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printer for a graphic designer

#1

Aug 5, 2004 11:54 AM by daniela

Hi to all!

I have a home graphic design business, making mainly wedding invitations. I have had a canon s500 which has now gone caput and am in a need to upgrade. I print mainly on vellum paper as well as cardstock, and have been running about 1000 prints per month, maybe slightly more. I may also want to print photos on photographic paper, but that is not the major need. Printing on both sides of a paper is something I will use if I have the capability, and though I have not had a need to print larger than 8.5x11, it may come up. Since I make wedding invitations, it would be nice for the brides if the lasted some time, but am unsure as to whether the inklife has been measured outside of photographic paper.

I have been recommended the canon i860 (about $100) and the epson 2200 (about $600). Is the Epson going to be as effective on non-photographic paper (for graphics)?Does anyone have any recommendations based on the needs described above.

Any input appreciated! I have a job in line and need to buy asap! Thanks!

Daniela

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#2

Aug 5, 2004 1:53 PM by slipe

For an all-round printer that will do excellent photos I think the new Canon iP4000 might be a good choice: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_...on_ip4000.html

Plain paper graphics are fine with the Epson 2200, but it doesn’t make a good general purpose printer. Text isn’t as good and the black tank is too small. And you have to swap the black tanks switching between plain (matte) and glossy photo paper.

I have a Canon wide format photo printer and refill my own cartridges. It is fairly easy to do and saves a lot of bucks. It is much more difficult to refill Epsons. Get back for ink recommendations if you decide to try that – cheap universal inks do a crappy job, but good ink is hard to tell from the Canon ink. I like having my tanks full when I start a job. If you set it to print a big job and leave it you can damage the heads if a tank runs empty early in the job.

HP makes some GP printers with automatic two sided printing. It is very slow though. You could print both sides of your invitations on a Canon and be doing something else while the HP isn’t halfway through the job.

The i860 is a good buy at that price. You can get the iP4000 for $150 from ECost with free shipping. I think it would be worth it for what you are doing.

The inks on the Epson 2200 are pigmented so they are less prone to fade. Unprotected pictures hanging on the wall in bright light from the Canon will fade fairly quickly – you can see the difference in a few months. Matte or plain paper tends to fade less than glossy photographic paper. I don’t think fade would be a problem for invitations and the like. If you plan to sell photographic prints people will hand on their wall the Epson would be the better printer. Otherwise stick with the Canon.

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#3

Aug 5, 2004 3:00 PM by daniela

Slipe,

Thanks for your thorough reply. The double sided printing info was helpful, as well as the epson being a little too photo pro for graphics

Thanks,

Daniela

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#4

Aug 5, 2004 3:40 PM by slipe

daniela wrote:
Quote:
Thanks for your thorough reply. The double sided printing info was helpful, as well as the epson being a little too photo pro for graphics

Not so much for graphics but for text. I does plain paper graphics fine, but it isn’t the best for text. You have to swap out the cartridges to get text black instead of photo black and the cartridge is small. It would be a nuisance for use as a general purpose printer.

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#5

Aug 5, 2004 3:41 PM by daniela

Hi again Slipe,

I was just looking at the technology for the double sided print on the ip4000 and it looks like it loops the paper back, which is fine for thin paper, but it doesnt look like the cardstock/cover paper that I often use will fold well in that mechanism. Do you believe the ink technology on the ip4000 is far supperior to the 860?

D

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#6

Aug 5, 2004 6:58 PM by slipe

I think it uses the same ink. The output quality is based on the heads more than the ink. The photo output on the 4000 is spectacular for a general purpose printer with only 4 colors. You probably couldn’t tell the difference for things like invitations and other plain paper graphics.

They don’t seem to have the manual online yet so I can’t find out how thick the duplexer will handle. I’m only familiar with the one on the HP and it slows you to about ¼ speed.

I’ll probably get a 4000 when I run out of ink for my HP.

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#7

Aug 5, 2004 7:09 PM by daniela

sounds good

thanks again,

Daniela

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