A3 Printer Recommendations, Low Volume of Use

enveloped on 24/01/2024 - 21:53
Last edited 24/01/2024 - 23:34 by 1 other user

Hi, I wonder if there are A3 printers that we can use to print a dozen or two posters each month. We are in the countryside so it's handy to have printer in house.

Most search result I can find are Inkjets, and because we are printing posters, a lot of them have dark backgrounded photos, we will end up with very soggy paper or print on very expensive paper, or use ink 20 times faster than otherwise who prints diagrams and text. For example, in Brother Australia, search for A3 then Colour Laser you get exactly 0 results.

Thanks!

• 

  scrimshaw on 24/01/2024 - 22:02

  +1

  OKI C834dnw

  Canon CLBP9100CDN A3 Colour Laser Printer

  HP LaserJet Pro CP5225n A3 Colour Laser Printer

  Kyocera Ecosys M8124cidn

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  AustriaBargain on 24/01/2024 - 22:42

  -1

  You don't get soggy paper with inkjet on photo paper. I use Canon Pro 100 and prints are suburb. The ink is expensive though, so I reuse carts with aftermarket ink. The aftermarket ink fades sooner in sunlight than genuine, but if the posters are only up for a month or so then that wouldn't matter. If they are outdoors and could get wet you may want laminate them or put them in a plastic pouch tho.

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  FoxJump on 24/01/2024 - 23:15

  I think there are two types of inkjects.
  a) Mixes colours together by spitting on the same spot a few times
  b) Mixes colours by dithering, not spitting on the same spot, but nearby in patterns, some bigger some smaller, some stronger some weaker.

  option b) probably doesnt result in soggy paper. but given the same number of ink colours on a a) or b) printer, b) will produce less vibrant colours.

  I think once is called a Dye ink and the other one i cant remember

  • 

    AustriaBargain on 25/01/2024 - 00:24

    -1

    And photo paper is designed to soak up photo ink. The prints will be no more wet than any photo in your photo album.

  • 

    alexlim2000 on 25/01/2024 - 09:42

    +1

    Dye sublimination printers are an order of magnitude more to buy and run, they're pretty outdated except for special use cases.

    Wouldn't recommend.

    • 

      FoxJump on 25/01/2024 - 11:18

      +1

      oh no no.
      Dye sublimination is another kind, thats not an injket.

      for exmaple canon mx726 => nice colour, wet paper
      canon mg5460 => dithering, crap colour

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  alexlim2000 on 25/01/2024 - 09:41

  +1

  I know you mentioned countryside, but is a Officeworks far from you?
  It's easy to email them a print and pick it up when its convenient (they'll only print when you're there, so allow up to 30mins).

  But that way you dont deal with having the printer take up space, and soggy paper.

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  alexlim2000 on 25/01/2024 - 09:45

  You might be after a 'large format' printer. They have paper on rolls rather than sheets, and print hugemongous sizes (A3 among them). They're still an inkjet tho.

  To minimise sogginess:
  - Slow down the print rate (some printers ahve a speed setting) - this gives the ink some time to dry/soak in.
  - Chose a lower DPI (dots per inch) this means less ink is going to be used and thus less sogginess (and longer lasting ink).This will reduce print resolution, but for large prints, resolution is less of a thing, as you generally design A3 posters to be viewed at a distance, not up close.
  - switch to a 'heavier' paper type (measured in gsm). doesnt have to be super heavy photo grade (280gsm). 180-200gsm should suffice for posters designed to be viewed from far away.

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  tomcat83 on 23/03/2024 - 13:38

  I know this is quite old, what did you end up with?
  We just bought an Epson 8550 which is excellent and uses much cheaper ink refills than cartridges (you do pay a bit more upfront though).