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Looking for a printer

MikeMN

By MikeMN
in Plotters and Cutting Systems

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MikeMN

MikeMN

Posted
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I bid a job that requires printing, so I got a bid for this part of the job, I was quoted $5 grand, so I am thinking that it would be a good time to buy a printer, or at least look in to buying one.

So any of you have a printer that you would suggest for for me to look at ?... or some that I should take a look at...?

I would appreciate any help.

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TintJunkie

TintJunkie

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How many times have you done jobs that require printed film? If its rare, it would seem better to have someone else print it. Have you seen how much ink costs for a printer? I have only seen a Roland printer/plotter in action. Dont know what model it was but I think the guy told me it was somewhere around $12k.

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MikeMN

MikeMN

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How many times have you done jobs that require printed film? If its rare, it would seem better to have someone else print it. Have you seen how much ink costs for a printer? I have only seen a Roland printer/plotter in action. Dont know what model it was but I think the guy told me it was somewhere around $12k.

I have done many printed jobs and posted a few on hear in the past, I have no idea what ink costs and I have not checked in to it, that's why I posted this thread, to get input for others on hear that have a printer or have looked at them before.

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Slick

Slick

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Man...I can't see myself learning that technology at this point in the game. There is quite a learning curve on doing it well Mike. And the cost of inks and vinyls to get to that point...not to mention the time? To me it's just not worth it....expecially at the cost-to-trade we can get this stuff. I have been offered some really good deals on printers but have turned them down. Not worth the hassle IMO.

What software would you be using as well? How familiar are you with it? Will you have to hire someone to run that aspect of things? Printer is only one aspect. :thumb

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MikeMN

MikeMN

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Man...I can't see myself learning that technology at this point in the game. There is quite a learning curve on doing it well Mike. And the cost of inks and vinyls to get to that point...not to mention the time? To me it's just not worth it....expecially at the cost-to-trade we can get this stuff. I have been offered some really good deals on printers but have turned them down. Not worth the hassle IMO.

What software would you be using as well? How familiar are you with it? Will you have to hire someone to run that aspect of things? Printer is only one aspect. :poke

Not sure what software would be needed for a printer, right now we have a Graphtec FC-8000-160 plotter and what we use now is Photo shop CS3 and Adobe CS4 and the driver for the plotter is cut-master.

I would still out source some of the printing, the job that got me thinking on looking in to getting our own is Dusted Crystal with different shades of black lines printed on it, if we have to pay 5 grand to have that done I had thought that money would be better spent on buying a printer, even if it was just 1/2 of what a pretty good one would cost... :dunno

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Guest Infiniteoptiks StL

Guest Infiniteoptiks StL

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We have been printing decorative film for 5 years now and the process of converting a glass tinting business to a decorative film printing business is much more involved than you realize. I have invested well over $150,000 on printers, laminators, software and educated graphic design professionals we employ full time. We had to experiment with literally hundreds of printable products before we found the right combination of products to use for various projects and effects our clients wanted. Ink cartrages alone are over $100.00 each and the printer holds 8. Then you'll need a hell of a lot of customers to make the whole deal pay for itself. We employ 8 people to make it all work full time. My advise is to sell the printed film for a good profit and use a professional to print it for you. We sell to dealers all over the country that charge between $8 and $15.00 just for installation. If you buy it fully designed, laminated and ready to install it's much more economical. I'm not trying to rain on your parade but it's way more involved than you realize.

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TomTint

TomTint

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Mike, I have also thought about buying a printer and or laminator. We do more than our fair share of printed film. The cost of set up and software let alone ink. Wow. I know exactly how you feel. Invest the cost of that job into your own equipment and you may be ahead of the curve... I'm not sure that is all there is to it. But if I could be up and running for 25k ish, I would take a second look. Good luck

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APTINT

APTINT

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We've been doing vehicle wraps for about 2 yrs now, and after running some numbers, we were spending like 9-10k on outsource of just the printing....so needless to say we just bought a printer. It's expensive, but worth it if you have that anevue for your business. We got an HP latex printer 60", already had laminator and plotter. Latex seem to be the wave of the future as far as printers, check em out.

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