Color laser for printing plant labels

Discussion in '8 ½ x 11 Color Laser Printers' started by Harborseal, Jun 11, 2016.

  1. Harborseal

    Harborseal New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2016
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    KC, MO, USA
    Hi! I need print color plant labels. I've heard that laser prints are less photo quality than inkjets but the images don't fade nearly as quickly. I've heard that inkjet photos and text will fade in 3 months in the summer sun but people who are using lasers say their labels are holding up 5+ years for black text and over 18 months for color.

    So I'm interested in finding out which printers have the best quality output. I'd like to know if any of you have experience printing labels for outdoor use and what you think. The printing is done on various forms of plastic made for laser printers.

    I'm looking at these:

    HP Laserjet Pro M477fdw Wireless All-in-One Color Printer

    HP Color LaserJet Enterprise M553dn

    I'd be more than happy to consider others. The xerox phasers get worse reviews than the HPs on Amazon. Print quality is the most important thing. Budget is approximately 750 or less for the printer. Toner costs are included in the price the customer pays for the labels so it's not a big deal but obviously the cheaper the better.

    Thanks for any help you can offer.
     
  2. Jeff

    Jeff Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2006
    Messages:
    702
    Location:
    Michigan
    I've printed hundreds of posters for windows and not had any problem with fading from either xerox or canon toners, some of which have been up for years.

    Inkjet dye ink has faded on me in short order (months); pigment ink wold be what you would want to look for if going that way. I think laser will deliver a very good quality for anything except fine art prints. If there is a drawback to laser, it would be that it can be scraped or gouged off if subjected to very hard rubbing (e.g. the wheels at the post office that sort post cards) but on the plus side it will not be affected by water as long as the stock it's printed on doesn't break down.

    On smaller laser printers, if you print at any volume, the toner and drums will probably cost more than the machine itself within a year, so you may also look at bigger machines that have more economical supplies / contracts and see how it adds up over a year or two.
     
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