What is the best printer for your intended use?
Now that you know the difference between high-end printers and the best budget printers for the office, it’s time to start thinking about your intended use for your printers. Obviously, the primary function is to print, but you need to consider how much printing you’ll be doing, what types of prints you’ll be creating, and the function that these prints will serve to be able to find the correct device for your business.
But how do you decide what your primary use is going to be?
First of all, you need to think about what it is that you’re printing, as this massively dictates what the main features you need are going to be. The best printers for photography will be very different from the best printers for cardstock, so by defining what you’re looking for, you’ll make the search for the perfect printer much easier.
Here are a few of the types of printers that we frequently find businesses investing in to fulfil their printing demands:
Best printers for photos and art prints
First and foremost, consider the purpose of your photo printer.
Is it intended for simple portraits and family photos? Will you be printing sizes or compositions that are out of the ordinary?
Which brand appeals to you the most? Is the printer in your price range? How large can you make your prints with this printer?
And most importantly, can the printer meet those needs effectively?
All of these are questions that you must answer before you’re able to start searching for the best printer for art prints or the best printer for photos.
If you're on the search for a printer that’s best suited to creating vibrant photographs or deep, colour accurate art prints, here are a few of the major factors to consider:
Functionality is a key aspect to keep in mind
When looking for the best photo printer, the first thing to consider is if its photo printing capabilities fit your unique requirements. Make sure the printer is built to make coloured, high-quality prints on a variety of paper sizes, such as 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10. Multifunction printers can also photocopy and scan documents, giving you more options when it comes to functionality.
Resolution is one of the major factors to look at
When it comes to professional photo printing, the black and colour print resolution, which is measured in DPI (dots per inch), is critical. The higher the DPI, the better the print quality, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for printers with high DPI capabilities.
Any print above 1200dpi will only deliver improvements that are virtually unnoticeable to the naked eye - this means you will see little to no difference in the documents that you print after this point.
Print quality needs to be up to your standards
The print quality will vary depending on the resolution of the printer. How important is resolution to you? How many ink cartridges is it equipped with? There will be a difference in the colours if there are more cartridges, and more colours can be blended because there are more shades of ink available.
Is there a difference between art printers and photo printers?
When printing art prints or photographs, the major features that you require are incredibly similar, so most printers purchased for printing photos will also be able to print your art prints without any difficulty.
As a user, this means you’ll only need to purchase one printer for all of your art and photography needs, keeping your costs low without limiting your printing capabilities.
You can find our range of the best printers for photographs and art prints here!
Best printers for card
Here are the main points that you’ll need to consider when you’re choosing a printer for card stock:
Can the printer handle paper and card?
The first thing to consider when choosing a cardstock printer is the paper thickness. Make sure it can handle 200gsm to 350gsm grams per square metre of cardstock. Some printers are unable to handle thick cardstock.
When selecting a printer, keep this in mind. Each printer's paper thickness requirements must be verified before you try to print on the material.
Which type of printer is best: laser vs inkjet?
You might not know what printer to use if you want to print on cardstock. Not all laser printers can handle cardstock or thick paper.
High-resolution laser printers may be able to print on cardstock. The disadvantage is that they can be more expensive upfront but they are usually far cheaper to run than their Inkjet alternatives.
Is the printer compatible with different types of media?
type of paper that you intend to use. This information can often be found in the printer's specs. Cardstock is an excellent example of this, as it's a frequently used material that many printers are incompatible with - you need to make sure the printer is compatible with the paper's quality and texture before trying to print, or you may cause damage to your printer.
Does the printer feed support speciality materials?
With special feeders, the finest printers for cardstock can handle thicker and heavier pages.
If you frequently print on cardstock, look for a printer that can handle it. Printers with a flatter bypass tray can usually handle heavier media up to 350gsm and above in some cases but always check on the brochure to see what media weight the printer can handle.
How well does the ink absorb into the card?
Some inks dry rapidly and resist smearing and bleeding (quick-drying inks). Consider the type of ink the printer uses when printing on cardstock. When you do this, your prints will be more vibrant and crisp.
Laser printers use toner which contains wax and they have a fuser unit which heats the page so the pages are dry as soon as they are printed. On a laser printer, the toner typically doesn’t sink into the page as much as ink would on an inkjet printer.
Size and quality are crucial elements for artists and photographers
Taking high-quality images should be your primary focus as a photographer. As a result, having a printer that prints crisply and with excellent quality is critical.
Best printers for your device
What are the best printers for Mac?
For Mac users and iPhone or iPad owners, picking the correct printer is very important. The majority of printers these days are Mac-compatible, but we've encountered a few that operate better with Windows PCs and this can be an issue for those primarily operating on a Mac.
One of the most common issues that Mac users encounter when printing is the need for a printer that has postscript drivers - this is particularly common when using graphics packages during the design process.
Of course, Macs have long been utilised for creative tasks like graphic design and photo editing, so many Mac users may want to invest in a more specialised printer for graphics and photography.
best printers for Mac compatibility right here on the Printerland website!
What are the best printers for iPhone?
You don't have to be a professional photographer to take selfies, portraits, or landscape photographs with your iPhone or iPad when you're out and about. This has resulted in a new generation of printers that are more focused on mobile devices, so Apple users should make sure the printer supports Apple AirPrint software, which allows you to print directly from your iPhone or iPad without having to install any additional software or apps.
All of the printers in our AirPrint category are AirPrint-compatible, meaning you won't have to install printer drivers and your Mac, iPhone, or iPad will be able to connect to them right away across your wireless network.
Best printers for students
The best student printers are essential for anyone who is presently studying at any level, as they can be used for everything from printing essays to organising critical paperwork. A printer is necessary for today's learning environment, whether you want a brilliant laser printer for students or the best budget inkjet printer for colour documents and images. A handy printer can come in handy in a variety of situations, from printing off your newest homework to printing off a copy of an important presentation.
The campus library at most universities will offer a pay-per-page printer, however, this can be a highly expensive and inefficient way to get your documents printed. Having your own printer to hand, as well as high-quality paper, can help you to print reports, put projects together, and put presentations together more quickly - this can make all the difference when you’re trying to hit those tight deadlines.
A printer is one of the most valuable expenditures a student can make today. With more people studying from home and attending virtual lectures than ever before, being able to easily print your own documents is incredibly beneficial.
Having a printer in your student housing allows you to print coursework anytime you want and, when it comes to colour printing, it is often less expensive than going to the campus library.
Have you just pulled an all-nighter and need to submit your work to your tutor right away? You're covered if you have your own printer.
Even if your educational institution has printers on campus, they will not be available 24 hours a day, and they will almost surely cost money. As a result, if you're a student on a course where you'll need to print a lot of schoolwork or essays, or scan in textbooks, investing in a printer is a good idea.
If you’re a student looking to save money, there are a few little tricks that you can use to minimise the cost of the printing that you’re doing when creating physical copies of presentations, essays, and other work products.
Our first tip is to invest in a compact mono printer if colour printing is not a necessity. Whilst colour may look more engaging, it’s more expensive than printing in monochrome, which isn’t ideal when your goal is to minimise costs. Purchasing a mono printer is more cost-effective too; there are fewer components inside the printer and therefore they’re cheaper to manufacture and cheaper to buy.
Our next tip is for those who will be printing in higher volumes - invest in an Epson Ecotank printer!
Epson’s Ecotank range is changing the game when it comes to cost-effective printing. Instead of costly cartridges that need to be changed every time they’re empty, you'll instead be refilling the large tank with ink bottles, which are cheaper to purchase and easier to manage too!
With an Ecotank printer, you’ll be able to print up to 14000 pages on a full tank, minimising the time spent refilling your printer as well as the money spent keeping the printer tank full.
Best printers for home
Remote working is something that many people are now trying to tackle for the first time - this also means tackling all of the challenges that come along with it too. One of the most difficult things about moving into a home office is the lack of space that’s available. With surface space at a premium, you’re likely to find yourself looking to invest in compact devices that allow you to maximise the little space that you have at your disposal, such as compact home office printers.
But this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality.
We recommend inspecting, marking, and measuring the complete dimensions of the space you intend your new printer to fit in before making a purchase. After that, you can begin your search without having to guess.
As a rule of thumb, an all-in-one printer will be slightly taller than a single-function printer, due to the addition of other features like scanners and copiers. Other features, such as the output or back tray, can take up more space, but in general, you should be able to find a tiny footprint printer in both single function and all-in-one types that is the appropriate size for your workplace.
Best printers for small businesses
Because they can handle large print jobs, laser printers are usually regarded to be excellent for use in workplaces. Printing big numbers without experiencing jams or other issues is straightforward.
Due to the usage of laser technology, laser printers are noted for their quick printing speeds. The printer will usually finish the job before you arrive. It simply means that a laser printer saves you time by doing tasks swiftly and efficiently. It is not only perfect for large printing jobs, but its enhanced speed also makes it acceptable for office use.
For printing high-quality text, laser printers are believed to be the best option. No other printer, inkjet or otherwise, can create clean prints like this one. Laser printers for business are chosen because they can print formal documents such as emails, bills, and other documents. There are no smudges to be concerned about, either.
In comparison to inkjet printers, laser printers are more reliable and long-lasting. Toner in laser printers does not evaporate or dry out as ink cartridges do. They are built to last much longer. Depending on the printer and how well it is maintained, toner yields can range anywhere from 500 to 60,000 pages.
What ink and toner cartridges will you need?
Printing is still very much a necessity for many organisations, even in the age of tablets, smartphones and digital communication. Laser printers and toner cartridges have been a staple of many businesses since their inception in the 1970s, and with good reason. Because of laser printing technology, toner cartridges generate crisper images at a faster rate than ink cartridges. Toner cartridges can be more expensive than ink cartridges, however, they last longer due to the printers' laser efficiency.
Toner cartridges
Toner is a powder, rather than wet ink as you’d see in an inkjet cartridge. On the one hand, monochrome laser printers only need to be loaded with black toner cartridges - this immediately offers a reduction in costs as you’ll be buying fewer cartridges for your printer. Colour laser printers, on the other hand, print in four different toner colours; black, magenta, cyan, and yellow. When printing, they are blended in various amounts to obtain all of the hues. As you’d imagine, this can be more costly if you’re printing in colour on a frequent basis.
The drum unit is another crucial component of your laser printer that you should be familiar with. You won't be able to print anything without this part of your printer. During printing, it fuses the toner powder from the toner cartridge to the paper. Depending on how your laser printer is designed, it can either be supplied separately as a unit or embedded into the toner cartridge.
Toner cartridges with an integrated drum are often more expensive than those without one. They do, however, give you the convenience of never having to replace the drum unit in your printer. When you buy a new toner cartridge, you're essentially doing the same thing.
You can check out our range of toner cartridges here at Printerland - we’ve got affordable, high-quality toner cartridges for use with all of our printers, so you’re sure to find exactly what you need here in our range.
Ink cartridges
Depending on the sort of ink cartridges you choose, ink can be pigment or dye-based. Dye-based ink is used in the majority of popular inkjet printers. It is significantly less expensive than pigment-based alternatives and has a greater ability to produce true-to-life and bright colours in images and prints.
The main drawback of dye-based ink is that it is not waterproof and therefore prone to smearing. It's also not very long-lasting, fading after 25 years. The finish is significantly crisper with pigment ink, and it dries much faster than dye-based ink. Because it can print archive-quality photographs and text, graphic designers and professional photographers choose pigment-based ink over dye-based ink.
It is also water and UV light resistant, allowing it to endure considerably longer. Pigment-based ink has a lifespan of up to 200 years.
Why Choose Printerland?
Are you ready to embark on your printing adventure with us?
Regardless of your goal or budget, our team of 30+ specialists has over 25 years of expertise in the printing industry and can provide you with a wide range of solutions.
Printerland promises to not only match any competitor's estimated price but also to help you to reduce your print costs, with next-day delivery so you can get started right away. But don't take our word for it: we have a 5-star Trustpilot rating and over 7,000 favourable client reviews, so you can be confident that we can satisfy your printing needs.
Send an email to [email protected] to speak with a member of the Printerland team.
