Which inkjet..? Business card quality..?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stroller
  • Start date Start date
S

Stroller

Hi there,

I'm sorry, my questions are probably frequently-asked, but I can't find
the answer for Googling. After looking at websites for the past 90
minutes, I feel that my eyeballs are about to pop out, yet that I'm
still no nearer a solution.

Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business cards
which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an extremely
tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm associated, and whose
logo I must use, have given me a template which seems intended for
home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to an A4 page.

If these business cards were for my main business then I'd gladly take
them to a professional printer, however I am required to use these, for
purposes of branding, only when on site in connection with one client.
The client is significant, but I would be surprised (and pleased) to
use as many as 50 business cards per year in connection with their work.

I gather that Canon's inkjets (for example) take "special" paper of up
to 270g - would a modern inkjet (I've only ever really used laser
printers) produce acceptable results for business cards..?

One of my favourite suppliers sells the Epson R200 for 84 quid [1], and
I seem to recall that they recommend it as "the printer that all our
staff have bought", but in my researches this evening I have heard bad
things about Epson's print-heads. I gather that they are part of the
printer, not the cartridge, and that someone as careless as myself is
at risk of print-head clogging, if the printer is left standing unused
for too long. Is this the case..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs & DVDs.
I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the impression
that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but I am unable
to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone determine which models
will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the lower
end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560, i865, or
comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to consider HP,
Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about them. I will have no
need at all of direct-printing from a digital camera or memory card -
USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd be able to use a network
"print server" adaptor (such as <http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in
the future, if this is possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.


[1] That's United Kingdom pounds sterling, as I'm guessing the £ sign
won't come out in Usenet.
 
Snipped
Which injet should I buy, please..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs & DVDs.
I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the impression
that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but I am unable
to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone determine which models
will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the lower
end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560, i865, or
comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to consider HP,
Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about them. I will have no
need at all of direct-printing from a digital camera or memory card -
USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd be able to use a network
"print server" adaptor (such as <http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in
the future, if this is possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.
Click to expand...

I have a Canon i560 and am very happy with it. The 865 and 965 (I think
those are the numbers - it's late) are both capable of printing direct onto
CD's etc. I use compatible cartridges at £2.80 a throw to keep the running
costs down too. Use HP and Lexmark at your peril - cartridges can cost a
fortune, especially if you choose originals.

Smeagol
 
Stroller said:
Hi there,

I'm sorry, my questions are probably frequently-asked, but I can't find
the answer for Googling. After looking at websites for the past 90
minutes, I feel that my eyeballs are about to pop out, yet that I'm
still no nearer a solution.

Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business cards
which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an extremely
tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm associated, and whose
logo I must use, have given me a template which seems intended for
home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to an A4 page.

If these business cards were for my main business then I'd gladly take
them to a professional printer, however I am required to use these, for
purposes of branding, only when on site in connection with one client.
The client is significant, but I would be surprised (and pleased) to
use as many as 50 business cards per year in connection with their work.

I gather that Canon's inkjets (for example) take "special" paper of up
to 270g - would a modern inkjet (I've only ever really used laser
printers) produce acceptable results for business cards..?

One of my favourite suppliers sells the Epson R200 for 84 quid [1], and
I seem to recall that they recommend it as "the printer that all our
staff have bought", but in my researches this evening I have heard bad
things about Epson's print-heads. I gather that they are part of the
printer, not the cartridge, and that someone as careless as myself is
at risk of print-head clogging, if the printer is left standing unused
for too long. Is this the case..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs & DVDs.
I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the impression
that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but I am unable
to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone determine which models
will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the lower
end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560, i865, or
comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to consider HP,
Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about them. I will have no
need at all of direct-printing from a digital camera or memory card -
USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd be able to use a network
"print server" adaptor (such as <http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in
the future, if this is possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.


[1] That's United Kingdom pounds sterling, as I'm guessing the £ sign
won't come out in Usenet.
Click to expand...

color laser is better for business cards...good enough for near photo
quality. more professional looking.
 
leo said:
Stroller said:
Hi there,

I'm sorry, my questions are probably frequently-asked, but I can't
find the answer for Googling. After looking at websites for the past
90 minutes, I feel that my eyeballs are about to pop out, yet that
I'm still no nearer a solution.

Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business
cards which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an
extremely tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm
associated, and whose logo I must use, have given me a template
which seems intended for home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to
an A4 page.

If these business cards were for my main business then I'd gladly
take them to a professional printer, however I am required to use
these, for purposes of branding, only when on site in connection
with one client. The client is significant, but I would be surprised
(and pleased) to use as many as 50 business cards per year in
connection with their work.

I gather that Canon's inkjets (for example) take "special" paper of
up to 270g - would a modern inkjet (I've only ever really used laser
printers) produce acceptable results for business cards..?

One of my favourite suppliers sells the Epson R200 for 84 quid [1],
and I seem to recall that they recommend it as "the printer that all
our staff have bought", but in my researches this evening I have
heard bad things about Epson's print-heads. I gather that they are
part of the printer, not the cartridge, and that someone as careless
as myself is at risk of print-head clogging, if the printer is left
standing unused for too long. Is this the case..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs &
DVDs. I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the
impression that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but
I am unable to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone
determine which models will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the
lower end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560,
i865, or comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to
consider HP, Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about
them. I will have no need at all of direct-printing from a digital
camera or memory card - USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd
be able to use a network "print server" adaptor (such as
<http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in the future, if this is
possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.


[1] That's United Kingdom pounds sterling, as I'm guessing the £ sign
won't come out in Usenet.
Click to expand...

color laser is better for business cards...good enough for near photo
quality. more professional looking.
Click to expand...

You know where you can purchase a top of the range colour lazer for £150?!
Do tell!
 
I usually the cheapest one I can afford and never had any problems


Stroller said:
Hi there,

I'm sorry, my questions are probably frequently-asked, but I can't find
the answer for Googling. After looking at websites for the past 90
minutes, I feel that my eyeballs are about to pop out, yet that I'm
still no nearer a solution.

Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business cards
which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an extremely
tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm associated, and whose
logo I must use, have given me a template which seems intended for
home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to an A4 page.

If these business cards were for my main business then I'd gladly take
them to a professional printer, however I am required to use these, for
purposes of branding, only when on site in connection with one client.
The client is significant, but I would be surprised (and pleased) to
use as many as 50 business cards per year in connection with their work.

I gather that Canon's inkjets (for example) take "special" paper of up
to 270g - would a modern inkjet (I've only ever really used laser
printers) produce acceptable results for business cards..?

One of my favourite suppliers sells the Epson R200 for 84 quid [1], and
I seem to recall that they recommend it as "the printer that all our
staff have bought", but in my researches this evening I have heard bad
things about Epson's print-heads. I gather that they are part of the
printer, not the cartridge, and that someone as careless as myself is
at risk of print-head clogging, if the printer is left standing unused
for too long. Is this the case..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs & DVDs.
I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the impression
that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but I am unable
to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone determine which models
will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the lower
end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560, i865, or
comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to consider HP,
Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about them. I will have no
need at all of direct-printing from a digital camera or memory card -
USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd be able to use a network
"print server" adaptor (such as <http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in
the future, if this is possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.


[1] That's United Kingdom pounds sterling, as I'm guessing the £ sign
won't come out in Usenet.
Click to expand...
 
I would look at the Epson C84. The printer is optimized for printing on
plain paper. The beauty of this printer is the ink is water resistant.
People handle business cards and moisture can cause the ink to run. I have
this printer and it does a beautiful job.



Stroller said:
Hi there,

I'm sorry, my questions are probably frequently-asked, but I can't find
the answer for Googling. After looking at websites for the past 90
minutes, I feel that my eyeballs are about to pop out, yet that I'm
still no nearer a solution.

Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business cards
which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an extremely
tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm associated, and whose
logo I must use, have given me a template which seems intended for
home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to an A4 page.

If these business cards were for my main business then I'd gladly take
them to a professional printer, however I am required to use these, for
purposes of branding, only when on site in connection with one client.
The client is significant, but I would be surprised (and pleased) to
use as many as 50 business cards per year in connection with their work.

I gather that Canon's inkjets (for example) take "special" paper of up
to 270g - would a modern inkjet (I've only ever really used laser
printers) produce acceptable results for business cards..?

One of my favourite suppliers sells the Epson R200 for 84 quid [1], and
I seem to recall that they recommend it as "the printer that all our
staff have bought", but in my researches this evening I have heard bad
things about Epson's print-heads. I gather that they are part of the
printer, not the cartridge, and that someone as careless as myself is
at risk of print-head clogging, if the printer is left standing unused
for too long. Is this the case..?

Canon's seem well regarded here, but the one killer feature I like
about the Epson is that it'll print directly onto printable CDs & DVDs.
I would probably use this feature a heck of a lot. I get the impression
that some of the Canons will print directly on to CD, but I am unable
to confirm this from Canon's website, let alone determine which models
will do so. Can anyone advise me, please..?

My budget is in the 100 - 150 quid range, although preferably the lower
end of this, so would encompass models such as the Canon i560, i865, or
comparable models from other manufacturers. I'm happy to consider HP,
Lexmark, or whoever but I have heard nothing about them. I will have no
need at all of direct-printing from a digital camera or memory card -
USB connection is fine, although ideally I'd be able to use a network
"print server" adaptor (such as <http://tinyurl.com/2jvre>) with it in
the future, if this is possible.

Many thanks for any advice,

Stroller.


[1] That's United Kingdom pounds sterling, as I'm guessing the £ sign
won't come out in Usenet.
Click to expand...
 
I would look at the Epson C84. The printer is optimized for printing on
plain paper. The beauty of this printer is the ink is water resistant.
People handle business cards and moisture can cause the ink to run....
Click to expand...

Ah! Many thanks. I hadn't considered that.

It's a shame that these Epsons with the "Durabrite" inks don't print on
CDs, tho'. That was really going to make the purchase worthwhile for
me. I'll have to have a little think. 8-/

Many thanks,

Stroller.
 
You know where you can purchase a top of the range colour lazer for £150?!
Do tell!
Click to expand...

I have been offered the Samsung CLP 500 colour laser for £300
(including shipping & VAT, but after rebate) recently. I've always
wanted a duplex printer. M-u-s-t r-e-s-i-s-t t-e-m-p-t-a-t-i-o-n.

Stroller.
 
<< From: Stroller (e-mail address removed)
Date: Fri, May 14, 2004 9:31 PM
Message-id: <[email protected]>

I would look at the Epson C84. The printer is optimized for printing on
plain paper. The beauty of this printer is the ink is water resistant.
People handle business cards and moisture can cause the ink to run....
Click to expand...

Ah! Many thanks. I hadn't considered that.

It's a shame that these Epsons with the "Durabrite" inks don't print on
CDs, tho'. That was really going to make the purchase worthwhile for
me. I'll have to have a little think. 8-/

Many thanks,

Stroller.What is wrong with the Epson R800 (other than price) that uses Ultrachrome High
Gloss pigment Ink of Archival quality? They print on CDs. I understand their
R200 and R300 models do, also at about half or less of the R800 price BUT
apparently, they use dye inks that one review site commented would smear on the
CDs when handled.
 
It's initial application is to print a very short run of business
cards which (for reasons I'd rather not review) must feature an
extremely tacky full-colour logo. The people with whom I'm
associated, and whose logo I must use, have given me a template
which seems intended for home-printing, as its laid out 8 cards to
an A4 page.
Click to expand...


Why do telephone boxes suddenly come to mind???? :)
 
What is wrong with the Epson R800 (other than price) that uses Ultrachrome High
Gloss pigment Ink of Archival quality?
Click to expand...

Erm... I don't know. Will its output handle the wear of being a
business card..? My main concern, now that it's been pointed out to
me, is that the card'd get handled in the rain or something - my
understanding of traditional inkjet printing is just one drop of water
would cause the ink to run horribly.

What is wrong with the Epson R800 (other than price)...
Click to expand...

Ah. Erm... there doesn't need to be anything wrong with it other than
the price. It's 269 quid in the UK - as I posted elsewhere in the
thread, I can get a duplex laser for only 300 or so. I know that won't
do CDs, but 269 is just more than I'm budgeting for right now.

Many thanks for your response, tho'. I think I might just end up
taking this project to a printer.

Stroller.
 
Which injet should I buy, please..?

It's initial application is to print a very short run of business cards
Click to expand...

I print my business cards on an Epson 2100 using 308g/m² Hahnemuhle Photo
Rag and have had several complements on the quality of both the 'card'
(at business card sizes it does have the stiffness of a card, rather than
a paper) and the printing.

I don't know the R200 but if it uses the Epson pigment inks then I would
think it will probably produce as good quality results as the 2100. If
not, you may have water-fastness problems.

The question of clogging is a contentious one and I suspect that the key
is humidity levels. If you keep your printer in a very dry atmosphere,
you're probably more likely to experience problems than if the room it's
kept in has a reasonable level of humidity. I'm in Blighty too and my
small office window is always open, so humidity levels are similar to
those outside. In many years of using Epson inkjets (I bought the original
Stylus Photo soon after it came out) I've never had serious problems and
have only had to run cleaning cycles because of blocked jets on a couple
of occasions. Neither of those were in the 10 months since I bought the
2100 and on both occasions a single cleaning cycle cleared the problem.
The 2100 gets fairly regular use but the old printer often stood for weeks
without being used.

Jon.
 
I print my business cards on an Epson 2100 using 308g/m² Hahnemuhle Photo
Rag and have had several complements on the quality of both the 'card'
(at business card sizes it does have the stiffness of a card, rather than
a paper) and the printing.
Click to expand...
The Permajet papers are really nice. The Museum Archival is fantastic
for doing things like that..
 
The Permajet papers are really nice. The Museum Archival is fantastic
for doing things like that..
Click to expand...

I use the Photo Rag for my limited edition prints, so, for me, it makes
sense to stick with it for the cards as well.

Jon.
 
Look at the R800. Uses the pigmented inks and prints on cd's. You have to
bump up the density when printing on cd's but it does a beautiful job.



 
I use the Photo Rag for my limited edition prints, so, for me, it makes
sense to stick with it for the cards as well.
Click to expand...
Oh, I don't disagree. The Hahnemuehle (? I can never spell it <G>) is
a nice paper. I was just mentioning an alternative. :)
 
<< From: (e-mail address removed) (Stroller)
Date: Sat, May 15, 2004 5:33 PM
Message-id: <[email protected]>

(e-mail address removed) (FredBillie) wrote in message
What is wrong with the Epson R800 (other than price) that uses Ultrachrome High
Gloss pigment Ink of Archival quality?
Click to expand...

Erm... I don't know. Will its output handle the wear of being a
business card..? My main concern, now that it's been pointed out to
me, is that the card'd get handled in the rain or something - my
understanding of traditional inkjet printing is just one drop of water
would cause the ink to run horribly.

What is wrong with the Epson R800 (other than price)...
Click to expand...

Ah. Erm... there doesn't need to be anything wrong with it other than
the price. It's 269 quid in the UK - as I posted elsewhere in the
thread, I can get a duplex laser for only 300 or so. I know that won't
do CDs, but 269 is just more than I'm budgeting for right now.

Many thanks for your response, tho'. I think I might just end up
taking this project to a printer.

Stroller. >><BR><BR>
Not so with the Epson r*00. My understanding is that it uses Pigment inks, not
dyes, so it is supposed to be very water resistant.
 
I print my business cards on an Epson 2100 using 308g/m² Hahnemuhle
Photo Rag and have had several complements on the quality of both the
'card' (at business card sizes it does have the stiffness of a card,
rather than a paper) and the printing.

I don't know the R200 but if it uses the Epson pigment inks then I
would think it will probably produce as good quality results as the
2100. If not, you may have water-fastness problems.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for such an informative post. I feel much reassured about
considering an Epson now.

Stroller.
 
Many thanks for such an informative post.
Click to expand...

You're welcome.
I feel much reassured about considering an Epson now.
Click to expand...

If you do buy an Epson, try to keep the humidity level where it's kept at
a reasonable level. A lot of people report head clogging problems, which I
suspect are caused by a combination of dry atmosphere and infrequent use.
Prevention's better than cure.

Jon.
 
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