Color Printers: Which One is best for 12x12 Printing?

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Color Printers: Which One is best for 12x12 Printing?

Not sure if this is the right forum, so here it goes:

Now that I'm starting to get into digital scrapbooking, I would like to print my layouts in 12x12 format. What everyone is using to print out their digital pages?

What is the archival quality? Is it easy to replace cartridges? Are the cartridges expensive? Any info would help.

Thanks in advance!

Moving this to the Digital Scrapbooking Discussion, where it is better suited.

If you scroll through this section you will find an old discussion on printers.

Beside a printer, you can also look into having your designs printed. There is a lot of services on line where they print individual pages or a book.

Ironically enough: We have talked about printing a lot here... but mostly from the vantage point of sending it off. Most of us have learned through the years that printing isn't as cost effective on your own as it is to send your layouts to a place, especially when there's a sale for 99/cents per layout. smiley

I can't find where we've originally talked about it because I think it was mixed in with the threads about what printer has the best quality, prices, reputation, etc. So, I'm going to leave this here open so we can all discuss it and it will be easier for the newbies to find later too.

Now... As for my thoughts on a printer. I use, love, and swear by all things Epson when it comes to printing. Epson printer with Epson paper with Epson inks... no substitutes! Ie: cheap ink refills or low quality paper (unless you don't care how long archival quality is). I read several articles a few years back and bought a R1800 $500 printer myself for printing 12x12 layouts and up to 13x19 prints and/banners. After all the research led to the same conclusion. By using all Epson products, the archival longevity of the end result is approximately 120 years (with not much fading if stored properly).

Now with all that said, although the ink and paper aren't that expensive in the long run... if you're as anal retentive as me... you will quickly figure out that it will take a long time or a LOT of prints to break even with the 99 cent layouts. smiley 550 approx to be exact just to cover the cost of the printer with taxes. This doesn't include the expense of printing those 550 layouts for the paper and ink. smiley I would say you are looking at about 850-1000 prints by the time you calculate in all of that.
So... that's my four cents worth on the subject. LoL

BTW: I still have my printer and it still works great after 3 years, but I haven't earned my cost per layout back yet. LoL
We also bought a Epson 3 in 1 for everyday printing NX420 (I think for about $75 w/tax) because the R1800 is not really economical for printing everyday items. smiley That little 3 in 1 is a haus!!! BUT... if you run out of ink, the scanner won't work which is a real pain when you DON'T need ink but want to use the scanner. smiley
HTH! smiley

Yes! Several years ago, I too was all about Epson. I had done some research on color printing, and back then it was the Epson 2200 that I really wanted, but settled for the 1800 model because it was given to me as a gift. I think the 2200 model was about $1000 back then . I also bought the Epson picture mate for my 4x6 prints.

But just a couple of years ago I had spoken to a Canon representative and it must have peaked my interest because I found the information sheet he gave me about one of their printers. I apparently even wrote notes re: the printer! Sorry, can't recall which one it is at the moment. Now I'm not so sure if I want to Epson to by my Holy Grail for color printing.....Hmmmm.....

I'm going to poke around see if I can find the previous discussion thread re: printers. I'll try to post the link here once I find it.

I love my Canon MP560 for everyday prints and smaller photos. I just (like just two days ago) bought an Epson Artisan 1430 so I can print 12x12 (and use with my new Zing). I haven't even tried it out yet because I have to make room for it. What is a bonus is that it come with PSE. I'm not sure what version, but I already have CS5, so I will probably just use the PSE to do tutorials for my blog for those that use it. But, I am excited to try it out since I have heard good things about Epson. I'm a little taken aback though by the cost of ink & papers for it (probably just because us Canadians always get charged more for everything - cost of living in the best country in the world I guess smiley ). I'm going to have to check out evil bay to see if I can find deals on the papers. I have a good ink place I can get the cartridges pretty reasonable.

I got a new Epson Artisan 1430 about a month and a half ago from Amazon and I love it! I have printed out a lot of layouts and have not had to replace a single ink cartridge yet. I am very happy with the quality of the prints.

bump for the newbies to find easier... smiley

so happy i came across this tonight, i am in need of a new printer, i would love to print my 12x12 pages, most of the pages i made before were 6x4 size, so i would upload them to walmart to get printed, but now i am enjoying the bigger layouts and would love to print them

I have found it's more cost effective to order larger prints, here are a few sites I order from when I want professional quality:
Meridian Pro
AdoramaPix
Mpix
I have ordered prints from all 3, and highly recommend all for quality prints. I mostly order from Meridian Pro, they have flat rate shipping, which makes a huge difference in your total cost. These sites all have square print too.

I'm in love with my HP wide format all-in-one.

I would love to get my paper layouts printed up as well. Does anyone know how to go about doing that? Are there storefronts I can bring my pages to, or would I have to send photos of my layouts online?

I get mine printed by someone. I've found that it's much cheaper, especially when they're running a sale or I have a coupon code!

A couple of years ago I lucked out and got my Epson wide-format on clearance at Office Depot for $70, so my base cost for printing is much lower... I love the quality of prints and archival, but I still send my pages out for printing most of the time. But I love having the ability to print here at home when I want it right now smiley. This comes in handy when I want to change photos in my 12x12 magnetic frames.

I came across this thread and my heart started pounding -- oh my printing out that big?!!! I am glad I stayed and read the comments and found out that sending off to get printed elsewhere is the better solution.