Printer type question

[Jriddim]

Hey everyone!

I got a couple quick questions about printers and printing I was hoping you guys can help me.

All I have is an Inkjet. A newer HP photosmart. I was wondering if there is anyway of printing with an inkjet and recieving a higher quality result? like is there anytype of paper, or anything that can stop ink from
smearing/smudging?

second, will a color laserjet give professional quality results? like if i dropped the cash on a decent laserjet, can i print on alot of paper types? Does anyone print clients jobs on a color laser if they only want a small quanity?

sorry that wasnt all that quick

thanks!

[Freddy_2040]

A colour laser isnt good on glossy paper, more than a few people said that to me, I just bought one recently.

[Dano_UNLTD]

with the inkjet check out the HP line of papers i have a canon and only use the canon papers you can get some amazing results using the recomended high quality papers

on the colour laser, we have a few clients that only require small print runs and a good colour laser definately is sufficent for the clients that do not want to spend the money on litho printing

cheers,
Dan

[urstwile]

Jriddim,

In general, inkjets do better with photos rather than vector based stuff, for those, you're going to be better off with a laser printer. Inkjets don't really do type all that well, not to mention that the consumables (inks) really add up versus a laser printer.

If you can afford it, I'd suggest you get a color laser printer, and reserve your inkjet for photographically intensive stuff.

[Jriddim]

any recomended lasers? I was looking at the lower end HPs for like 200-400$... is that even worth it? everyone says toner is expensive to replace, but they last a long time?


thanks!

[urstwile]

Toner lasts much longer than inkjet ink does, especially if you're doing full coverage stuff in your design.

I've seen negative comments on things HP, so I'm not sure in terms of brand names.

Are you on a Mac or PC? And what size paper do you need to print to? Just letter size, or do you need larger paper capabilities?

[Jriddim]

I am mac and pc. I would love to be able to print up to 11x17... that would be great.. im pretty much open to any brands.. if you wanna throw one at me that would be great!


thanks!

[urstwile]

Well, I don't have any specific models in mind, but we use a Konica Minolta (business sized, not small office sized) color laser printer/copier at work. I'm really happy with it, the color quality is nice and accurate, and it works well for both platforms.

What I'd recommend you do is create a PDF that you can bring with you to test, if possible do a few different pages in the PDF, one neutral, one saturated, one average (photos and some spot colors), basically you want to see what the limitations of the printer are. It might be that you can do tests on different demo models at some of the usual suspects (Office Depot, Staples, etc.). That's typically what we do where I work when we're looking to upgrade our color printer. Some printers do great with super saturated colors, not so great with more neutral tones, and vice versa.

I don't have a printer at home, I usually print my stuff out at work, and I'm not sure of your budget.

[Jriddim]

thanks urstwile!

Another queston not really relating to laser printers... BUT... say I were to print out 500 business cards. How can I cut them out easily and professionally, with out using an exacto knife? basically I want to be able to (on a small level) design, print, and cut my own cards, brochures, flyers etc... is this possible without a professional die cutter?

please excuse my newbie questions

[Kool]

You would need a real paper cutter to get professional results. Note: a "Die Cutter" is a completely different animal. Truly if you add up all the expensive equipment, toner and time involved you will find that it just isn't cost effective to do this on your own.

[Ned]

A colour laser isnt good on glossy paper, more than a few people said that to me, I just bought one recently.

Yes, that is exactly right. You are limited in paper types on a laser - though there are special semi-gloss or matte papers which are made just for laser printers.

However, the quality of a color laser print on PLAIN paper is phenomenally better than InkJet! A good laser will sort of layer it on, like a screen print.

However, if you want ultimate in high-quality (with continuous tones like a photograph), you'll need an inkjet with high-gloss paper. Although inkjet can't compare to laser on plain paper, the quality of print you can get on glossy paper is way better. Again, that's for continuous tone images like photographs, etc. Urstwile did a great job of explaining laser's better text/vector handling, so I won't reiterate. :)

As far as brands, I personally prefer Canon for InkJet (second choice is Epson), and Minolta for laser.

And as far as cutting goes - use a paper cutter, not an exacto knife. Get the type that has a small razor-like blade on a slider, instead of the big arm type.

[urstwile]

You would need a real paper cutter to get professional results. Note: a "Die Cutter" is a completely different animal. Truly if you add up all the expensive equipment, toner and time involved you will find that it just isn't cost effective to do this on your own.

I would second that.

[Jriddim]

awesome... i just picked up a small rotary/sliding cutter...works pretty damn good for $30!

[dyers78]

I know you said you wanted to do it yourself but I find using Kinko's to do my cutting works out great. It's 1.25 a cut and they can handle about 400 sheets at a time. Your talking $10 for up to 3200 perfectly cut business cards ran 8-up.

[Jriddim]

I know you said you wanted to do it yourself but I find using Kinko's to do my cutting works out great. It's 1.25 a cut and they can handle about 400 sheets at a time. Your talking $10 for up to 3200 perfectly cut business cards ran 8-up.


WOW!... my only question is... if i run 8 cards on a 8.5 x 11, would i have to manually put trim marks? how does that work?

[urstwile]

You would need to put the trim marks on, yes.

[Jriddim]

so just put 0.25 point trim marks... kinda like this?

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/78/cunningcardsgridwebfl4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[urstwile]

Bingo!

[Jriddim]

you guys are so helpfull.. thank you urstwile. Now if i were to have double sided cards, do i give the printer 2 files? do i have to do anything special if im gonna print on two sides?

[urstwile]

No you can give them one file with 2 pages in it, depending on the software you're using.

You just have to make sure the positioning of the crops is the same on both pages, they'll run it double sided for you.

Are you planning on sending this to a printer then, or printing duplex on a laser printer that you purchase?

If the latter, I can tell you that duplexing on most laser printers is really tricky in terms of strict line ups.

[Jriddim]

Are you planning on sending this to a printer then, or printing duplex on a laser printer that you purchase?

If the latter, I can tell you that duplexing on most laser printers is really tricky in terms of strict line ups.

I was going to do both... go to a printer now, and then maybe in the near future, buy a laser and try duplexing. Is duplexing possible via 2 seperate files in illustrator? I think im gonna focus on getting them printed at a printer for now.

o yeah. Would i just copy/paste the cards into indesign? (front of card = page 1) back of card = page 2)?

thanks, as you can see im quite new to printing :)

[urstwile]

No worries, Jriddim.

Here's how I'd do it: You save just your logo all by itself as an Illustrator file. You do all the type that you want on the card in InDesign. You import your logo graphic into InDesign, set your type in InDesign. Do the crops, like the example you showed. Center it on the 8-1/2x11 page.

Then duplicate that page, and do the other side.

Send that off to the printer.

If you're later planning on printing it yourself, the duplex will be tricky, because most laser printers, even higher-end business models, tend to shift things on the second side, so you end up having to figure out and fiddle with the positioning of the second page in relation to the first. Often it's off by as much as 1/8th of an inch.

You could bypass the duplex feature and just manually flip your paper over and feed it through the manual feed, sometimes that works a little better, but most lasers will still jog things up a little even doing it that way.

[Jriddim]

thanks very much urstwile, your quite helpfull :)

[urstwile]

Glad I can help. :)

[MD]

Although duplexing may be an option on your future laser printer you probably will not be able to duplex card stock - it is too thick.

Personally I like it when people send me business card files 1up. It is easier to combine it with other orders and we tend to run our business cards in 4up strips or 12up on a letter sized sheet of paper.

[urstwile]

MD, that actually makes perfect sense if it's a one person business card, good point. Where I work we usually have different people all getting business cards, so we do 'em 4-up.

[Jriddim]

soo oif im printing just one sided, I just bring them my single 3.5"x2" file of my card? and the printer will worry about how many "up" they print it at?

[urstwile]

Yup. Of course, the best thing to do is to ask your printer how they would like you to set up the file. :)

[cjoe]

glad to see you choose that logo, Jriddm!