What Is a Wide Format Printer?

What Is a Wide Format Printer?

A wide format printer is a class of printer that can print widths from 17 inches to 100 inches and wider. These wide format printers are often used to print large posters, announcement banners, and other large format signage. They may be more economical than other methods such as screen-printing.

Inks used by wide format printers

Color Printer

Wide format printers utilize several technologies that may be grouped according to the kind of ink used. Thermal wide format printers use inks that are aqueous (water-based). There are two main kinds of aqueous inks: dyes and pigments. Dye inks have high color but low UV resistance. They also offer the widest range of available colors. Pigment inks generally have duller color but can better withstand fading from UV rays. This is important to consider if your prints will be exposed for long periods to the sun. To overcome this, it is recommended that finished prints from thermal wide format printers be laminated if they are going to be used outdoors. This will preserve the color quality of your prints. One well-known brand of thermal wide format printer is the Canon imagePROGRAF iPF9000S.

Factors to consider when choosing wide format printers

There are many factors to look into when selecting what brand of wide format printer is fit for your needs.

One is the speed of the printer. In informal comparison tests, the HP DesignJet Z3100 is almost twice as fast as the Epson Stylus Pro 9800. If speed is an important consideration for you, then HP is your choice.

Another aspect that you may want to look into is the ease of use. Different brands of them have different user interfaces. The HP DesignJet Z3100 has an easy to understand front panel interface. Its utility software earns a high rating in user-friendliness. On the other hand, the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 is not as user-friendly, but the Help documentation and the user manual provided with this printer is comprehensive.

You may also want to look into the monochrome performance of your printer because of the increasing popularity of black and white photographs. The HP DesignJet Z3100 prints neutral monochromes. In comparison, the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 have higher quality monochrome prints which are warmer. In terms of the smoothness of tonal transitions, highlights and shadow details, both wide format printers excel.

Aside from these quality factors, other factors you may want to consider are reliability and dealer service. These are especially important as you want to have printers that are operational 99.9% of the time and in the instance they break down, you want to have service as quickly as possible. Also, don't forget to compare the ink economy of the different brands. If you are running a print shop, you want to use the least amount of ink to achieve your desired level of color quality.

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