Need a printer for 10,000 (moderate quality) 13x19 prints a year

[artprint1]

Thanks for reading my post!

We've had a decade of bad printer luck and I'm hoping you guys can recommend a good alternative.

About Us

1. We print 13x19 art prints -- on 13x19 pre-cut canvas inkjet paper. Can't change this requirement. e.g. we can't use printer rolls.
2. We need to print about 10,000 pages per year. They're not "fine art prints" - just for kids
3. The ink does not need to be totally archival. But the cheap clone cartridges we buy on Amazon don't last long. So we buy the re-fillables like https://ebay.com/itm/201362489925
4. We've used the Artisan 1420 and the Canon Pixma iX6820 wish some success (and a lot of tears)
5. The biggest problem for us is that the cartridges of both these printers are small. We are sick of swapping them out so often. So i guess we need a printer with bigger cartridges
6. We're Photoshop people but not hardware people unfortunately. So we have a limited knowledge of cleaning and maintenance and ink types.

We love that the Canon Pixma iX6820 has only 4 colors to swap. But we hate that we have to swap them so often.

Can someone recommend a better (Super Easy To Use) 13x19 printer + ink solution?

Thanks so much!

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It's not clear where you are located; what is the weight of you paper ? I would recommend that you look to Epson Ecotank printers which will give you much more convenience for the refilling process, and genuine Epson inks in bottles are affordable and have a better fading persistence. Epson has an ET8550 A3 printer - ET = Ecotank which is brandnew and just announced, or you look for ET-models for business applications which are available as well as A3 models like the ET-16150 and similar, these offer higher speed, pigment inks which may support you with more stable pigment inks - marker resistant , but these printers are more expensive to start with, the consumables remain at a very low pricing level.

 

[artprint1]

It's not clear where you are located; what is the weight of you paper ? I would recommend that you look to Epson Ecotank printers which will give you much more convenience for the refilling process, and genuine Epson inks in bottles are affordable and have a better fading persistence. Epson has an ET8550 A3 printer - ET = Ecotank which is brandnew and just announced, or you look for ET-models for business applications which are available as well as A3 models like the ET-16150 and similar, these offer higher speed, pigment inks which may support you with more stable pigment inks - marker resistant , but these printers are more expensive to start with, the consumables remain at a very low pricing level.

Thanks

The paper is:
https://www.compandsave.com/paper/photo-paper/canvas/11x17-100-sheet
photo papers only weigh between 200 - 240g, our Premium Canvas Textured Photo Paper weighs 260g (or 69 lb).

I live in USA

I'm having trouble locating the model numbers of the printers you quoted. I'm assuming these are European models?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

This market segregation by the printer companies makes it sometimes difficult to quote the matching models to you, you may have a look here

https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers...mat-All-in-One-Supertank-Printer/p/C11CH71201
and there should be an ET-16600 as well

or this one

https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B08M...ld=1&keywords=epson+et&qid=1620036356&sr=8-30

I don't know if the ET-8550 is announced yet in the U.S. , but you may look up the specs in other regions, it may come soon in your area as well

https://www.epson.co.uk/products/pr...or-home/ecotank-et-8550?productfinder=et-8550

Or you are able to find a Epson L1800 which is as well an A3+ photo printer with dye inks

https://www.epson.eu/de/products/printers/inkjet-printers/for-home/ecotank-l1800

 

[artprint1]

This market segregation by the printer companies makes it sometimes difficult to quote the matching models to you, you may have a look here

Thanks
Looks like they got the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-16600 on Amazon
http://amazon.com/dp/B084TVGBY6
The ink looks like 80 bucks to refill though. But maybe it's worth it


Do you think i'd do ok with ebay ink? http://ebay.com/itm/124343268523

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

You may try to find a location, a shop, a dealer where you can test how your papers are feeding - it could be that it does not work out of all paper bins , it is difficult to say it upfront just by the weight, stiffness is as well relevant, and the grip on the backside in some cases.

I would not go for 3rd party inks on such a printer for warranty reasons, I think the Epson inks have a fair price already.

 

[artprint1]

You may try to find a location, a shop, a dealer where you can test how your papers are feeding - it could be that it does not work out of all paper bins , it is difficult to say it upfront just by the weight, stiffness is as well relevant, and the grip on the backside in some cases.

I would not go for 3rd party inks on such a printer for warranty reasons, I think the Epson inks have a fair price already.

yes paper feeding is definitely an issue

The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-16600 has a small rear feeder slot. But i don't think we could put more than 3-4 pages in there. (Maybe I could jerry rig my own SIY rear slot though... hmm... I could build some sort of paper shelf...)

It looks like the Epson L1800 is much more like what i need. They don't sell them in USA but it looks like i can buy them on eBay for 1000 from Taiwan.

 

[The Hat]

Why don’t you look into getting a second hand Pro 100 or Pro 10, they can handle every one of your needs x 10…

 

[artprint1]

Why don’t you look into getting a second hand Pro 100 or Pro 10, they can handle every one of your needs x 10…

thanks

it looks like the PIXMA PRO-100 takes a lot of little cartridges though.

What sort of CISS or refillable system would i be using?

 

[artprint1]

Looks like there is also the:

1. Epson Expression Premium ET-7750 (11x17)
2. EcoTank ET-15000 (13x19)