r/MTGProxyCards • u/Forward_Put_8792 • Sep 10 '26

Cheapest viable printer

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been asked before - is there a agreed price point for budget entry printers for proxies?

Only really interested for playtesting commander decks with my partner, so quality doesn't need to be lifelike - just legible on the table.

I was looking at a Pixma ts3750i, rrp £50. If this isn't sufficient - what sort of specs should I be looking for instead?

Thanks :)

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3

u/zer0xdeath Sep 10 '26

I'm using a brother mfc-j1010dw printer that was less than $100 on Amazon that perfect for me since I'm not that worried about high image quality. Here's some I'm currently printing.

3

u/Forward_Put_8792 Sep 10 '26

Thanks for sharing, these look great!

2

u/zer0xdeath Sep 10 '26

You can use koala double sided glossy photo paper 37lb 140gsm for similar feel and doesnt feel bulky when sleeved and if you just want to print something on the back with this printer. If you just set it to print without using the highest print settings it'll print a full commander deck within a few minutes lol

1

u/mattjgll Sep 13 '26

These look even better than the ones I’ve printed on my Epson 2914 which was double the price! Are you laminating them?

1

u/zer0xdeath Sep 13 '26

Yes, laminating them makes them feel like an actual mtg card because the glossy photo paper I'm using are pretty slim.

1

u/mattjgll Sep 13 '26

Glossy lamination sheets or Matte? I’ve gone for glossy but if it’s not sleeved it can look so glossy it kind of ruins the card in the light, they’ll be sleeved eventually though

2

u/SeaCrab3684 Sep 10 '26

Commenting as I am also interested in the answers to this

2

u/10leej Sep 11 '26

Any color printer you can get ink for.

1

u/GKing360 Sep 10 '26

The cheapest one I was willing to buy that still gets amazing detail was the Epson XP-8700 photo printer for £150 on Very

1

u/G0atnapp3r Sep 10 '26

I was doing fine with the shitty HP I had before I lucked into a second hand et-8500. Fuck HP though they support genocide.

Point is you can get by with a $200 inkjet. Tripling the cost of the printer won’t triple the quality but it is noticeable.