Ive been creating graphics for a while and id really like to get into more printing, at the mo i’ve just got a HP officejet which pretty good quality for day to day stuff… But Ive noticed most people use archival inks so images last longer? Would I need a special printer for that?
The things I make are normally personalised one off images so I probably won’t be bulk printing or doing anything bigger than A4.
Basically I know VERY little about printers! So any advice on what to buy, or if you know any good online printing companies please help!
Thanks
You shouldn’t need a swish printer. Epson do archival inks called ultrachrome, which are supposed to be some of the best. However the cartridges are really expensive. I think about £25 each.
You can buy archival inks in bottles which will feed direct into a special printer cartridge system which is a cheaper but more fiddly way. I’m not sure what other printer firms do, but imagine you can get archival quality inks for other home type printers.
If you’re really serious you might also want to look at some kind of colour management system for your computer so your screen is calibrated so what you see on screen is what prints out.
I’m not an expert mind, I’ve just done a bit of digital illustration in the past and colour management and printing used to give me such a headache!
thanks @EmmaCurtisDesign ill have a look see if HP do anything for my printer…
When you say colour management system is that program/software ??
Thanks for your help… a few people have said that printing is a pain in the butt lol but id just really like to be able to give the option of buying a hard copy of my designs
For colour management I have something called a color munki. It’s a little thing that you put on your screen and it runs a program and measures the colours displayed, before optimising your monitor. A lot of people have their screens set way too bright which is why printing often comes out really dark in comparison to what they expect.
Just to add my tuppence-worth - I have a Canon IP series printer. It’s really great, never gives any trouble and produces very good prints. We have had HP and Epson printers in the past. I was very pleased with the Epson printers, but not HP - it played up a lot, was forever having paper jams etc. But the Canon is definitely the best we have had thus far.
For a good place to order inks online, try “Cartridge Monkey” - I buy from them all the time and their service is great, delivery very prompt.
Good luck with your decision-making - there’s a bewildering choice out there!
