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I need to print onto paper a design that includes both images and text.
Using inkjets i find is bloating the text by that i mean that once the ink is on the paper it is being absorbed by the paper!
I dont want this to happen. I need a colour print!
Any one with ideas is welcome to post!
well i print little gatefold handouts for customers and they have print and text with an epson photo inkjet, however i think that 100gsm is nowhere near good enough quality paper
I dont want to go and spend £400 and have the same results as an inkjet!
... just guessing, is there any chance that you're refilling with or using an ink that may not be recommended for your printer?
One other possibility you can try with your current printer is to adjust the amount of ink flow to the paper. My HP comes with a PC control dialog where I can perform tests, check ink levels, and adjust the ink density.
Inkjets suck....Lasers rock!
More in-depth answer, a laser will cost you way more, initially and in the long run, but, for the quality every penny is worth it!
Top quality paper is also very important. If you want professional results you are going to have to pay to get them!
I'd never buy another Inkjet (owned at least a dozen), it is money down the drain. Lasers are not cheap to buy or maintain, but, at least you can rely on them to produce a quality result without all the Inkjet hassles!
Thanks for all the coment so far- Grandpa quickly answering you! Indeed i am using a compatable (cheaper) cartridge.
Now i have to look at what laser printer i want to purchase :)
Inkjets can produce excellent results on paper which has a high chalk content (or some similar substance), it's quite different to normal paper. I'm not talking about glossy photo paper, it's a matte finish and costs less than glossy photo paper. Try going to your local stationers and pick up some sample stock, you should be looking at paper that costs around 5p/10c a sheet (possibly more at a local store, but if you are only buying a pack or two it's a price worth paying for the ability to get sample sheets).
The third option is Dye Sublimation / Solid Ink printers. Now those can produce amazing results, but they were more expensive than good colour lasers the last time I had a good look.
Beware of cheap colour lasers, they can be very expensive to run. Also the quality of them varies enormously.
Your final choice may be inflienced by the type of thing you are printing, solid blocks of consistent colour are tricky for cheap lasers, the others fare better on these (graphs etc). If you are using the printouts for anything but design work then a laser or good inkjet will be fine, with the laser probably outperforming the injet in terms of speed.
So...
For small volumes your inkjet may do, with decent paper.
For more speed a good colour laser is the choice.
For the best quality a DS / SI is the bees knees.
Thats something i have not heard of before and im going to do someresearch into that now thank you.
Is the DS / SI tht much better than the colour laser printer?
Yes, by quite a margin in many cases. The main reason behind this is the way a 'dot' appears on the paper. Lasers create dots that are discerable by the naked eye as they have high contrast edges, DS create dots that have softer edges and can vary in intensity on better DS printers.
There are also other advantages, DS printing seals the ink into the paper rather than on the paper surface. This is usually only a problem if the printout is folded, handled very poorly or if the printout needs to keep its colour/bonding integrity for a long time.
You may want to look at Xerox for some of their solid ink range, but be prepared for high costs if you are printing pages which have a high ink requirement.
Personally, unless someone is going to magnify the print a laserjet should be fine - but the paper is really the important element here.
In your original post, you never really mention what you're going to print and how frequently...
I only want to print in matt format as opposed to glossy.
Is the laser now my only option?
i use compatible inks - all but one batch of cartridges i've bought have been fine.
i print artwork (as in art pictures) as well as text and the results are very good.
i use matt not glossy paper and i print both sides
i believe that paper is the key
i use an epson inkjet that cost around 100 pounds
I'm not sure what the best paper will be for excellent results on both sides using an inkjet (as the best matte paper has a printing side as said earlier). However you can get good results with a qualiy, thick stock. I'd look at some of the 160GSM inkjet specific paper, these should be OK for double sided printing and not be too expensive.
Sorry to throw in another factor here, some lasers can print both sides for you on a single run. This makes life a little easier - you know the results will be the right way around.
Recommendations
Low volume - Inkjet on good paper
Higher volume - Duplex laser
Syzygy
Can anybody recommend a good colour laser that
1. prints high quality images and text
2. does not scratch easily (meaning the ink)
3. prints professional quality matte prints
thanks
Like most equipment, lasers change rapidly.
If I had to replace it today I would choose either the Oki Data C9300 or at a lower price/size/quality the HP LaserJet 4600.
Hope this helps :)
I would love to hear from someone who has the Oki C9300, that machine looks awesome from a distance!
It prints full duplex (double sided printing) and we use it to print out literally thousands of pages of full colour, double sided brochures a month. Have had it for about 4 months so far and have had zero hassles.
It cost roughly £260 to buy and toners are around £30-40 each. I worked it out one day and it wasn't much more expensive than getting stuff printed at a commercial printing house. Obviously the quality can't match a commercial printing house, but it's still pretty good! You can also spend another £20-30 and get the networked version.
I second the comment about asking to try out a printer at the store... take along some of the material you are likely to print and get them to do one as a sample.
