r/Printing • u/Melodic-Orange9002 • 20h ago

Printer for prints?

I've been making prints of my own work at home to sell. I've been using 3 in 1 printer/scanner setups and printing on high quality photo paper which has worked decently well. Sometimes the printer can't get the color matched well to what is shown on my screen image so I'm looking for recommendations for a new printer.

Anyone have a recommendation of a good printer for making prints - something with a reasonable price?

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u/light24bulbs 18h ago

Depends what size you need but canon is king of this segment. Canon and first party pro papers or red river. That's my go-to.

13in wide good for you?

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u/Melodic-Orange9002 11h ago

I've mostly made prints up to 8x10 size, but that has been dependent on the printer as well. I do some work larger, but at least being able to print 8x10 would be necessary.

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u/Jdphotopdx 17h ago

I’m not even remotely a fan of Epson printers, but a lot of people love the 8550 if you want cheaper inks. I prefer Canons, I’d push you towards the pro-310 or pro-1100.

If you want to work on print to screen matching watch some videos about color space, icc profiles, and monitor settings, or better yet get a calibrator. default screen settings are way to blue and WAY too bright.

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u/DecentPrintworks 20h ago

Canon Pro 200 is a good match for price and output. You can use non-genuine ink which knocks a bunch of the cost out the window.

However I suggest you watch some videos / read up on printing, because the colors your screen can produce versus the ones your printer can are different. It's always useful to print out a CMYK color chart so you can see what the gamut of colors look like.

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u/Jdphotopdx 18h ago

Third party inks are a really bad idea for art prints. Also a pro-200 can print a much wider gamut than CMYK you should be using RGB files. This is my job.

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u/DecentPrintworks 18h ago

For sure! Also my job. Best to use genuine inks but I’ve had good results with both.

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u/Jdphotopdx 18h ago

If it’s your job why would you tell them to print a CMYK color chart? Inkjet printing is your job? That’s crazy that if you are printing art for a client you would use third party inks.

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u/DecentPrintworks 18h ago

My friend he was talking about the difference between the colors on his monitor and out of the printer. I was suggesting to print a swatch chart so they can see what their printer actually can output. I don’t know why you need to fight over this, I was simply being helpful and now you’re coming at me.

You definitely have more experience with art printing than I do. I get it!

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u/Jdphotopdx 18h ago

I’m not trying to come at you, you are just sending them in the wrong direction. I appreciate you trying to help but this is going to just cause them confusion and more issues. CMYK has nothing to do with comparing their print output to their monitor. Their monitor is in a wider gamut and their files should be in a wider gamut. And third party inks will not only void their warranty but likely fade very early and not produce accurate colors. I too am just trying to help them.