Anyone has printer recommendation?
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Hi, I consider investing in a printer.
Here is my needs:- Print light sketches on watercolor paper (so I can skip transfer sketch to watercolor process).
- Print my drawings + paintings for art market sales (a very small run to start with. This is one thing I try to establish this year).
I am considering Epson p600. My only concern is that it may end up costing too much to maintain (paper, ink, and have to print often to prevent clogging). I wonder if anyone owns or had a P600 before, and would like to share the experience of owning it. I also have some specific questions:
- How much does it cost approximately to print an A3 sized image with fine art paper? (the local Giclee printing shop is expensive, it cost me more than 30usd to get an A3 fine art print)
- How often do you need to print in order to keep the printer unclogged?
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Hi there! Sorry, I can't help with printers. I've often wondered about getting one myself and then haven't for the reason you said. I hope someone can give you some advice! Please let us know when you find a solution
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@xin-li I bought an ecotank series
[link text](Epson Expression Premium ET-7750... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0753HDQ2J?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share)I will say, when I bought this printer it had better reviews. The print quality is great (as long as you only use Epson paper!) I had issues with the ink dragging and ruining several prints when I had printed my runs prior to Walker Stalker. Something you may wish to ask yourself beforehand, is buying a printer worth it? I'm rather prolific, and in a month's time have had up to twenty or so pieces, which if I get sets of 5 11X17, 10 8X10 and 8 4X6 stickers would run me around $30 a piece to have printed professionally in my area (which is not worth it especially if certain pieces the public just isn't as much into as you may have hoped.) If you have only a few pieces, having someone else make them professionally may be a better fit for you
️ There are other companies too that I found after making my un-returnable printer investment that I could have gotten at a better price and also is recommended by a mentor of mine that has beautiful prints. I'm at my day job, but if you are interested, I will look for the address for you to peruse. -
@Jenna-Jenks Jake and I both use the epson P800. I can't recommend it highly enough. No problems since I've had it. I love it. Get the roller adapter too, it's worth it.
SVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
@xin-li said in Anyone has printer recommendation?:
Print my drawings + paintings for art market sales
What kind of art are you printing? What size?
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@Lee-White I will look into a roller adapter
️ I went for the Ekotank due to the ink reservoirs (the major downfall for high usage self printing!) What thickness do you make your prints? I'm trying to go 9ml because I think customers seem to see more value in heavier stock, but honestly, I don't know... I always bag and board them, so weight isn't as noticeable when the prints are handled at my booth, but I don't want my customers to be offput later when they get the print home. I have had plenty of repeat customers, and no one has yet complained. Thoughts? -
@xin-li I have a Canon Pro-10s (£450) - the Canon equivalent of the P600. The quality is amazing with 10 archival pigment inks costing £116. It prints up to A3+ and a A3+ costs around £4 per print. Although I did get around 200 free museum quality paper sheets with it (mix of A4, A3 and A3+). My favorite paper Hahnemuhle photo rag, I bought 25 A3+ sheets for £80.
I went with the Canon over the Epson because there's no ink wastage switching between the 2 different blacks - no cleaning required when switching media. Downside is there's no adapter for a putting on a roll of paper. But in my London flat I haven't got the room for doing roll prints anyway - the printer is hernia inducing huge! So I guess it depends if you want those panoramic prints or no ink wastage. I think the quality of prints is similar. Lush.
I think when I get a studio and have more space I'd get the Epson one @Lee-White recommended. What does it cost to fill the P800 up with ink?
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@xin-li Ican strongly suggest try to stay away From HP printers they require a lot of maintenance, and based on what my professors use as well as the majority of the creative field, stick with Canon or Epson. They both have an outstanding record for printing quality.
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I really wanted the epson P800 but it was too expensive. I got the Epson WF 7720. Its ok for what I need.
Not great for professional Prints.
I use it for scanning 11x17 paper and printing light pencil on bristol so i can ink it directly and watercolor paper (has a rear tray for large and heavier stock) it's also wireless. Cost me $180 at either target or walmart. It's also bulky and heavy. -
@Braden-Hallett I want to get into the local art markets to sell fine art prints, a mixture of digital painting (digital watercolor and gouache brushes), and reproductions of traditional watercolor. Sometimes also black ink wash paintings (like the ones I did in Inktober last year). I am thinking of gifts for kids rooms as the main target area, and I am thinking of size a4, A3, or A3+.
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@Lee-White how often does the p800 requires to run in order to avoid printing head clogged?
@sigross thank you so much for the price break down. It is really helpful. Did you calculate the cost of paper in the price, or just the cost of ink? I read up a bit more and find out p600 would cost slightly more than Canon per print. I can not see myself using panoramic prints yet. But I might be short-sighted :-). I will go visit a physical shop to get a feel about the 2 printers. How often do you print on the Canon, and is there any maintenance routine you need to do in order to avoid printer head clogged?
One of the main reasons I want to invest in a good printer is to be able to produce archival prints myself for sale (so I have full control of what paper to use, and color proofing my prints). But another reason is that I think printing out artworks as part of the process is important for artists working with print media. Looking at images on the screen and on paper are two very different experiences. I am focusing on children's book now, I think it will help me to grow as an artist who works with books.
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@Jenna-Jenks I have also considered ecotank series. I know ecotank does not use archival ink, but still with very nice print quality. Thank you for sharing your experience.
@Aleksey thank you for sharing your experience. I think it would be a great option for me as well if the local Giclee printing service is not that expensive (and they require some start-up fee as well. So I have to invest quite a bit to start up my art print business with no guarantee of sale). I want to find a printer that does what you do with your printer + producing art prints.
I also would love to have a p800. But it is too big of an investment (both money and space
for me right now, and I decide the max price range around p600 or Canon pro-10s. -
@xin-li yeah i got mine because i want to make webcomics. I want to ink them by hand then scan them ins. So it has a large bed for 11x17 paper and can also print large formats so i can lightbox stuff.
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@xin-li The price was including the posh expensive hahnemuhle paper I bought. I think it would be cheaper with other paper. The A3+ brilliant museum matte paper I got free is £50 for 25 sheets. I think it's hard to work out ink prices exactly but I was doing just monochrome prints for my portfolio recently using the black and got around 12-14 prints before the black ran out. It's £12 for a ink cartridge so I figured 80p-£1 for ink for each print. Posh matte paper (308 gsm) is £3.20 per sheet. The other matte paper (300 gsm) I have is £2 per sheet making it about £3 per print. The printer cleans itself when I turn it on, I've not experienced any clogging but I've only had it a few months - I too was feeling the pinch from paying loads for fine art prints.
The larger model Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 I looked at is about £500 to fill with 12 pigment inks - the cartridges are much larger though. it prints up to A2.
Main thing is to not buy a dye printer as the prints will fade fairly quickly, especially if exposed to sunlight.
It's one of the best things I ever bought and loving seeing my digital work on paper. Brings it to life. I can also do collage stuff now. I make large prints on A3 tracing paper taped together from pencil drawings I do. Makes it easier to make a large painting or stencil work. It's just opened up a whole new area of art making that was missing from my art bag of tricks.
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@sigross so cool to hear your experience. I am thinking along the same line, bring digital art to life, and experiment with other processes such as collage, mixed media while taking the advantage of working digitally (such as sketching and composing image digitally)
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@xin-li Looking at the rest of your replies it looks like you've got your eye on a good printer. If you want those archival inks and wide format your hands are tied.
I wanted to suggest mine, the artisan 1430, but it's discontinued, lol.
As for print heads clogging it's a rare occurrence. It does happen if you leave the printer sit on your desk for a long time, but for the most part it shouldn't. I'm pretty sure most printers go through a little cleaning cycle or somesuch on a regular basis and there's a print head cleaning program you can run. My wide format printer was in storage for 6 months until recently and it printed fine. No problems.
It's a good thing to worry about, but don't worry about it
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@Braden-Hallett thank you so much for tips. Now I think I am much more informed.
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@xin-li Hey there! I thought I might drop in my two cents... My needs with my printers were pretty much identical to yours, but I didn't want to splurge too much. So I went on Amazon and bought Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000. A brand new one is $300 but I bought a renewed model for $199.
As long as you do printer setting adjustment correctly your prints should look smokin! I made some prints with Epson luster photo paper and they turned out looking darn good
It prints A3. I'll try to update this post with photos of the prints to show the quality of the prints. I made art prints in print shops before and these are at the same level of professionalism, I would say!
Here is the link to the model I bought: https://www.amazon.com/Epson-Expression-XP-15000-Wide-Format-Replenishment/dp/B07P3772MS/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=epson+expression+photo+hd+xp-15000+renewed&qid=1579719922&sr=8-2
If you don't like it, you can return for free. Why not give it a shot?
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@xin-li i have a canon pixma pro 100. It was about $160 w rebate and the starter inks lasted me a long time. I buy paper from Red River Paper. The Aurora papers are great and affordable. Be sure to download their printer profiles and use those when printing. I print directly from photoshop. I love it because i have left it for months and its never been dried up. And it has also made it through 3 moves and is still working perfectly. One move being all the way from TX to Hawaii. Ive recommended this to several friends who have gotten it and are just as happy woth it as I am.
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for 2 How often do you need to print in order to keep the printer unclogged?
The answer definitely depends on humidity in your house.For my house, humidity is often between 30-40%(I check it on a daily basis for my baby) , which is a little bit below comfortable level, my Epson end up clogged when I haven't touched it for one month. Also, different color inks has a different rate of clogging. For the pigment ink I use, black is the one gets clogged most frequently.
BTW, since my printer is completely clogged and has no use now, I am considering using drop shipping printing services, which has, according to 3pt perspective, less upfront cost and can help figure out if one really needs a decent printer.
One may wants to consider the rate of return when making such investment, also one's time value of money. It takes a lot of time for printing, checking color, maintaining printer, etc.
