The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

Best Printer for Brochures?

Does anybody have any ideas on a good printer for brochures? I've seen them done on glossy paper by another company, and they look quite good. These were done by some kind of small printer on a PC inhouse there, but look like they came from a professional printing house.

Any ideas? Ink Jet or Laser?

Thanks for any help!

Cubs Fan
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Laser.

Inkjet screams amatuer. Decent color laser's are spendy. You might look into actually getting them printed.

send money
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

I'm a personal fan of the Tektronix Phaser thermal-wax-transfer printers. The ink comes out bright and glossy, and is raised on the surface for more of a pressed feel. If you print on waterproof paper, your prints are now waterproof. Only downside is if you leave your printed material in direct sun in your car, no guarantees that the ink won't melt and run.

If the initial cost is too high, there is a good alternative to leasing these printers that I took advantage of. At www.freecolorprinters.com Xerox gives away refurbished models to small businesses interested in doing in-house printing. The only catch is you have to print a certain number of pages/month for a 3 year contract, and purchase all supplies from Xerox. It really isn't free, but over 3 years, the supplies wind up costing about maybe $1500 and at the end of the 3 years, the printer is yours. I have 7 months left on mine.

Elephant
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

This might be a case where oursourcing your printing work is a good thing. You can save money sometimes by limiting the number of colors. Call around as print quotes are free.

m
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Having worked for a professional printer and done my own printing, I suggest you outsource.

You cannot produce the same quality at home (or office) for the price a few hundred copies at the local print shop. And remember, most of the cost is in the set up. So going from 500 to 5000 is usually little more than the cost of paper.

Printer's Son-in-Law
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

I'll second the recommendations for outsourcing your printing. The difference in quality is very apparent, and for the price of a decent printer you can already have the brochures done without the investment in labor.

Assuming that this is a full color brochure, unless you need more than a couple hundred copies you'll do best to find a local printer who can do four color offset litho. The cost per page will be significantly smaller and the product will be vastly superior.

Clay Dowling
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Care to offer any ballpark figures for using a service?

Also, how fiddly is it to give them something they can print easily? I get the feeling from reading bits and bobs in the design magazines that it's not as easy as just giving them a PDF with printers marks.

Yes, I'm generally aware of the difference between additive color and the RGB model us programmers think is the whole story. But I have never worked with a print house. (I'm kinda intimidated, rather like renting a film from a the video store that employs a legion of cool film connoisseurs -- ever fearful to say something stupid.)

Gary
Thursday, May 13, 2004

The quality of inkjet has gone up to the extent that it will give a much more professional look than color laser, but the cost of the ink will be exorbitant for a more than a few.

Stephen Jones
Thursday, May 13, 2004