Purchasing 24" Printer for Canvas - Would I Regret Not Getting 44"?

[Light Seeker]

I'm not sure that anyone can really answer this for me, but I need to talk this out and I'd appreciate your perspectives.

I have a 17" printer right now. I would like to work more with Canvas, and 17" is of course very limiting. I'm not a high volume printer, so the cost justification of moving up to 24" is difficult, let along moving all the way to 44". However, it would be very frustrating to later discover that 24" is still not enough.

I realize that a 24" printer would limit me to a 20" gallery wrap, or a 24" print if I go borderless and glue the canvas to gator board and mount that into a floating frame. Most of my printing will be either scenic or people shots, taken with a 12Mp camera (Nikon D700). I suspect that 20" / 24" prints will already be pressing the limits of my camera, but I have no direct experience to confirm that.

I make prints for few others, and 24" appears to be large enough to address these needs. However, I wouldn't mind picking up some reproduction work for local artists. However, the need / potential is an unknown at this point.

Aside from Canvas, I print on matte and fine art gloss media. I'm much more comfortable living with a 24" limit for that work.

Any words of wisdom or advice? Are there other things I need to consider?

I appreciate your help.

Terry.

[Wayne Fox]

I realize that a 24" printer would limit me to a 20" gallery wrap

Perhaps, but a good gallery wrap is at least 1.5 to 2 inches, which mean you would get more like a 18" or 19" gallery wrap.  I find small gallery wraps sort of odd ... it seems to look better on much larger prints, but that's just a imho.

It certainly is a tough call and I sympathize with your dilemma.  I suppose calculating how many times you would either lose a sale or have to sell a smaller (cheaper) print because you can't make a larger one  would one way to analyze it, or how often and how much it would cost having someone else print your larger print.

Often expanding production capabilities opens new doors to additional revenue sources, that certainly might apply as well.  Alas, no one can answer these questions ... just can't buy a crystal ball anywhere.  Some of it has to do with your own abilities to market and increase revenue to "justify" the wider printer.

[neile]

I bought a 17" printer and regretted it almost immediately, as the canvas wraps you can do with it are very, very, small. Canon has some pretty decent rebates right now on the 6300 and 8300 that make them within the realm of affordability. I'm contemplating the 8300, although it's more the physical size of it rather than the price that's the deterrent

FWIW, I've only had a handful of requests to printer larger than 16x20" in the printing I do for other photographers. Unless they are serious, anything larger than that starts to get very expensive to frame and they are generally unwilling to spend that much.

Neil

[robertDthomas]

I moved from the 13" Epson's to the 17" Epson 4000 now I have a 24" HPZ3100 and replaced the Epson 4000 with a 3880.  I do similar work that you mention and for the past 3 1/2 years I have been satisfied with the capability of 24" that is until I started doing gallery wraps.  With 2" stretcher bars and 1" wrap around the back of the bar to staple that leaves me with a maximum width of 18" for my canvas prints.  Yes I can go with thinner stretchers but the 2"depth really looks good.  I shoot mostly landscape and these look much better big on canvas. So I just ordered a 44" Z3200 and I found it cheaper than the 24" at Atlex and Lexjet is having a super deal on the 44" Canon 8300.  Big question for me was did I have the space.  I checked and it will be tight but I am looking forward to printing BIG.  If you use Qimage or Genuine Fractals you can make big prints on canvas that hold their resolution and look good.

[natas]

If you use the breathing color wrap system you can get 20 inch prints using 1.75 bars.

But I will say I got a 7900 and regret that I didn't get a 9900. I get many request for larger sizes

[Bob Smith]

You don't have to sell very many 24" plus prints to cover the cost difference for the 44" printer.  The 44" printer costs the same to run and maintain.  They handle tiny jobs as well as a desktop printer.  The only real downside is the space they consume.  24" is very limiting for canvas output.

Bob Smith

[dgberg]

Well Terry I did not ask the questions you are now asking and am the pround owner of 2 ink sucking Epson's,which I love by the way.
In late 2008 I purchased the 24" 7900 to print for my new canvas gallery. After filling the walls with 19 x 29' wraps I started to think I made a mistake. They just all looked so small. At the same time a customer came in that wanted a pano of the local landscape to put in their foundation board room. She wanted 36" x 96". I told her my present printer could not print that large but if she hired me for the project I would deliver. When she left I ordered the 44" 9900 and the rest is history. I almost sold the smaller printer this summer but elected to keep it instead. Using one for mk and the other pk. If you go big now it might cost you $1500 extra. If you do what I did it will cost more then double that number. Good luck and happy printing!

The 36" x 96" being printed.

[dandeliondigital]

Hi Terry,
I’ve had 36” and now 44” printers. If you can go for the extra width, do it. You will not regret the decision.

My 2 ¢.

So long for now, TOM

[abiggs]

I have owned a 24" printer in the past, and I almost immediately wished for a 44" model. I now own three 44" printers, and I really do wish I had a 60" or 64" printer for even larger canvas prints.

Truth: you will always want the next size larger than what you have.

[Light Seeker]

I am humbled by the quality, quantity and speed of your responses. This has been a tremendous help.

I've been hoping to make 24" work but deep down, I think I knew this would be too restrictive. However, photography is part-time for me, which is why I have hesitated with stepping up to 44".

I have been looking at both the Canon iPF6300 and iPF8300. The initial outlay for the 8300 is significantly higher, but if I consider the amount of ink included (330ml x 12 for the 8300) the difference over the long-term is effectively $800 (factoring in Canadian rebates).

I will carefully consider all that's been shared.

Thank you.

Terry.

[Josh-H]

Terry, if its any consolation I am going through the same dilema - trying to decide between the 6300 and 8300.

For me, its a bit of a simpler decision as I dont print canvas - only paper. However, I do need to make some 44" prints for an upcoming exhibition. In house; or our source... I cant decide....Im leaning toward the 6300 since for 95% of my work it will be ample. For that 5% I can outsource.

However, if I were printing canvas I would buy the 8300 in a heartbeat; soley for the lose of the gallery wrap.

[Rocco Penny]

Hello
Printmaking has been a life altering pursuit to me.

If you can afford it:
Buy the largest, most efficient, highest quality printer you can.
So a 60 inch may be overkill, but what if it isn't?
You didn't think you'd use anything other than a 17 inch when you started.
I think going to 44" is smart for two reasons.
1)You can make prints smaller than 44"
2)You will be able to carry out any vision you might have concerning your pieces in a realistic size(over 3-4 foot seems like overkill, unless it's Whistler paintings)

It's worth the couple of weeks pay if you are serious and with the stuff you have now, you may be able to afford it.

Funny how much even big box stores charge to make big prints.
You could make 20 prints the large size and save the difference between a 24 and 44.
I guess the real question is do you have 20 prints you need printed @ >24

[JohnHeerema]

For what it's worth, I just went through the same decision-making progress, and ended up going 44" - for all the good reasons pointed out earlier in this thread, and in several similar threads in the past.

One thing about the 44" printer, is that it's big and heavy. Really big, and really heavy! I measured first, and it was still pretty tricky getting Big Bernadette berthed into her working space.

If you are in the US, the Canon IPF 8300 is barely more than the 6300 when you factor in the ink. Speaking of ink, one of the things that made me go bigger, is that you are going to end up with a lot of expensive ink in whichever printer you choose - and if you decide to make the size jump later on, you could end up making that ink investment twice (both the Epson and Canon 24" printers only come with "little" starter ink cartridges - and although the Canon ipf 8300 comes with plenty of ink, the Epson 9900 doesn't).

Of course, the big trick to making prints bigger than 24", is having the image quality it takes to go big. For me, that means that for the most part, only stitched panos, or 4x5 scans have what it takes (if anyone has a magic formula for adding image quality after the fact, I'd love to know about it!).

[Ken Doo]

As long as you have the space----get the 44" printer!  The initial added investment is actually quite nominal, and you also need to consider the additional work/jobs your printer can now generate.

The biggest mistake I have ever made with the purchase of a printer is not buying the right size initially.  Years ago, I bought an Epson 7800----and quickly realized how confining this printer was, especially with regards to printing on canvas.  I sold the printer within only months of purchasing it (yup---took a big loss) and picked up the 9800, which has been an absolute great workhorse for me.  A 44" printer can do everything a smaller 24" printer can (but not the other way around!)----it just requires a bigger footprint.

ken

[welder]

I too recently went through this process. I ended up going with the 44". With the current rebates, and the extra ink included, it seemed a good choice. The only thing that made me nervous was the size of the thing. It's huge. I dread the thought of transporting it if I end up moving to another city. So make sure you have the space and have people who can help you get it into your house!

[langier]

I, too, started with Nikon and a 17 inch printer.

Round one with my custom studio storage fit the 17 inch prints/storage just fine. I soon bought a 2nd-hand 24 inch printer and updated the next storage module to handle 24x36...

For the most part, the 24 inch printer was great and the prints superb from the 6-12mp Nikon sensors. I made hundreds of prints on the two printers and paid for both with the large, gorgeous prints and all was well. Then I went to a presentation by Bill Aktinson and his large gallery-wraps.

To me, the writing was on the wall and I could see the potential in my market and doing the wraps and large canvas prints. I went to eBay and bought a 44 inch printer... My only regret is that I wish I had started at the 44 inch printer and had flat storage for larger than 24x36 prints...

Of course, having a larger printer allowed me to create larger prints and canvas and just a couple of jobs paid for the upgrade with the bonus of faster printing with better I.Q.

Now I've got 4 Epson printers... Each works well, but for the most part, the 24 inch sees little action these days...

Because I have a 44 inch printer and have had lots of time perfecting my craft using it, the sky is the limit in my printing capabilities!

Your D700 is capable of fantastic I.Q. and I don't hesitate to make a carefully-crafted image large. Next to my workstation, I have a 30x45 b&w print from a D200, a generation older and lower res than the D700 that is simply stunning--it's even better than what I could have crated shooting my 6x9 architectural camera and film and with much less work to create!

IMO, cry once and spend the money, especially if you have the space. Once you have it, the cost to run it is the same as the 24 inch printer. You can always print smaller with the large printers but can't if you need them larger. For my larges printer, I mainly use 24 inch stock for day-to-day and use 36 inch stock on special occasion. For canvas, I run 24 inch stock for up to 20x30 wraps. Any thing larger goes to the 44 inch stock. Because I can run up to 40x60 and larger canvas prints and I'm the only one in my market, I get the jobs that would normally be taken an hour's drive away, thus saving my clients both time and money and I get the profits. My bonus is that this allows me to print whatever I want just as large and with total control.

I'm in the middle of negotiations to produce 300-400 prints for a client and if they are successful, I'll update to a newer 44 inch prints. If that happens, I'll have both a 24" and 44" that I'll sell you for a good price!;-)

[Josh-H]

I agree with all of the above thoughts about buying the 44" over the 24" - "IF" you have access to the amazingly low prices these are selling for in the US.

In Australia the IPF6300 runs nearly $6000 and the IPF8300 is over $10,000 Aussie dollars

By comparison online from B&H the IPF6300 is only $2,675 before rebate - with rebates its almost $2000 or fully 1/3rd the price of purchase here in Australia.

At $4,394 for the IPF8300 from B&H before rebates thats again less than half what it sells for in Australia.

Not sure what is going on with printer prices here in Australia, but someone somewhere is cleaning up and pocketing all the difference.

B&H shipping on a IPF6300 to Australia is $1,600 airfreight  - which still makes it cheaper than local purchase. Only problem is 110volt vs. 240 and of course warranty / local support.

If you live in the USA or can easily purchase at US prices then the IPF8300 is a no brainer. But in Australia it is unfortunately a different story at the moment based on pricing alone. Shipping an IPF8300 from B&H to Australia is not something I would want to entertain...

[Scott Shelerud]

Once I factored in the ink costs and the Canon rebates, the 8300 was CHEAPER!  Go Figure?

I don't know what Canon is up to with their pricing, but I'm not complaining.

[namartinnz]

Along with everyone else I recommend the 44" over a 24" printer if you can afford it. I was originally going to buy a 24 Z3100 but switched to the 44 at the last minute. When people ask now how big can I print, I reply, "how big do you want to go?" Virtually every request I can easily do the print they want. With the 24", you will be limited and will potentially lose business.

As for the Ozzie prices along with them here in NZ being way more expensive that the US, that all comes down to limited resellers and the big printing companies dictating the price. It sucks big time, and I also hear Canon in NZ won't service their own cameras bought from overseas.

Good luck with your purchase.