Best Scanners And Printers For Graphic Designers Of 2024: Completed List
Brandon Forder May 20, 2024 1:03 AM
The best printer for graphic design is a question I'm frequently asked. In order to assist you pick the best option, I will go over the key characteristics.
In order to present their work to potential clients and colleagues, graphic designers rely extensively on printers.
Finding the best printer can be a challenge if you're an artist who values print quality.
You may find printers on the market nowadays in a wide range of prices and with a wide range of capabilities.
However, I did my best to simplify matters by compiling a list of considerations and my top picks.
This article will discuss my top picks for graphic artists' scanners and printers in the year 2022.
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Ink and toner
A quality inkjet printer will have individual color ink cartridges. In general, you should avoid printers that use a single cartridge for all three colors. Clogs aren't the only thing this can cause; casting and color bleeding are also more likely to occur. Choosing a picture inkjet printer with more than 4 cartridge slots will assist improve the color and clarity of anything you print if your design job requires photo-quality output. Some inkjet printers have as many as twelve ink cartridge slots, allowing for a staggering range of tonal darks and brights.
Laser printer toner cartridges normally come in four colors (CMYK). Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (or C, M, Y, and K, respectively) are the colors that each letter represents. Amazing pictures can be made by mixing these four hues together. When the print drum isn't totally clean or the empty toner cartridge is used up, smearing can be a major problem when utilizing a toner.
How you get your results depends greatly on the paper you use. Knowing how the inks or toner you're using react with the paper you use for proofs or other projects might save you a lot of trouble down the road.
Toner Cartridges
It's easy to overlook the ongoing expense of laser printer maintenance and supplies while you're shopping for a new machine. Keeping track of when your toner will run out will help you budget accordingly, even if doing so isn't always cheap. Calculating the amount of pages you can print from a single toner cartridge is a helpful tool for this. The number of printed pages can be found on the box of many toner cartridges.
Despite being more expensive than ink cartridges, a toner cartridge will typically generate more pages and can be more cost-effective. The high page yield of a single cartridge more than offsets the higher initial investment.
Dye-based inks or pigmented inks for inkjets
In the example image above, the left side was printed using dye-based ink, while the right side was produced with pigment-based inks, despite both sides depicting the identical image. After 18 months of exposure to indirect sunshine without glass, the pigment-based ink in both prints had faded significantly. Both are excellent choices, but let's look into them more closely.
Compared to pigmented inks, dye-based inks are typically more affordable without sacrificing color vibrancy. Keep in mind that dye inks fade more quickly than pigmented inks (as can be seen above) if you're concerned about the longevity of your printed materials.
The printer ink types of dye and pigment are incompatible. It's either one or the other, so make your decision. To use both together at this time is unfortunately not possible.
Size
Large format printers, such as those measuring 44 inches wide, can handle a wide range of tasks, but unless you're printing media for an exhibition, you probably won't need one. This is fortunate, as these machines are not only prohibitively expensive but also take up a lot of valuable floor space.
The maximum paper size supported by the printer in question is crucial information to have at your disposal. Although the quality of laser printers has improved greatly, most of them can only print on paper that is 8.5 inches wide (or A4).
Even though everyone has distinct requirements, this is one reason why many people prefer inkjet printers. However, many advertising, design, and marketing firms require printers that can output proofs at least 13 by 19 inches (a size often known as A3+ Super B).
This article will compare and contrast the best big format printers, A3 printers, color printers, budget printers, inkjet printers, laser printers, and graphic design printers in general. Enjoy!
Paper
Whether you go with a laser or inkjet printer, the paper types (thin, heavy, and double-sided) that you use most frequently must be supported without fail. Finding a printer that can print on a wide variety of paper types will simplify the printing of proofs of all kinds. Consider the possibility that you might want to print directly onto clothing, which would necessitate the use of a DTG (direct to garment) printer.
Verify that you are using paper that is compatible with your printer. Some less-than-ideal options for printing on heavier paper stocks are front-feed printers like many of the popular and inexpensive versions and many of the affordable HP models. It's common for color laser printers to have restrictions on the types of paper that can be used.
Quality
Investing in a regular printer for graphic design is a bad idea because it likely won't produce the quality you need. Low-cost printers have a short lifespan and a high failure rate, whereas reputable manufacturers provide high-quality models that last for years. For this reason, it is prudent to invest in high-quality printers for graphic design.
Functionality
You need to pay close attention to the internals of an all-in-one graphic design printer. What this really refers to is how hard it can work and how many pages per minute it can print. Whether or not the printer is wireless and you need to plug in a cable. Either a menu would be included, or you could just Google it and find the right one.
Running costs
To do business, a printer is needed. You pay for it in terms of the output you achieve on it. Therefore, a laser printer is probably the finest printer for graphic designers, as it will save you a ton of money during the inkjet's lifetime if you print a lot of papers or graphics.
Room
Having an abundance of free room isn't always a given when setting up shop in one's own house as an office. It's common knowledge that laser printers are quite large, often necessitating their own cabinet.
The smaller ones are still quite sizable compared to the inkjets. Graphic designers who operate from home or in a shared office space may find that an inkjet printer is the most convenient option.
Durability
There is a common perception that laser printers are significantly more durable than inkjet printers. Unlike inkjets, which require more upkeep, these printers can tolerate abuse while still producing high-quality output.
What is better – Inkjet or Laser printers?
What you intend to achieve will determine the answer. Though they can add up quickly in price, inkjet printers produce images with much more accurate colors than laser printers. However, laser printers can print on heat-sensitive materials and offer a lower overall cost of operation than inkjet printers.
What is DPI? Is it important?
Dots Per Inch (DPI) describes the resolution of a printer (it is in printers what pixels are on devices). More DPI is associated to higher detailing and longer printing time, but it's not the only quality indicator. Ink usage may increase with higher DPI.
Why do people not opt for inkjets?
Most people avoid inkjets since they need constant ink replacements and the cartridges dry up if they're not used. So, they are ideal for artists who place a premium on color accuracy. Even so, picking a dye-based ink over a pigment-based one is an important consideration.
Does an inkjet work better or the laser in all-in-one printers?
When compared to inkjet printers, laser printers are significantly quicker. With their large paper trays, laser printers may produce thousands of pages every month.
How do I choose a graphic design printer?
Graphic design printers using dye-based inks, as opposed to pigment-based inks, don't produce high-quality prints and should be avoided. When it comes to speed and careful attention to the size you need, a laser printer easily outperforms an inkjet. It needs to be able to work quickly and print a lot of pages. The company's dependability is crucial if it is to continue functioning effectively over time.
The cost of laser printers is significantly higher than that of inkjet printers.
However, they may be used to their full potential and produce exceptionally clear and vibrant prints.
The truth is that a larger budget will allow you to purchase prints of higher quality and greater vibrancy.
As a designer, you should put money into a high-quality printer that will last a long time and do your work justice.
Prices for printers range from as low as $149 to as much as $1250, making it possible to find one that fits any budget.
It goes without saying that printers that are both flexible and high-quality will be your best friends in bringing your designs to life.
