Best solution for printing postcards

[websnail]

Snail Mail postcards may also be subjected to wet conditions. Dye based inks are water soluble, so I would suggest using only a pigment-based ink printer.

#facePalm... I have completely forgotten to take that into account so that would rule out the K5400 and K550 with straight through media feed. They are pigment black + dye CMY printers... Impressionist watercolour postcards for the win then!

 

[Smile]

Get yourself a Minolta C1060 laser and you will handle any paper SRA3 size, many options available to this printer too. Colors are very good given it's a laser.

If you want inkjet then that will be slower except if you choose page wide print head one.

Pigment inks is the right decision if paper does require this kind of protection, some papers even with DYE inks will not terribly run if kept in a glass of water, I don't suppose anybody would keeps their postcards this way.

 

[loop]

First of all, thank you very much for all of your help. Now I definitely know what I need and most importantly why do I need it.

After reading all your answer I made a list of some prospects

where:
green = good
yellow = ok
orange = ok / bad
red = bad

Now the question is, where can I find a "green" printer, considering the following specifications:

Printing method | Ink
Ink type | Pigmented-base ink
Paper Weight | up to 280 gm/m2
Printing Resolution | up to 5760 x 1440 dpi
Continuous Ink Supply System | preferred
Duplex | preferred
A6 Support | preferred
Price | 500 - 1000€

 

[The Hat]

Printing method | Ink
Ink type | Pigmented-base ink
Paper Weight | up to 280 gm/m2
Printing Resolution | up to 5760 x 1440 dpi
Continuous Ink Supply System | preferred
Duplex | preferred
A6 Support | preferred
Price | 500 - 1000€

So it’s an inkjet printer you’re looking for which has to use Pigment ink.

The paper weight won’t be a problem but Duplex printing will be because that weight is far too heavy for that kind of operation.

Print resolution won’t be a problem on any inkjet printer but you can’t however run a CISS with Pigment inks successfully.

Your price range will cover just about all good quality printers regardless of brand and a Canon printer, (Don't know about Epson) have no difficulty with A6 size but can’t print A6 borderless, however they can manage 10 x 15 cm and 13 x 15 cm sizes.

It's back to the drawing board...

Edit: add the Pro 10 and Pro 9500 to your list.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

The first thing is, I don't know why you want a duplex unit. It takes time for the ink to dry before the duplex unit can flip the page. A LOT of time if you are doing a lot of prints. I also suspect that card stock would not work well with a duplex unit. If you're printing postcards, you might do better to flip the whole stack manually.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

You beat me to it, Mr. Hat.

I do note that a CIS unit is supposed to be all right as long as the intake isn't on the bottom, where some of the pigment settles and clogs the intake. It is possible to build a unit with an intake that consists simply of a small tube coming in from the top. CIS is not recommended, however, for printers that have moving ink cartridges. That includes most, but not all, Canons.

 

[Smile]

You list the hp x 576 page wide has no CISS system, that is wrong, there is:


very advanced one with LEDS etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsnKeYqKjNg

Here is another CISS, DIY is very posible here (cart reset procedure on bottom of the page)
http://www.printer-spb.ru/content/view/1059/65/

The printer review can be seen here
http://www.printer-spb.ru/officejet-pro-x451-review-and-testing

The print test is here:
http://www.printer-spb.ru/upl/compare/418/best_photo.jpg?rnd=1379281399

You can read that the printer only con is that some defects on print is visible despite heads cleans.

 

[CakeHole]

@CakeHole and @Roy Slatcher you both got your “A” sizes mixed up as well as your postcards, depending on where you purchase your Picture postcards from of course.

Ah cripes Well as long as my dodgy measurements and the general idea of just buying 6 x 4 inch standard photo sized paper was understood. Theres not much in it. 148mm x 105mm postcard (or 14.8 x 10.5 cm) stuff, quarter of an inch difference or 6.35mm (just over half a CM). I personally would not waste time or money buying actual postcards for how similar the general most popular sized postcard stock/sizing is.

Snail Mail postcards may also be subjected to wet conditions. Dye based inks are water soluble, so I would suggest using only a pigment-based ink printer.

This is a good point which most of us it appears overlooked.

 

[fotofreek]

Ah cripes Well as long as my dodgy measurements and the general idea of just buying 6 x 4 inch standard photo sized paper was understood. Theres not much in it. 148mm x 105mm postcard (or 14.8 x 10.5 cm) stuff, quarter of an inch difference or 6.35mm (just over half a CM). I personally would not waste time or money buying actual postcards for how similar the general most popular sized postcard stock/sizing is.

Each country probably has specific permitted measurements for mailed items. I know that in the US you must add an additional stamp for certain sizes or shapes of envelopes (i.e. square envelopes). If 6x4 postcards would be permitted in countries where you expect them to be sent, I would use precut stock as it can be printed borderless in most inkjet printers. If you were expecting to print very large quantities I would then do what has been previously suggested - print multiple images on large size stock and cut them after printing.

 

[CakeHole]

Each country probably has specific permitted measurements for mailed items. I know that in the US you must add an additional stamp for certain sizes or shapes of envelopes (i.e. square envelopes). If 6x4 postcards would be permitted in countries where you expect them to be sent, I would use precut stock as it can be printed borderless in most inkjet printers. If you were expecting to print very large quantities I would then do what has been previously suggested - print multiple images on large size stock and cut them after printing.

Technically you are right (or i imagine you are) in the UK for example things are calculated on weight and physical size. like here...
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/get-best-value-from-your-postage#Size and weight limits
the basic dimensions for Overseas letters are basically the same....
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/mail/international/standard-letters
(By the same i am talking the dimensions only and the max of 240mm x 165mm or 24cm x 16.5cm as mentioned in the first link to be considered a postcard or letter)

When it comes to size it is normally a set of measurements with a minimum and maximum size, no matter what the country IE for EXAMPLE ONLY another country may have something like....
5x5 to 10x10 = £1/$1/1 euro/1 monopoly bill
10x10 to 20x20 = £2/$2/2 euro/2 monopoly bill
20x20 to 30x30 = £3/$3/3 euro/3 monopoly bill
and so on....

I would be shocked if there were any countries around the world where there is a Postcard sized item or anything close to postcard in size and it costs you the next step up in postal costs. As @The Hat mentioned there are various postcard "sizes" however all/most of them are pretty close to being the same size though, i doubt any post office around the world would really care or even bother to double check, unless they are a real serious dictator like ran organisation. They will only likely worry if physically it looks larger than it should.

I Agree with you that it is worth bearing in mind but i think with 6x4 stock in 99.9% of cases people would be fine.