Topic awaiting preservation: Reasonably priced printer for color proofing? (Page 1 of 1)

I'm scanning the market for a reasonably priced printer for color proofing printed collateral.

I've read that laser printers are the only way to go with this but these are somewhat expensive from Dell.

What would you Asylumites recommend?

Thank you.

Thanks.

Save yourself a bit of frustration by first ..Calibrating your monitor...

http://epaperpress.com/monitorcal/index.html


And then get a basic understanding... of 'color management' with all the

sRGB RGB aRGB bit. Some very good stuff on this link... allowing you to toggle through various settings. You don't have to know every last detail... but you should understand why sRGB is basically for web work... not for print.. Most defaults are 'sRGB' Know where and when to change it.
CYMK vs RGB... basics of why. Get a handle on those... then some of the 'printer' stuff will start to make a bit more sense.

http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/index.html

I know and I've done all that. I need a color proofing printer for the office.

Thanks.

What do you exactly mean with color proofing?
If you want to check exactly if the colors on the screen will match the print you could only do the proofing on the machine which is going to do the complete print run.

If you want just to check the global colors, text, images and font type or need to present the design, any decent printer will do.

There are so many variables when it comes to color proofing, like paper thicknes, paper structure, printing process, ink-toner, and sometimes air humidity and temperature that it's virtualy imposible to do color proofing
on a different printer . If you realy wan to do exact color proofing you need to make one or more prints exactly the same as the total run you need the exact printer whith the exact same paper type using the exact same print setup.

If you print work is going to be an banner from some sort (eg vinyl or fabric) a good inkjet will do since those banner guys all use oversized inkjets (try to imagine a ten foot wide laser drum.....)

If you have small print runs (roughly <2000 color copies) you could check a local print/copy storet to get one print as proof for each run you order with them.
With laser printers it is no problem to print just one copy. So at my work in such a store we always make an proof for each order we have. The clients can come by to see the proof or we can send it by mail. We normaly also make an duplicate proof for our own. When the client aproves the proof we make the total run exactly the same. We do use the proof as quality benchmark through the whole printing and finishing project.

Color lasers are expensive to buy but much cheaper to use as color inkjets with the same quality level. Since you already paid the ink for a lot off prints. Laser printes are also faster as their inkjet counter parts.
Besides thy don't need to dry and don't turn in aquarels when some drops fall on them... as some inkt-jet ink does.
So it all depends on your needs and of course on your budget.

I realy cannot advise you anything but you might want to look at the Printers from konica-minolta they are pretty good in price an print quality. We use two océ's (cs-220) for color work. They are pretty stable in how the colors come out an can print very heavy weight paper. Actually they are rebranded CF3102/8031's from minolta
Check the minolta Qstore-usa
or Q-store Europe for some prices.



good luck

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Support Justice for Pat Richard

(Edited by Rinswind 2th on 02-07-2005 22:06)

Well if the objective is to find a 'consumer' level printer that closely produces the output of a 'professional' machine. .. I'd think the laser would be about the best bet... but it all depends on just 'how close' is close enough for you to make a decision. Good luck. =)

Sorry for the poor choice of words. By "a printer for color proofing" I meant "a printer for the production of a colored proof" for design analyses. For example, if I wanted to check a business card's typography for visual clarity before sending the document to the printing vendor, I'd want to produce a colored proof in-house that is as accurate as reasonably required.

But like Rinsw: pointed out.... unless you know the final output device... paper/cardstock etc. ..you're sorta whistlin' in the wind a bit.

If it's as critical as it seems..... I'd give the basic layout ..font . colours etc. to the printer and ask to see the 'proof' before printing.

I guess the depend on how you define reasonably priced, I would imaging you would want at least 11x17.

For a reasonablity accurate color proofing inkjet, my research has lead me to the, HP designjet 30, or 130
http://www.designjet.hp.com/pdp/render.html?new_product=30&page_name=overview+and+features&pageseq=316678

I had my local HP representive do a demo of the HP30 at a local print trade show, and I was very impressed for it price point. It's even has a built in calibration system and most important a Postscript RIP (Software) which was a must have if you are doing any kind of print work.

The only other realistic choice is the EPSON 4000, but I wasn't happy with the 2200 at work color calibration wise. Hopefully Epson has muched improved the software included with this model....

As for laser, the cheapish lasers are rarely good for proofing, as they are typically inconsistantly and shift color easyly. If you want a decent laser proof you need to look at the Xerox Phaser 7300, it's upfront cost is considerable conpaired to the higher end inkjets. Thou if you factor in consumables, it could work out cheap in the long run, if you require higher volume printing.

One of the about should be useable for in studio proofing, One should still have the printer pull a final proof, for sign-off and final approval for any critical color work.


J. Stuart J.