The suggestion about having a printer company print productions copies is good too.
@Alikaz3 - yep, that's my printer. And it costs a lot less now than when I bought it! It is perfect for low-volume jobs like a few posters, occasional office printing, etc. It is also perfect for fine-art printing. But if you want 250 flyers, make them up in PDF files, print to test on the 3800, then put the PDF on a thumb drive and head for your nearest Kinkos!
For big printing jobs we have a standing contract with a custom printer. For the little jobs, any of the print-pack-and-ship places is OK. For large volume photographic reproduction it's hard to beat Costco.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-)
~Ray
For big printing jobs we have a standing contract with a custom printer. For the little jobs, any of the print-pack-and-ship places is OK. For large volume photographic reproduction it's hard to beat Costco.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-)
~Ray
Sounds pretty true-to-life. I guess I'll cover the other issue here, photo printing.
You have to decide if you want a standard format (8.5x11) photo quality printer, or a 4x6 photo-printer. Here's a few good models:
4x6:
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-PictureMate-Compact-Inkjet-Printer/dp/B000UMRWCC/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989522&sr=1-32
Epson PictureMate Dash PM 260 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer
$128
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-mini320-Compact-Printer-2172B002/dp/B000V2MK8M/ref=sr_1_149?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989711&sr=1-149
Canon Pixma mini320 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer
$133
- Both of these models look excellent
Letter/Legal:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Pixma-Inkjet-Printer-2180B002/dp/B000V2MK00/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989492&sr=1-14
Canon Pixma MP610 Photo All-On-One Inkjet Printer
$112 on sale +rebate
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-iP4500-Inkjet-Printer-2171B002/dp/B000V2MK8C/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989845&sr=1-36
Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer
$130
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-Photo-R280-Printer/dp/B000SDU7ZW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989911&sr=1-6
Epson Stylus Photo R280 Photo Printer
$100
-I'd go through all of these, weigh out options, read reviews :D
You have to decide if you want a standard format (8.5x11) photo quality printer, or a 4x6 photo-printer. Here's a few good models:
4x6:
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-PictureMate-Compact-Inkjet-Printer/dp/B000UMRWCC/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989522&sr=1-32
Epson PictureMate Dash PM 260 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer
$128
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-mini320-Compact-Printer-2172B002/dp/B000V2MK8M/ref=sr_1_149?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989711&sr=1-149
Canon Pixma mini320 Compact Photo Inkjet Printer
$133
- Both of these models look excellent
Letter/Legal:
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Pixma-Inkjet-Printer-2180B002/dp/B000V2MK00/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989492&sr=1-14
Canon Pixma MP610 Photo All-On-One Inkjet Printer
$112 on sale +rebate
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-iP4500-Inkjet-Printer-2171B002/dp/B000V2MK8C/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989845&sr=1-36
Canon Pixma iP4500 Photo Inkjet Printer
$130
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-Photo-R280-Printer/dp/B000SDU7ZW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1213989911&sr=1-6
Epson Stylus Photo R280 Photo Printer
$100
-I'd go through all of these, weigh out options, read reviews :D
Those are most of the bestselling inkjets on Amazon BTW
@Alikaz3: Those are good suggestions. My requirements include being able to profile the monitor and printer so the images I see on the screen are color-faithful representations or the images I see on the printed output (one of my clients uses my photos of wood to produce color brochures for interior decorators). I have paid more for my printers and I have bought and used the profiling gear to be certain of accurate color representation. It's a workflow issue for me. If I want a picture of my kid playing baseball, I can shoot JPG files and get a photo everyone will love. But if I want catalog-quality color accuracy, the profiling part of the workflow is critical, and that led me in the direction of the Epson K3 inks. ~Ray
www.rcs.plc.uk
A lot of menus we create go to this company, pricing is keen and professional. I don't bother with small printers these days, not worth it and normally looks a little tacky.
We also have a copier, Xerox are very hard to beat on small run production, very hard indeed.
A lot of menus we create go to this company, pricing is keen and professional. I don't bother with small printers these days, not worth it and normally looks a little tacky.
We also have a copier, Xerox are very hard to beat on small run production, very hard indeed.
ASKER
Awesome info! Thanks guys.
I was unclear, what I meant by this was color lasers cannot print on photo paper. They can only print on copier-class laser paper, and through laser printing they will have a "glossy" feel, but nothing like an actual photograph or inkjet-photo-paper printed image.