Best home office graphics printer?

March 29, 2008 11:06 AM

What printer/printer output will please an art director? An artist is shopping for a new inkjet printer. It will be used to print graphics and photographs for submission to art directors, so she would like to know if there are industry standards or preferences for the output.

The printer should be Windows XP compatible, but does not need to be networked. It will not be under a heavy workload, perhaps 2-10 prints per week and not in use every day or even every week, so there is a concern about ink drying and clogging up the nozzle works. Print quality is more important than print speed. It would be helpful, not mandatory, if the printer were capable of high quality text output also. Retail price: under $1000.

A handful of printer and print questions:

1. Is there a dot size and dpi requirement? Would 8x10" output be ok, or are there occasions when up to 13x19 is required?

2. Is one brand/model of inkjet printer the standard? (Epson printers have been moved to the bottom of the list because of their reputation for repeated and difficult to clean nozzle clogging.) Are any HP printers in the running?

3. Should she consider dye sub printers or high quality laser printers?

4. Do the output requirements change if these prints might end up being camera ready art for publication?

5. In her work situation would there be significant advantage in converting an inkjet printer to continuous ink printing?

6. Is there a website for graphic artists that includes forums for discussing these issues?


Thanks.

posted by bbranden1 to media & arts (5 comments total)

This is why you don't want to buy an inkjet printer.

Digital workflow is the industry standard and as far as I know every art director, service bureau, and agency would prefer to have a high resolution industry standard format file of artwork/photographs than a print made from an artist's home printer.

If your artist friend really wants to buy a printer, then I would suggest a decent laser printer in the range of $200 to $300 dollars.
posted by cinemafiend at 1:23 PM on March 29, 2008

4. Do the output requirements change if these prints might end up being camera ready art for publication?


This question seems odd, because as indicated above, digital is the workflow these days, to the point where I break out in hives whenever someone sends me hardcopies. That means I have to stop what I'm doing and physically scan it, opposed to just clicking on an icon in my mail and poof, it's open.

Since the artist is looking for a printer, this means she has digital files somehow, so it might help if you clarify exactly why she needs physical copies. Is this for interviews as opposed to submissions? Is she submitting pieces to galleries?

As it stands now, its unclear why she needs a printer as opposed to a good scanner.


6. Is there a website for graphic artists that includes forums for discussing these issues?

There's tons, try How Magazine, though they seem to be down for the moment. On

Google Groups (Usenet) alt.design.graphics

CreativePro forums.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:24 PM on March 29, 2008

D'oh!

Corrected link:

This is why you don't want to buy an inkjet printer.
posted by cinemafiend at 2:36 PM on March 29, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

There are many reasons why an artist might want to make their own prints, aside from the inevitable digital file submission (original print, hard copy proof, computerless demo, etc).

It would help if we knew more about exactly what your artist's budget, needs and workflow look like. How is the digital file being created? If it's a photograph, the camera/lighting is more important than the printer.


1. Is there a dot size and dpi requirement? Would 8x10" output be ok, or are there occasions when up to 13x19 is required?

I sense a learning curve here. The prosumer lines of Canon, Epson, and HP all print at super high resolution, and dpi is not a concern. 13x19+ unless 8x10 proofs are sufficient.

2. Is one brand/model of inkjet printer the standard? (Epson printers have been moved to the bottom of the list because of their reputation for repeated and difficult to clean nozzle clogging.) Are any HP printers in the running?

This is really not much of an issue for newer Epsons. I have (and would recommend, no clogs in two years) an Epson R2400 ($650 US). The HP Designjet 90 and 130 are also great printers as are the better Canon photoprinters.

3. Should she consider dye sub printers or high quality laser printers?

Dye-subs make nice output, but they are generally snap-shot sized.
Top 5 Dye Sub Photo Printers.

Laser printers are not suited for fine-art repro unless you have a Fuji Frontier.

4. Do the output requirements change if these prints might end up being camera ready art for publication?

As others have said, it usually doesn't work that way. Art departments and stock agencies want the highest-resolution/megapixel digital file they can get. There is no point in using a high-resolution drum scanner to scan a print from a pro-sumer inkjet to make a digital file of less quality than the original, when it could have just been uploaded.

5. In her work situation would there be significant advantage in converting an inkjet printer to continuous ink printing?

Doesn't sound like we have a high duty cycle situation here, and there are arguments against CIS if you don't do high-volume printing.

6. Is there a website for graphic artists that includes forums for discussing these issues?

Many. I like the DP Review printers/printing forum for good photography-oriented printer information.

The printer (printer management, paper selection, etc) is only one aspect of a digital workflow. Your artist may also need to learn about post-processing, color managment, monitor calibration, icc profiles and other issues.


And that why you don't want to buy an inkjet printer link is, shall we say, a little hysterical.
posted by psyche7 at 5:45 PM on March 29, 2008

Excellent post, psyche7. Thanks! I don't have specifics about her workflow, but think she might find printed output useful when presenting a portfolio in person.
posted by bbranden1 at 7:07 PM on March 29, 2008