Printer Recommends Please

[Karriepie]

Hi all again and yes the problem for today is my printer. Bought a new printer a few months back and chose Epson because I had a couple of spare ink packs, anyway had nothing but aggro with it. It won't take vellum, that feeds straight through same with acetate although if I stick it to copier paper it works sometimes! Now the card stock I'm using is playing up sometimes it prints but takes loads of attempts to get it to go through. It is slightly more heavier stock but not that bad. The manufacturer is a fat load of help....not!! They won't guarantee any type of paper unless it's their own all of which appear to be photo weight papers. Phoned MCS to see which one Diane uses but the one they mentioned isn't available in the shops anymore. I just want a printer that'll be ok for crafting _ still havent tried my meltdust yet because of all this. Diane always quotes that she uses a cheap printer for £50 well can anyone give me a model type and number please before I lose the plot with this one and throw it in the river!!! Do any of your printers accept heavier weight cardstock? Thanks for any help guys

[sheilaj]

we have a canon, our third..not under 50 quid but superb

[Karriepie]

Does it take aceteate and vellum? If so what's the model and I'll have a look thanks.

[NikkyHall]

My printer is HP Officejet Pro 8000, about £80, just bought my 3rd one of these (using all 3!) this is a workhorse of a printer and will do vellum and card up to about 220gsm. Quality is awesome and I print a lot! carts are a bit pricey but you can get up to 1000 sheets out of a cartridge so it works out about 7p a sheet - have to say I get loads more than 1000 sheets as well, so it's much cheaper. It also does borderless A4 so if you want full size backing papers its great.
I would always recommend either HP or Canon, anything else is a waste of time to me :D

[Karriepie]

Thanks for the info will check out over the weekend, time to get this sorted once and for all

[Karriepie]

By the way any good on acetate?

[Pam]

I've got a Canon too, haven't tried acetate but vellum is fine.

[Karriepie]

Got quite a few projects to try out on acetate one being that magic slider card you know the one where it goes from black and white to colour? Daren't use my printer for that one.

[klw]

i have the hp 4480 (great deals on those in supermarkets, amazon and ebay) and always recommend compatible inks.
If you want to print on acetate, make sure you use the office type acetate where one side is slightly distressed in which it will "hold" the ink and allow a perfect print.
Also if you print from CD Roms or digital papers, try and use papers with weight in excess of 120gsm as it holds the colour well, wont drain your ink and nor will the paper buckle :)

[Karriepie]

Thanks got some great vellum and printable acetate but it's just that my printer doesn't recognise it and it just feeds straight through, the paper I print on is a textured matt type from The Paper Mill,fill a box for a fiver job and prints very well. I think Epson assume you're only ever going to print out photos and nothing else!!

[Craftyweebee]

I have a Canon MP140 (all-in-one) and have no problems with acetate, vellum, heavy card (300gsm), die cut studio etc. Cost me £39.99 but have just checked Argos and they now have it for £27.99 (typical!!) http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6704496/Trail/searchtext%3ECANON+PRINTER.htm

[Millburn]

I'm a canon girl too; and never had a problem, acetate, vellum; cheap paper, good paper :D


Mines an ip4600, I buy chipped compatibles :)

[craftycat]

I've got an HP F380. Never have any problems with card, feed heavy weight through the back now I have learnt the trick. I don't use acetate or vellum though, not my crafting taste.

[Karriepie]

Well Argos have sold out everywhere of the Canon MP140 will have to see what the other models are like, hubby will go mad if I get another one with the same problems!! Wish they would list all the types of card/paper stock that it'll take in the spec instead of a load of mumbo jumbo about the speed! It could take all day if I could get my one to accept what I want!! Back to the internet.

[Pam]

Mine is a Canon Pixma MP600 it's about three years old so I don't think they make them any more. I hope this isn't famous last words but it's still going strong.

Sorry you're having problems finding the one you want Karriepie.

[budgie]

I recently bought a Canon Pixma MP250 from Argos for £35. I have used it to print on vellum, no problem at all. Haven't tried acetate though. I haven't been able to find any compatible ink cartridges for it yet, but when you buy it at Argos, you get lots of £5 vouchers, one for colour, one for black for every month up until July 2011. So quite a saving on ink. Hopefully someone will produce compatibles by then. I am very pleased with this printer. I got better prints than I do on my Epson R240, which cost quite a bit more.

[Karriepie]

Thankyou, looks as though Canon is quite popular with you all, been looking on the net but still can't find much info in the specs about papermedia types etc. There has got to be a market for an all dancing all singing printer out there designed for us crafters! It does appear to be a problem I've discovered, that Epson doesn't come up to the mark in general with crafters, although I've found their print quality to be great so long as you use photo paper and not a lot else!! Somone mentioned a Canon Pixma MP640 anyone got one?

[Karriepie]

By the way Budgie, if you get a chance whack a sheet of acetate through and see if it works lol!! Oh my what a gamble all this is.

[budgie]

By the way Budgie, if you get a chance whack a sheet of acetate through and see if it works lol!! Oh my what a gamble all this is.

I haven't got any of the printable stuff!

[Karriepie]

Ok no probs bit cheeky of me anyway!! x

[Karriepie]

Is cardstock any good on it Budgie?

[Faeriescraps]

I've got a Canon MP 600 and I love it, my mum bought the Canon MP 630 which is very similar to mine and we haven't had any problems with them at all.

They both cost more than £50 as they are all in ones and received really good scores in tests which is why we got them. I have been using original inks but have got some chipped compatibles in the cupboard for when these run out.

The paper can be loaded from either the cassette or an auto sheet feeder, so you can use heavier card with the sheet feeder.

Hope this helps!

[Karriepie]

Oh thanks for the info

[budgie]

Is cardstock any good on it Budgie?

I have only printed on 160gsm cardstock and that was fine. I never print on anything heavier than that though.

[murchison]

I have the epson r285 that takes very thick card and i have the kodak which i don't rate and a samson lazer but its only a mono for foiling BUT THE EPSON IS GOOD

[Karriepie]

Thankyou so much to everyone who has posted advice, have a much clearer idea now as to which printer to go for just have to do a bit of sweet talking now!!! (if you know what I mean!)

[Shepherdess]

I've got an Epson SX515W printer, it takes vellum, acetate and even card up to 300gsm with no problem at all, I've always bought Epson printers and this is the first one that takes heavy weight card without any problem.

[Lindz]

At last!! Have found a printer that does it all, acetate, vellum and 300gsm (centura pearl) which prints beautifully, and the printer didn't flinch.

It is the Canon MP560, it cost £116 from Staples, I think you can get it for a few pounds less from Amazon, but the reason I like Staples is you can take it back within 14 days if it is not suitable, it was the third one I tried from them, and I did feel embarassed taking the other two back but the staff were lovely and said not to because they want you to be happy with it, pity PC World don't have the same attitude.

I chose the more expensive one because it has the three seperate colour cartidges, more enconomical in the long run. It copies and scans beautifully, dare I say I put a pre-printed page into the scanner, saved it as a JPEG, took it into MCS and was able to change it, and the copies on 300gsm was no different to the orginal, I know you are not supposed to do that, not that there is anywhere that says you can't, but I was experimenting. Well worth the cost of the printer.

[Pam]

That's great Lindz, I'm a big fan of Canon too (caught from my hubby who is a big Canon camera fan lol).

Can I be nosey and ask which other printers you tried?

[budgie]

Glad you finally got a printer that does what you want it to Lindz. I am a great fan of Canon too. Have tried the others, but the canon is the best.

[sheilaj]

yes Canon are superb and reasonably economical too

[Lindz]

PAM.
The first was an Epsom I think a 515, not sure, the next was a Lexmark. Both took heavy card but would not take the acetate. Wouldn't even accept it into the feeder. The Epsom chewed up vellum and I didn't try that on the Lexmark. I tried Canon because of the feedback on here, so thanks for that guys. My old Brother machine does vellum and acetate a treat, but it is starting to make some funny noises so it is on it's way out. Also the Canon is so quiet, I have printed loads of stuff and the inks in the test cartriges are still almost full. I am now going to have to do some serious crafting with all this stuff I have printed out, and will have to order in some more of the centura white, I usually use a satin finish but this is my new favourite, it prints beautifully, I found the irridescant was a bit faded no matter what setting I used.

[lilac froggy Jan]

Sounds like you have found the crafter's dream printer Lindz.
It is one of the ones I have been looking at so I may well give it a go as my HP drives me nuts at times. Also I'd like the wireless feature so that I can use it with both the desktop and laptop.

[Rentochops]

Wow not many forums where you can get advise from professional crafters! I have a HP too, it does most thing well! Tbh I do think even compatable inks are pricey!

[Alice3_2009]

My Epson DX4850 prints OK on both, but you may need to set it to draft so it pulls through quickly.

I put the printer on the floor so I'm dropping it in from the top. I use acetate from Inkylicious, whose product has a paper edge which you can peel off later. CC acetate would not work in my printer.

You could try a thin sheet of copier paper when you feed it through.

[Karriepie]

WOO HOO!!!! Taken the plunge and bought a canon pixma 640 absolutely fab!! All thicknesses of card and acetate too!! Wish I'd bought it earlier and saved a lot of grief.

[clevercat]

So glad you have found a good printer. I have just been reading this thread with interest as we have an Epson and I have exactly the same problems as you Karriepig. I also think the inks are expensive or don't go very far, same result in the end. I persuaded OH to buy compatible inks and it packed up when we tried printing with them. Sadly OH got it working again so back to expensive printing on what the picky little blighter deigns to accept. It's days are definately numbered now though.