Hello everybody.
I’m planning to sell some prints online.
I’m looking for a decent printer…one that won’t break the bank.
Something that will print out at least 11 x 17 inches. Most of the paper stock that i’m planning to use will be anywhere from 170 to 200 gsm. I don’t have to have an all in one either. Just a printer.
Should i be considering something with a replaceable print head?
Lastly, I did some research on Canon and Epson “tank printers”. I was wondering what was your
personal opinion on them also.
Thanks everybody.
Any help, tips or advice you could give me will be greatly appreciated.
What kind of paper? Photo prints or matte stock?
What kind of duty cycle? A series of 10 a day or 100 series of 10 a day?
I don’t work for Epson, but right now that is the direction I would look if I were you.
Something with pigmented inks (for longevity,) like the Epson Claria series. For short run home use I’d have recommended the Epson Artisan 1400 but that is no longer made. I have not yet tried its replacement, the Expression Photo XP-15000. It has a 23mil paper thickness limit. Not sure how that translates to gsm. It is not the fastest machine, but ok at photo quality for the home desktop.
Note: Dye base inks fade within weeks. Don’t fall for it.
If you have a higher projected through-put or heavier stock, you may have to be looking at the more spendy industrial models.
My first choice would be to develop a relationship with a local photo lab and send the work out. Second choice would be to send the work to an out of town lab if you don’t have a local solution. While getting new hardware and doing DIY might seem exciting, a high quality lab is worth their weight for a number of reasons. I send all of my printing out and am pretty happy with the approach.
Photo labs…sigh…My beloved lambda printers are becoming a thing of the past.
Recently things have been coming in from photographers on Epson paper rather than Fuji Crystal Archive (ie, they’re inkjets.)
Depends on what these prints are. If high art, then yeah, you might consider a ‘studio’ that does high-end art prints. But I guarantee you they are some kind of pigmented ink applied to paper/canvas with spew technology. Just run at verrrry slow speeds.
But I’m betting these are more like Discord or DeviantArt commissions? Still, you want a rep for good quality stuff.
The lab that I use has a wide variety of services Fuji Crystal Archive photographic prints, metal, thin wraps, canvas wraps, giclée, all on a variety of stocks. Plus their prices don’t suck. At $5.52 for a 10 x 15 lustre print, for example, it’s really not worth the time, expense, and headache of owning and maintaining my own printer, having different stocks on hand, maintaining the calibration, etc.