Fine Art Greeting Cards

[MTBRphotodude]

I am new here and did do a search, but didn't turn anything useful.  So if there is already a thread just point me in the right direction.

I want to print fine art scored cards again, but my Epson 4000's which I used to use are long gone.  The 4900 I have won't print them.  I have tried every trick I know.  So I am looking at purchasing an Epson P-800 or a Canon Pixma Pro 100.  I have been told the Canon does a good job with the cards, but I have never been a fan of the Canon quality.  I hear the Epson printers don't do a good job with card stock anymore.  Any advice from people printing their own would be much appreciated.

[David Edge]

What's it taking offence at? The score? My 3880 prints scored cards; if I did have a problem I'd increase the platen gap.

d.

[I.T. Supplies]

We print scored greeting cards on the Epson P800 and Canon Pro-1000 with no issues.  Only suggested thing to do before putting a handful of cards in the tray is to make sure each sheet is loose from the others.  The Epson has a tendency have grabbing a couple sheets at once but still feeds and prints on one.  I may have had the same issue with the Canon, but after I "fan" both ends of all sheets that I will put in the holder, it usually works better.

Quality on both are still very good in my opinion and many of our customers like using the P800.  But, it just depends on what you'd be printing besides cards since both brands have their goods and bads.  Card wise, both work well (haven't dealt much with the Pixma Pro-100 to say for sure though).

[mbaginy]

My Epson 3880 had no problems printing scored Moab Entradalope cards.  Since the 3880 died, I'm using a Canon Pro-1000 which prints these cards just as well.

Only "problem" with these cards, if you live outside the US, check size and postage.  In Europe, the US card (with envelope) size costs an arm & legs for postage!  Just fractions, but costly fractions.

[MTBRphotodude]

The issue with the 4900 is that the tray won't close down to take the smaller stock.  For this problem, which was the same with the 4000, I cut a piece of wood as a shim to fill the gap.  But even having done this with the 4900 the cards won't grab properly and they end up being pulled in sideways and jamming.  Also foe some reason it is more difficult to clean the rollers on the 4900, from my memory.  I actually haven't tried using it in a more than a year for cards.  ACI Labs print cards for about $1.40 a card with envelope, which isn't that much more then printing myself, but I have to order sets of 25, which become cost prohibitive.  And I also prefer the satisfaction of creating them myself.  My big question about the Epson P-800 vs the Canon Pixma Pro 100 would be how easy is it to clean the rollers?  The micro powder buildup is what caused all the jams on my 4000's.

[Wayne Fox]

I think the 4900 can print them, but only if you feed them manually through the top one at a time. I think you have to print them horizontally.  I use a p5000 and print 30 to 40 cards every week this way.  sort of a pita, but easier than my p9000.

I had a p800 and it prints them with no problem.  you have to keep the rollers pretty clean, the paper dust will build up on them and the printer might  struggle gripping and feeding them, but the p800 is probably the best for this task if you are printing quite a few.

[JeanMichel]

I use a P800 for this. I use Strathmore's "Photo Mount? cards. I don't print images on those, I attach 4x6 images to the cards. I print my basic info on the back of the card, and i print messages on the inside. I feed 10 cards at a time, more and the sprinter sometimes will grab two or there cards and tat spoils a card or two. Fanning the cards before putting them into the feeder is important. i have printed directly on the cards, and for some – very few– images the result is OK but not great.