I need help in choosing plotter

Discussion in 'Large Format Inkjet Printers' started by OceanMaster, Jan 12, 2010.

  1. OceanMaster

    OceanMaster New Member

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    Hello

    I'm planning to open printing shop to print restaurant menus, flyers, business, cards, headed paper ...etc.
    I'm not sure what kind of plotter/printer does this job also I need cutter.

    Pls I need help in choosing the right machines for small business.

    Also I need to know if I want to print menus for restaurant, do I have to use plotter to print them on a paper rolls then the cutter will cut it or I have to print them on sheets?

    Thank you and I appreciate your help
     
  2. allberto

    allberto Member

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    If you want to print menus, business cards, flyers, you shouldn't look to wide format printers, because of quality.
    What is your budget? The better way would be to get (maybe - to rent for a start?) small format (SRA3/A3+) digital machine (Konica Minolta, Xerox, Canon,...), which handles paper about 300gsm thick...
    You also need a cutter (guillotine), creasing (scoring) tool and binding machine (for menus) - for starters.
     
  3. OceanMaster

    OceanMaster New Member

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    Do these printers print paper double side? how fast are they?
    What about the ink is it expensive or you can get it cheap? (I'm talking about printing menus double side full color and images)

    So this printer is enough to start?
    Do I need plotter or no?

    Thank you I really appreciate your help
     
  4. allberto

    allberto Member

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    basicly you don't need plotter if you are not planning to print bigger than 11x17 (a3) size posters or cut vinyl stickers.
    the consumables vary according to printer brand. it is believed than xerox is one of more expensive, but the quality is high too.
     
  5. OceanMaster

    OceanMaster New Member

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    can you tell me about the ink since its the most important factor in the printing.. u can refill the ink or each time u have to replace it? whats the best way to save money?
     
  6. xpquickprint

    xpquickprint Senior Member

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    Here in the USA, xerox is quite competitive on pricing if you have volume to get a service contract; konica also offers quite competitive prices on service contract machines. Canon is another player, typically a bit higher priced here as of late, but in the ballgame if you see a print sample that you like. Call each and ask for some print samples and talk to them about lease + full service contract and see how it might fit your workflow + customer base. You have to commit to the contract (3 or 5 years typically for the best deal) but then you don't have to worry about keeping your machine operating and pricing around for supplies constantly. If possible, go for a fixed-rate-per-click contract over the lease term so you don't have an unknown increase.
    If you don't have a service contract, the cartridges retail can cost a bit. There are a few sources for non-oem refill toner for various machines, though even that is an expensive and somewhat difficult road to travel compared to getting a leased + service contract machine which includes OEM toner + parts + service when something goes wrong. Also you have to consider drums, fusers, transfer belts, cleaning blades, and after 250,000 prints, replacement parts for various rollers and such which can wear down, warp, or just break. With a service contract these "little" parts are included, whereas on your own it can be costly to track down the right part.

    The quality from inkjets is great, but they will absolutely kill you on price per print and slow speed per print compared to a laser.
     
  7. xpquickprint

    xpquickprint Senior Member

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    Printing double side or duplex on any laser within your budget is simply running the print around a track and then printing the other side. So instead of side a, side a, side a, side a, the machine prints side a , diverts it around a track, then prints side b, then side a, diverts around a quick track, then side b. The advantage is that the prints don't have time to curl, but it's not a huge deal for the work you're doing unless you get into larger one-off or variable projects where you need the machine to produce booklets or other work where alot of pages need to be collated by the machine. Almost all laser printers will do duplex now, but an issue you'll encounter with low-end lasers is how good the registration is from side to side. The registration is perfect on the transfer belt now with most lasers, but the sub $50k lasers typically don't put a great deal of care into precisely registering the sheet of paper itself. The image is formed on a transfer belt precisely, and then transferred to the paper. But the paper alignment doesn't have a guide to precise align it like a printing press, so you get some skew sometimes front to back. Not really a big deal on most jobs unless you for example have a business card with a line border very close to the cut edge on both sides. Just something to be aware of in your search.

    When you say "headed paper" I'm thinking you mean stationary and such. One thing to be aware of there is that a DI press is preferable; with laser printing an issue is that if the user is to use the stationary on a hot black and white laser, your color toner can be affected by the subsequent printing which is not good. But you need some experience under your belt before you get into offset.
     

  8. allberto

    allberto Member

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    If you are just starting, I would suggest to look for a company, which rents used equipment + full service (then your job will be printing only - no need to worry about toners and other things (like mentioned above).
    You will know, that, e.g. 1 page costs you some cents and you'll be able to count your expenses.
     
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