Cost effective A2 printer advice ?

[hrgiger]

Hey guys,
Hope everyone is well.
Im after a little advice regarding A2 printing and a suitable printer.

Im looking for the most cost effective way of printing A2 posters. They are more graphic designed prints rather than photo quailty prints and im looking for a printer that can do this to a good standard, and also one that has refillable cartridges if possible so i could use a good 3rd party ink.

I have looked around at print on demand services in the UK and by the time postage is factored in it doesnt work out that cheap.
I have also rang around local printers to ask if they could do it but as most use large format printers, printing from a roll they have a min. order or their prices are sky high.

Any advice most welcome, open to most brand's, models, but didnt want to post the same post in multiple forums.

Cheers guys
Si

 

[The Hat]

Any advice most welcome, open to most brand's, models, but didnt want to post the same post in multiple forums.

A2 printing is not for the faint hearted, so if you only do a couple of prints every so often then stick with outsourcing..

 

[hrgiger]

yeah i was , but now I am looking at doing maybe 8 to 12 A2 prints a week, so that's why im looking for other options.
what do you guys recommend if i was to go for a printer?

or does anyone know a good and cheap print on demand service?
cheers
Si

 

[Artur5]

Cost wise, if you print 8-12 A2 sheets a week, probably isn't worth to purchase an A2 printer.
Consider for instance the Canon Pro-1000. Possibly the most affordable A2 printer. It costs 1200-1300€ or the equivalent in UKP. Add the inks. Decent quality aftermarket inks aren't cheap and be aware that, printing once or twice per week a few copies, means that the printer will waste more ink on cleaning routines that on paper. There's also the added cost of maintenance cartridges.
Now make your maths, taking into account what you pay for outsourcing. I suspect that you'd need years to amortize that investment.

 

[hrgiger]

thanks for the advice guys ill mull it over.
If i were to invest in a printer, may A2 or maybe larger what do people think about the Canon TM-200 / 300 ?

Any good for the kind of artwork i do, which is mainly graphic posters etc, (not photos) or is there a better option to go with around that price point.
thanks

 

[The Hat]

which is mainly graphic posters etc, (not photos) or is there a better option to go with around that price point.

When buying big you shouldn’t try to penny pinch, it’s a big investment so make sure the printer you get can do what you want, the Pro1000 is just about the best money can buy, but the TM 200 would be much cheaper to use and run, because it’s not a photo printer, so less inks and less waste.. Ideal for graphics..

P.S. I always favour Canon..

 

[pharmacist]

If you have space to store it: Epson SureColor SC-T3400, prints up to A1 (including roll paper), 4-colour printer which is enough for posters (no photo's), pigment ink based and aftermarket cartridges available for about 50 euro per 350 ml (which is rather cheap). Costs about €900 including shipping. Aftermarket carts with chip for 50 euro/350 ml per colour make it relatively cheap to run.

 

[hrgiger]

cheers guys,
i have a store (ipfstore) printing off a couple of my own files i have sent them and they are sending them to me from the Canon TM-200 so i can see the quality for myself compared to my current prints. Nice of them to offer.
Plus plenty of compatible ink available for it if i dont want to use Canon OEM ink

Ive considered the pro 1000 but been warned it a bit thirsty on ink if not used enough, and may be overkill for my needs.
i will see what the prints look like when they arrive and update.

thanks for all the info folks

 

[AndyHerman]

I own the Pro 1000 and would advise to look elsewhere. Yes, it creates great prints BUT, mine recently refused to power on. I contacted Canon tech support and they had me do a number of things to get the printer to power on, none of which worked. The tech said the printer was dead and there was nothing they could do as Canon does not offer ANY REPAIR SERVICE for the Pro 1000. The tech said my only option was to purchase a new printer.

I'm now considering the Epson SC 5000 since it appears Epson actually offers repair service on these printers.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

You may have a look as well to the Epson SC-P900 as a kind of competing model to the Pro-1000.

Please be aware that Epson runs specific firmware tricks to prevent refill - cartridges have a serial number and are blocked against repeated use, there are special adapter boards on the market to bypass this scheme by emulating different serial numbers per refill. These firmware tricks depend on the Epson business region you are in - you should investigate if and which type of refill would still be possible in your region.

You may as well have a look to printers which run on roll paper as the standard mode , sheet papers can only be used to a limited extend.
You may a have a look to the Epson SC T2100 or T3100 or the tank system model T3100X , and Canon offers a similar model TA-20 or TC-20 . All these printers run with a smaller 4 color inkset which may give you a slightly smaller gamut vs. the photoprinters like the Pro1000 or P900 or P5000, but the gamut is not just a matter of the inks in use but depend strongly on the paper you are using.