A typical digital inkjet printer can deliver photo-quality prints up to 8 1/2 x 11 inches—and that’s fine for low-volume home and small office use. But if you’re a professional photographer or have serious aspirations, you know that sooner or later, you will need to deliver bigger prints. Sure, you can order big prints online from places like AdoramaPix, but bringing large-format printing in-house may make sense. you can have complete quality control via color management tools, and can deliver the results the same day, rather than waiting for your prints to come from a remote lab.
Wide-Format printers are available with maximum widths between 17 and 44 inches; Canon, Epson, and HP are the top makers of wide-format printers. There are many factors to keep in mind:
1. Image permanence and quality
Wide-format prints are time-consuming 20×30-inch print could take as long as 10 minutes if printed in super-high resolution, for example) and expensive, so you want them to last a long time, and look great. Fortunately, all three printer makers are compatible with inks and papers designed to produce photo-quality prints rated by Wilhelm Research wilhelm-research.com to last 100 years in a glass frame, and longer in dark storage under proper conditions. Of course, if you’re printing a poster for a limited use, longevity may not matter as much as image quality.
2. Inks
Check the specs of different printers you’re interested in and find out what kind of ink cartridges they take, then compare pricing. Ink is expensive, especially in the larger cartridges that big printers require, so keep in mind that this will be an ongoing cost. Some printers take multiple cartridge sizes, others have fixed sizes.
The number of inks used by a printer effects the color gamut; a printer that takes a wider range of inks (11-12) will produce more saturated colors, while printers that take fewer inks will produce prints with less saturated colors. If you have little need for saturated color you may want to choose a printer that accommodates fewer inks. This will save you money both up front (the printers cost less) and ongoing (because you will have fewer ink cartridges to replace).
4. Color management
One of the advantages of your own large-format printer is that you have better control over color and overall image quality. Some high-end HP printers even have built-in spectrophotometers, which are used to calibrate the color on your printer for consistent results. You can (and probably should) create custom profiles, or use ICC profiles supplied by the manufacturer.
5. Size and weight
Wide-format printers are, as one would expect, bigger than desktop printers. Check the specs and make sure you have enough space for them. The big models can easily weigh over 100 pounds, so be prepared to lift–and be careful of your back!
6. Black and White Prints
All three wide-format printers are capable of producing high-quality black-and-white prints. Since they use multiple black and grey inks, you can be assured of a depth of tonality even if you don’t swap out color inks for black-and-white ones.
7. Cost
The bigger they are, the more they cost, but number of inks and maximum printing speed can also effect the cost of a printer. The most expensive models can cost as much as a car but can produce prints up to 64 inches wide., Be prepared to pay at least a grand, and 5 figures if you’re looking for printers that will produce prints 36 inches or wider.
But if you’re going for something a bit smaller…Did you know that the cost per print goes down if you buy a 17-inch print instead of a 11-inch printer? That’s because the cartridges are bigger, and don’t need to be changed as often, but the per-cartridge cost is not that much higher. This holds true if you make 8 1/2 x 11 prints on even larger printers. Just something to keep in mind.
Let’s look at nine top-rated wide-format printers. (Pricing and availability at Adorama is current as of September 10, 2015.)
Canon
Canon imagePrograf iFP5100
Adorama price: $1,649
- Maximum width: 17″
- # of ink cartridges: 12; pigment ink (Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow, Black, Matte Black, Gray, Red, Green, Blue, Photo Gray)
- Highest resolution: 2,400×1,200 dpi
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: NA
Other features: Built-in calibration, dual print head system, print plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, Digital Photo Professional; roll feed and top/front loading manual sheet feed.
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6450 Graphic arts Printer
Adorama price: $2,699
- Maximum width: 24″
- # of ink cartridges: 12 color pigment set(Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow, Black, Matte Black, Gray, Red, Green, Blue, Photo Gray)
- Highest resolution: 2400×1200 dpi
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: NA
Other features: Supports 130 and 300 ml ink tanks, sub-ink tank. 250GB hard drive for image storage during printing rather than working off a computer hard drive; Gallery Wrap feature; multi-sensor color densitometer for precise calibration, color.
Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8400 Graphic Arts and Photo Printer
Adorama price: $3,999.99
- Maximum width: 44″
- # of ink cartridges: 12 color pigment set(Cyan, Photo Cyan, Magenta, Photo Magenta, Yellow, Black, Matte Black, Gray, Red, Green, Blue, Photo Gray)
- Highest resolution: 2400×1200 dpi
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: NA
Other features: Color calibration management system, multi-sensor densitometer, high-speed printing, tint/tone adjustments, sub-ink tank system, 250G hard drive. Gallery wrap feature, Photoshop print plug-in, roll, and front-loading manual paper feed.
Epson
Epson Stylus Pro 4900
Adorama price: $1,795
- Maximum width: 17″
- # of ink cartridges: 10 or 11, depending on configuration; pigment-based (Photo Black/ Cyan/ Vivid Magenta/ Yellow/ Light Cyan/ Vivid Light Magenta/ Light Black/ Matte Black/ Light Light Black/ Orange/ Green)
- Highest resolution: 2880×1440 dpi
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: 2:46 minutes
Other features: HDR pigments; Pantone-certified to cover 98% of formula guide solid coated; reduced nozzle clogging, variable-sized droplets as small as 3.5 picoliters; built-in sensors align color channels with precision. Border-free printing on all roll paper sizes.
Epson SP7900HDR Stylus Pro 7900
Adorama price: $2,699
- Maximum width: 24″
- # of ink cartridges: 10 or 11, depending on configuration; pigment-based (Photo Black/ Cyan/ Vivid Magenta/ Yellow/ Light Cyan/ Vivid Light Magenta/ Light Black/ Matte Black/ Light Light Black/ Orange/ Green)
- Highest resolution: 2880×1440
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: 5:03 minutes
Other features: HDR pigments; Pantone-certified to cover 98% of formula guide solid coated; reduced nozzle clogging, variable-sized droplets as small as 3.5 picoliters; built-in sensors align color channels with precision. Border-free printing on all roll paper sizes.
Epson SP9900HDR Professional 44in Color Inkjet Printer
Adorama price: $4,999.99
- Maximum width: 44″
- # of ink cartridges: 10 or 11, depending on configuration; pigment-based (Photo Black/ Cyan/ Vivid Magenta/ Yellow/ Light Cyan/ Vivid Light Magenta/ Light Black/ Matte Black/ Light Light Black/ Orange/ Green)
- Highest resolution: 2880×1440
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: 15:26
- Other features: 360 nozzles per channel, border-free printing, uses Epson UltraChrome ink lasting up to 200 years in color, more than 200 years in B&W. Media bin captures multiple prints up to 44×36″, accurate loading of cut-sheet media up to 1.5mm thick, sensor assures precise color channel alignment. Weighs 285 pounds.
HP
Adorama price: $2,349
- Maximum width: 24″
- # of ink cartridges: 9 (Light cyan, light magenta, light gray, photo black, cyan, magenta, yellow, matte black), claimed over 200 year image permanence
- Highest resolution: 2400×1200 dpi
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: 2minutes
Other features: LCD operation, USB 2.0 High Speed & 10/100 BT Ethernet connection, roll feed accommodates paper up to 300ft. Takes 130 ml ink cartridges
HP Designjet Z540 44″
Adorama price: $6,595
- Maximum width: 44″
- # of ink cartridges: 6 (cyan, magenta, yellow, light gray, matte black, photo black)
- Highest resolution: 2400×1200
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: NA
Other features: 3 shades of black for good B&W image quality, Pantone color emulation, efficient ink usage, notifications of ink levels, firmware updates. Preview, crop & print PDF, PostScript, TIFF and JPEG files.
HP Designjet Z6800 Thermal Inkjet Photo Production Printer
Adorama price: $13,995
- Maximum width: 60″
- # of ink cartridges: 8 (Chromatic red, magenta, yellow, light cyan, light gray, light magenta, matte black, photo black)
- Highest resolution: 2400×1200
- Fastest print speed of largest size print: 2.1 minutes
Other features: Roll-fed paper, media thickness up to 22 mil, uses HP Vivid Photo Inks for wide color gamut, uniform gloss. 3 shades of black ink. Excels in B&W. Weighs 419 lbs.
