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Author Topic: New printer  (Read 2812 times)

Jeremy Roussak

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New printer
« on: May 14, 2020, 06:31:23 pm »

While my Epson 3800 is still working perfectly, I find myself itching for something bigger, so I’m considering a 24" model of some kind. At present, having become used to the quirks of my Epson, it’s the 7500 (which I think is the same as the 7570 in the US) which is drawing my attention. However, I’m aware that there are alternatives: the Canon 2100 and the latest offering from HP (Z9?).

I don’t print large volumes; I’d like to start doing some printing on to canvas. Cut sheet feed will remain important. I live in a damp environment (Manchester is known for its rain) and I’ve had no problem with clogging with the 3800 at all.

I've had some helpful advice already, but for an investment of this size, I'm casting my net as widely as possible. Any advice gratefully received.

Jeremy
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Peter McLennan

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Re: New printer
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2020, 08:07:31 pm »

Canvas printing on a 24" printer will be disappointing unless you either avoid gallery wraps or are willing to accept relatively small print sizes. You lose at least two inches on all sides, relegating a 24" printer to stretched-canvas image sizes of about 20" (or less) in the short dimension.  You need at least one inch of visible wrap, plus one inch extra non-image canvas to give the stretching pliers something to grab.

Other than some user-caused issues and a poorly manufactured replacement ($100USD) yellow print head, my HP Z3200 has been very satisfying. The built-in spectro makes custom profiling effortless. The Z9 is apparently similar, but faster.
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George Marinos

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Re: New printer
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2020, 09:38:51 am »

 Cut sheet feed will remain important.
[/quote]EPSON is a leader on that point.
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Jeremy Roussak

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Re: New printer
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2020, 01:26:48 pm »

Thanks, but 20" will be fine, I think; certainly, I can't justify spending the money a 44" printer would cost, nor do I have anywhere to put it.

The Z9 is significantly (about 50%) more expensive than the 7500.

Yes, I'd heard that Epsons generally had better cut-sheet handling.

Jeremy
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: New printer
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2020, 04:10:35 pm »

I'm not sure the statement about Epson handling cut sheets better than other printers is accurate.  For sure with 17 inch printers the Canon Pro-1000 is far superior to the Epson 3880 that I had before.  I've had the Canon for a year now and never had a failure to load of any type of sheet that I have fed.  This doesn't answer Jeremy's question about 24 inch printers.  All three major brands have their pluses and minuses.  I can only say that I really enjoy printing with the Canon, more so than with my old Epson.  I still print out note cards for people and I can stack 5-6 in the top feeder and it just prints, no questions asked.
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Peter McLennan

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Re: New printer
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2020, 04:17:54 pm »

... and it just prints, no questions asked.

Unlike my Z3200, which is a PITA with cut sheets.
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Panagiotis

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Re: New printer
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2020, 05:18:18 pm »

I'm not sure the statement about Epson handling cut sheets better than other printers is accurate.  For sure with 17 inch printers the Canon Pro-1000 is far superior to the Epson 3880 that I had before.  I've had the Canon for a year now and never had a failure to load of any type of sheet that I have fed. 

I will second that for the PRO-1000. Flawless sheet feeding.

This doesn't answer Jeremy's question about 24 inch printers.

The PRO series roll printers (I have the PRO-4000 but I assume that the PRO-2100 is the same) are not so easy to feed but not so difficult either. It goes like this:

- open the lid
- open a lever
- align the sheet with two orange marks (one vertical, one horizontal)
- close the lever (here is the trickiest part because in order to close the lever with the right hand you have to hold the paper aligned with only the left hand)
- close the lid
- choose the paper type on the printer control panel lcd.

Recently I printed 100 A2 sheets that way with no problems.

Another drawback for the roll models is that there is an obligatory 2cm bottom margin in every sheet for the printer feeding mechanism to hold the paper. This limitation is absent on the PRO-1000 where you can print borderless on standard size sheets. That is the most important reason I still use the PRO-1000.
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ArebaKhan

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Re: New printer
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2021, 09:58:33 am »

I assume you are in good health. Canvas printers at printerhow are good at covering a lack of resolution in the texture. Furthermore, you won't be looking at it from a foot away (where 300 dpi is required), but from across the room. Any lack of resolution would be undetectable from afar. If you can see a 300 dpi image (18x12) from 1 foot away, you can see a 150 dpi 36x24 image from 2 feet away and it will look the same. You could go down to 40 dpi if you never get closer than 8 feet away; up close, it'll look like an impressionist painting, but from afar, it'll look like a perfectly fine picture.

In any case, upsizing will not address the resolution problem. Upsizing does not add further information; the extra dots you're adding are simply averages of the details you already have. You're increasing the number of dots from 150 to 300, but only the first 150 have any useful information. When you travel far away, those averages are exactly the same as the averaging you do in your head.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2021, 09:15:14 am by ArebaKhan »
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PeterAit

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Re: New printer
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2021, 11:32:46 am »

I can't praise enough my Epson 7900 (24"). It makes gorgeous prints and in 7+ years of light use it has never had a serious clog. I run a nozzle check at least once a week to keep the juices flowing. Roll paper works flawlessly and sheet feeding, one at a time, is straightforward. The ink is expensive but I guess that's true of all brands.
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enduser

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Re: New printer
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2021, 07:33:38 pm »

We printed thousands of canvas items and sold them at local craft markets over several years. We used our Canon ipf6100 24" but it was only a financial success if you didn't price your time into the costs. However the sizes we did on a 24" machine didn't worry buyers and we sold to people from all around the world. The Canon was pretty much faultless in printing high detail, depending mostly on the type of canvas.
If I was wealthy and wanted to do canvas again, (both unlikely) I'd use a Mimaki flatbed like the JFX2002513. Or, perhaps, do what someone else did and adapt the roll motor to advance a home-made flatbed. instead of the roll.
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dgberg

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Re: New printer
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2021, 12:36:05 pm »

Just about the best buy right now is the 24" P6000 for just over $2000. No need for those orange and greens at least I cannot tell the difference. The P7000 is available if you want them.
Considerably cheaper than Epson's new models.
350, 500 or 700 ml carts give you plenty of options. I have the 44" version and it has had no problems in the 3 years of use.

RaffiCoffee

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Re: New printer
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2021, 01:45:08 am »

We printed thousands of canvas items and sold them at local craft markets over several years. We used our Canon ipf6100 24" but it was only a financial success if you didn't price your time into the costs. However the sizes we did on a 24" machine didn't worry buyers and we sold to people from all around the world. The Canon was pretty much faultless in printing high detail, depending mostly on the type of canvas.
If I was wealthy and wanted to do canvas again, (both unlikely) I'd use a Mimaki flatbed like the JFX2002513. Or, perhaps, do what someone else did and adapt the roll motor to advance a home-made flatbed. instead of the roll.

Thats right, its only 84,000U$D :-)
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MysticDining

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Re: New printer
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2021, 11:27:38 pm »

Get yourself a new or vintage LASERJET printer and get to work. Inkjet printers are all bad. They simply do. The ink is a pain to use, costly, and you end up with dry ink when you least expect it. The best option is to use a laserjet. I got an HP wifi laserjet all-in-one printer for about $80 and it's been going strong for the past two years with no problems and no toner refills. She's ready to spit paper after I turn it on and wait 30 seconds.

I was unsure about the color LaserJet's, so I went with B&W. If color is needed, which is only once in 500 years for me, I can email the request to Walgreens/Walmart and have them handle it in 30 minutes for 10 cents.
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IPDOUGLAS

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Re: New printer
« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2021, 05:04:44 am »

Do NOT for one second consider the Canon Imageprograf Pro 1000.   Yes it has sublime material handling, yes it has weight and appears well-made (more on that later), yes it is cheap(ish).

I had one (in fact it is sat beside me) and it lasted with light use less than two years!  It drank ink.  Read forums on this.  You state you do not print often so this is NOT the model for you as it required activity within every 60 hours else it will execute a head clean and subsequent (massive) ink dump.  Any user who has weighed the maintenance cartridge empty and full knows this well.  Also along with the Chroma Optimizer cartridge the maintenance cartridge will need to be kept well stocked as they are needed often.

Additionally it is now still available to buy but is an old model and I believe effectively discontinued.  It does not support roll feed.

Finally but most important it has a fundamental design flaw where an ink cartridge may jam (one or more).  This is also well reported in forums.  This will write your printer off as scrap since an engineer correction involves a top down strip and costs more than a new printer.  On top of this all ink will have to be replaced.  Some by forcibly 'ripping' a cartridge out with pliers etc have been able to continue but the cartridge mechanism has been damaged beyond repair.

Please do not waste your money on a Canon Imageprograf Pro 1000 as out of warranty Canon are refusing to stand up to repairing their design flaw.  As such I will not buy a Canon again.  Its a disgrace!
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mcbroomf

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Re: New printer
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2021, 08:44:59 am »

Jeremy started this thread in May last year and has since bought a new printer (24" Epson) which I believe has been mentioned in other threads.  The only reason this one is getting revived is the couple of single post troll posters (I believe).

Probably best to let it die.
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PeterAit

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Re: New printer
« Reply #15 on: March 06, 2021, 11:14:16 am »

Get yourself a new or vintage LASERJET printer and get to work. Inkjet printers are all bad. They simply do. The ink is a pain to use, costly, and you end up with dry ink when you least expect it. The best option is to use a laserjet. I got an HP wifi laserjet all-in-one printer for about $80 and it's been going strong for the past two years with no problems and no toner refills. She's ready to spit paper after I turn it on and wait 30 seconds.

I was unsure about the color LaserJet's, so I went with B&W. If color is needed, which is only once in 500 years for me, I can email the request to Walgreens/Walmart and have them handle it in 30 minutes for 10 cents.

Mmmmm, Walgreens prints. Now there's quality  ;)!

And everything you say about inkjet printers is 100% wrong as long as someone with modest intelligence is using them. Granted, ink can be expensive but since when is serious photography a hobby for cheapskates?
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raminolta

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Re: New printer
« Reply #16 on: March 06, 2021, 12:18:11 pm »

Get yourself a new or vintage LASERJET printer and get to work. Inkjet printers are all bad. They simply do. The ink is a pain to use, costly, and you end up with dry ink when you least expect it. The best option is to use a laserjet. I got an HP wifi laserjet all-in-one printer for about $80 and it's been going strong for the past two years with no problems and no toner refills. She's ready to spit paper after I turn it on and wait 30 seconds.

I was unsure about the color LaserJet's, so I went with B&W. If color is needed, which is only once in 500 years for me, I can email the request to Walgreens/Walmart and have them handle it in 30 minutes for 10 cents.

You are on the wrong forum for the wrong reason. This forum and this thread are targeted to those who seek high quality photo prints. The OP wanted a photo printer to print his photos. People here are those who frequently or regularly print their photos and they possibly want the highest quality prints. If you print in 500 years, it simply means you are totally out of place here and your advice is most misleading to anyone here (though I don't believe anyone here would listen to your advice in any slightest way). The quality of a photo print you get in chain stores for cheap (which still costs more than 10 cents anyway) is totally unacceptable to the general audience here.

Anyway, I don't know what has brought you here and has convinced you that you have something worthy to add to this thread. It's simply not the case. It's a good idea to check the context before adding a comment. However, I guess this kind of mistake happens to all of us. As long as we eventually realize our mistake and correct ourselves, it would be OK.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2021, 10:49:10 am by raminolta »
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dgberg

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Re: New printer
« Reply #17 on: March 06, 2021, 02:49:32 pm »

Get yourself a new or vintage LASERJET printer and get to work. Inkjet printers are all bad. They simply do. The ink is a pain to use, costly, and you end up with dry ink when you least expect it. The best option is to use a laserjet. I got an HP wifi laserjet all-in-one printer for about $80 and it's been going strong for the past two years with no problems and no toner refills. She's ready to spit paper after I turn it on and wait 30 seconds.

I was unsure about the color LaserJet's, so I went with B&W. If color is needed, which is only once in 500 years for me, I can email the request to Walgreens/Walmart and have them handle it in 30 minutes for 10 cents.

What hole did you just crawl out of? You are talking to a group of premier fine art printers on this site. "Laserjet, all inkjet printers are bad" That is awful information to give anyone. It is great to see new faces and hear new input but sorry my friend you stopped for gas at the wrong station!

BradSmith

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Re: New printer
« Reply #18 on: March 07, 2021, 03:43:07 pm »

Don't be too tough on Mr. Laserjet.  He just awoke from a 25 year long coma.
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digitaldog

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Re: New printer
« Reply #19 on: March 07, 2021, 04:20:36 pm »

Get yourself a new or vintage LASERJET printer and get to work. Inkjet printers are all bad. They simply do.
"All generalizations are false, including this one." -Mark Twain
And of course, the one about Inkjet printers above. Rubbish.
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