Digital Printer Recommendations

Discussion in 'Other Digital Presses' started by openletter, Jan 26, 2017.

  1. openletter

    openletter New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2017
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Hello Everyone,

    Right now, I am using 4 HP Officejet Pro X576 printers to do the following:
    1) Color printing on 70lb 5.5"x8.5" paper (~50k/month projected)
    2) Color printing on 70lb 8.5"x11" paper (~50k/month projected)
    3) Color duplex printing on 11pt 8.5"x11" postcards (I cut these down to 4.25"x5.5" postcards after printing) (~100k/month projected)

    A lot of my printing is used with handwritten style fonts so having a printer that produces an authentic finished product. I was told inkjet printers produce a more realistic look for handwritten fonts as the ink sits above the paper, rather than seeping into the paper like laser jet (not sure if this is accurate for a nice production printer though).

    The issue I'm finding is that the HP printers are breaking down or jamming often. Also, I'm projecting that my printing will increase to the amounts above over the next couple of months. Therefore, I want a solid and stable printing solution.

    I want the cost per page to be very low. Currently, I'm under 1 cent per page. Not sure if this is possible though.

    I'm thinking I should go with a digital press but I'm not sure which one. I've looked at the Xerox J75 or the KM BizHub.

    I’m looking for recommendations on which would be the best potential fit for my production output.

    Thank you in advance.
     
  2. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2006
    Messages:
    702
    Location:
    Michigan
    Since no one else has replied yet, I'll share my two cents:

    Moving to a machine such as a J75 (which we looked at seriously) or the similar size KM would definitely streamline your workflow reducing a lot of the tasks to keep things queued and running.

    On one hand I liked having multiple machines running so that I didn't have a single point of failure, but keeping everything up and running was a chore and when we went to a larger class machine it definitely made it easier.

    I don't think you will find it possible to print for under 1 cent per page. Close in BW but 2.5x that for color would be my guess if you print 2-up on 11x17. It sounds like you have quite low ink coverage so you might be able to achieve lower prices by buying an off lease machine, but going without a service contract on a larger machine is difficult if you need to maintain top quality. I guess this depends on the quality requirements of what you're printing, whether it's overprinting customization on press printed pieces, or more graphic content where the service contact becomes more efficient.

    Both the J75 and the KM should have less glossy toner than their predecessors. However, I don't know that you'll match the exact quality of ink from an inkjet soaking into an uncoated stock instead of sitting on the surface - probably a bit more crisp.
     
  3. Chanio Beila

    Chanio Beila New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2017
    Messages:
    4
    Location:
    Europe
    I've been screen printing for a long time but I now want to slowly switch to DTG. I got a good offer for a used freejet 330 TX. What are your thoughts. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. To this point, the only experience I have is with sublimation and screenprinting.
     

  4. Chanio Beila

    Chanio Beila New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2017
    Messages:
    4
    Location:
    Europe
    No worries, I actually settled for a freejet 330TX. It's actually a light weight - Well I know this is probably the last thing most people would be interested in when they are searching for a Direct To Garment printer. But it will come in handy during our road shows and the various demos that we organize from time to time. Again we will be out of town for three weeks around Christmas time and luckily there will be no point of flushing it with a cleaning solution to remove ink. We will just Wet Cap it and it will be safe for up to four weeks.
     
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