Suitable printer for postcards etc.

[Leonone]

Hello,

I am looking for a suitable printer. Preferably an A3 printer. It will be used to produce postcards, greeting cards, ordinary photos and calendar papers. Thickest paper will be 260 gsm.

Since I will do postcards, I want them to be waterproof/weatherproof. Wouldn't like smudges when it's bad weather and rains when the postman is making the delivery. Also think of a greeting card and someone sheds a tear, smudge is also not wished.

Perhaps the right type of ink is needed here. Pigment ink or similar ink that is waterproof?

What printer options do I have? I don't want to break my budget but could stretch to 250-300 Euro/Dollar/Pounds if needed.

Thanks!

 

[Gesture]

1-I absolutely agree on pigment ink.

2-Prices will be different outside the USA, but the best pigment ink value is the Epson WorkForce printers will DuraBrite pigment ink. These are four-color printers but will do fine with postcards and art stuff. They come in all sizes. And the scanner/copier is also worth having. I use WorkForce printers for all my everyday office work.

Here's USA examples:

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/...l-in-One-Printer---Refurbished/p/C11CF76201-N

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/...l-in-One-Printer---Refurbished/p/C11CH04202-N

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/...l-in-One-Printer---Refurbished/p/C11CH04202-N

Here in the States a WF that does 13x19 ink paper and has a tabloid size scanner often goes for less than $125 in the Epson Clearance Center.

This is the best value in a dedicated photo printer:

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epson.com

I use third party pigment ink in all these printers. It can be a hassle with the warnings that Epson throws off, but even with Epson ink I think the costs will be reasonable for what you are doing. Just keep the printer in regular service. Good luck.

 

[Fazal Majid]

Dye-sub printers make most sense for postcards, but you won't find a high-volume one for under $500 or so (DNP DS-RX1HS). The Canon Selphy line is serviceable for one-offs.

For bulk production, it makes most sense to outsource to a company like Moo, 4x6, PSPrint et al. Not only will the unit costs be cheaper, but the end-product will also be significantly better quality.

--
Fazal Majid (www.majid.info)

 

[FRGorga]

What kind of paper? Fancy high end art paper or run of the mill paper?

In what volume? A few at a time or real production?

If you do not need or want fancy paper and need more than a few at a time, I would consider outsourcing. If you are in the US, I can recommend overnightprints.com.

As for ink jet printing, I would consider a 17 inch printer... these handle cut sheets well and have large enough ink cartridges to keep ink costs reasonable. Smaller printers have much higher ink costs. Larger printers generally don't handle sheets as well. Unfortunately, I do not know of a new 17 inch printer in your price range. Maybe used?

I have no experience with Canon printers, but I can recommend both the current Epson SureColor P800 as well as the older 3880.

Regards,

 

[Matt FG]

From my experience printing med size card runs (250-1000 per order)for wholesale clients I’d stay away from the workforce printers- their feed system is very unreliable with thicker card stock. You’ll burn a lot of card stock and time trying to make them preform consistently.

The smaller epson photo printers work well if more slowly. if you need to run higher volume my solution has been just set up multiple printers. Look for last years model of factory refurbished units.
As to inks I’d recommend taking a look at inkjet mall-Jon Cone makes quality inks and carts, this will keep your COG’s low and pricing competitive.