A3 printing

Gambit · 5 Sep 2006 at 12:46

Hello there guys...this is my first post here on this board...

I've started a post on the General Hardware section...

...But anyways I'm after a quality A3 printer which gives good quality photo printing to a max size of Super B (A3+) borderless printing would be nice!

Apart from printing the quality stuff there must be some sort of eco setting to print the mundane large spreadsheets etc. - the printer will be in good heavy use so i would like the ink cartrigdes to last a fair bit of time before they need replacing!

Price £300 max! - ideally with seperate colour cartridges but open to explanations why not!

Thanks.

rpstewart · 5 Sep 2006 at 13:50

How often would you be looking at printing photo quality in A3?

I bought an Epson R300 a while back and I no longer use it for photo printing, it's slow, expensive and difficult to get a good result whereas I can upload the image to photobox and get a good quality print back for far less hassle.

busterboy · 5 Sep 2006 at 17:34

I have the Canon i9950 A3 printer which can only be described as awesome.

For reasons that I want the colours to last on the prints I do I use genuine Canon ink carts, Although compatibles do work very well in this printer.

You have to see the results to believe how good they are, When I saw an example from this printer I bought one the next day. Stunning..

steveo · 5 Sep 2006 at 17:50

i was thinking of getting a printer that did a3 prints but like rpstewart side photobox could be a friend

stu.artd · 5 Sep 2006 at 20:50

I have an old Epson 2100 that does prints upto A3+ in size and I've never regretted buying it. I had a 1270 before hand and got the 2100 when that gave up the ghost.

However for under £300 you seem to be limited to choosing from the Canon iX 5000, Epson 1290 or HP 8750. I'd suggest trying to see them for yourself before buyine one though.

whitecrook · 5 Sep 2006 at 20:55

If you are planning on printing lots. Lots and lots of A3. Possibly even selling these prints, you want to look into continuous ink flow systems, £20 for a litre of ink.

dod · 5 Sep 2006 at 23:04

whitecrook said:
If you are planning on printing lots. Lots and lots of A3. Possibly even selling these prints, you want to look into PHOTOBOX.

Sorry, amended for accuracy

. I've been selling a lot lately and for sheer convenience, quality, consistency and cost it's very difficult to beat.

busterboy · 6 Sep 2006 at 20:21

dod said:
Sorry, amended for accuracy . I've been selling a lot lately and for sheer convenience, quality, consistency and cost it's very difficult to beat.

Agreed with the photobox comments but with your own printer you have them in minutes not days.

BTW: The Canon i9950 can be found brand new for less than £300 if you look in the right direction..

dod · 6 Sep 2006 at 20:36

busterboy said:
Agreed with the photobox comments but with your own printer you have them in minutes not days.

Next day for photobox if you order in the morning

The other advantage I forgot about was avoiding the hassle of calibrating monitor, printer etc. Can't say I've ever been entirely happy with home printing.

busterboy · 6 Sep 2006 at 21:55

dod said:
Next day for photobox if you order in the morning

Mmmm.. Thats quick then doddy..

Rimm3r · 6 Sep 2006 at 22:05

does anybody know any good places to download free images in A3 quality, as i wouldn't mind making up a few posters for uni from photobox

steveo · 6 Sep 2006 at 23:04

Rimm3r said:
does anybody know any good places to download free images in A3 quality, as i wouldn't mind making up a few posters for uni from photobox

What would it be in resolution size ?????????

rpstewart · 7 Sep 2006 at 08:28

Photobox print their poster sizes at 254dpi so for A3 you're looking ideally at 4200 * 2970 pixels but I've had 6Mp images printed to A3 and beyond and they look great.

Alex53 · 7 Sep 2006 at 10:25

I find only home printing gives me what I want when printing fine art photos. The matte finish in printing shops is never comparable to the matte inkjet fine art papers you can buy (ilford fine art or hahnemulle 100% photo rag)

I dont print my glossy event photos at home. To sell a bunch of event photos photobox is the only option for me.

whitecrook · 7 Sep 2006 at 19:38

It's way cheaper (PER PRINT) to print your own A3 than use photobox, using CIS. But using photobox is a /hell/ of a lot more convenient. You would also need to be printing lots. Photobox charges £4 per A3 print, say 150 prints would be £600. You can get a printer, ink system and paper for around that price, which would print a lot more than one hundred and fifty prints.

You also have the flexibilty of ink choices, and paper choices. Although your time and effort will need to play a big part in it to configure, test, set up. etc.