I have been receiving a lot of emails recently about what printers I suggest. My favorite has always been Epson's and I have 7 Epson's in my studio. Why so many? Because they all have different reasons I use them.
Well of course I have my largest and favorite is the Epson 7890. Beautiful machine and once you figure out the quirks with printing alternative surfaces it is smooth sailing, a pleasure to watch as it prints and even better are the results. This printer prints 24" wide and is around 225 pounds on the palette when it is delivered, so this or the larger printers take some room and you will need help setting them up.
The 7890 will print a paper thickness of 1.5mm. Epson Ultra Chrome K3 ink with Vivid Magenta pigment ink.
The next one down from that is my Epson R3000 (printing beverage cans in the photo). This is a wonderful art printer work horse. If I don't need the wider width of the 7890 this is my next go to printer. Again this is a beautiful machine and has never given me any problems. It is also the printer I ship to workshops and it has survived students from all over the place and printed constantly for hours at a time in the classroom. I print all my beverage cans on this one and there is no noise that could be scary. Some of the reason I can print beverage cans is the paper thickness. This printer will print a paper thickness of 1.3mm thick around poster board thick. I always measure my paper thickness before printing.
This printer uses Epson UltraChrome K3 with Vivid Magenta- pigment ink.
The Epson R3000 is my choice for entry level art printer. They have sales on this and the other wide format printers from time to time that could save you some money.
So from there I have some regular Epson printers which I will tell you about in a minute since they are not in the class of the above 2 printers.
The next 2 printers currently on the market in the stylus photo wide format printer category. I have not owned one of these printers, but they are a bit less money, so you may want to check them out if the R3000 is more then you want to spend.
The Epson R2880 would be my choice after the R3000. It was the printer of choice before the R3000 came out. It has the same inks that the R3000 has and will print a paper thickness of 1.33mm just like the R3000. The 2880 will take roll paper and print the same as the R3000 13" x 44". So if you want to save some money it would be the one to get.
Next is the R2000- the ink is different then the other 2 R Epson printers. It is Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 pigment ink. Again the paper thickness is 1.33mm so the last 3 printers are all the same for that. I have never printed with either the R2880 or the R2000. I have clients and friends with the R2880 and they have never complained to me about the printer. I think the differences would be with the feel for the printer when you use it. If you are looking for this class of printer that will print 13" wide and 44" long, it could be a toss up between the 3 of them.
Both the R3000 and the R2000 are wireless and I love that feature on my 3000. One of the nice things about the 2000 over the 3000 is the change from matte black to photo black. In the 3000 to switch from glossy to matte of vice versa, you have to purge the other black ink from the lines. it takes ink and time. In the 2000 both black inks are ready to use.
If it were my choice I would choose between the R3000, R2880 and the R2000 I would take either the 3000 or the 2000 since both of them are later models than the R2880. The 2000 being the less expensive of the 2. There is a good article on comparison of these 3000 and 2000 on the
Red River Paper site that will give you all the things you want to know in comparing the printers.
Now if you are not into spending the money for the big printers and you really want a cheap Epson, like in the $50.00 range plus you want to do some alternative surface printing. Oh and you don't care if it will print 8.5 x 11 at the largest. Pick up one of the NX 430's. It's a small in one which means it scans, prints, copies and is wireless.
Funny but I really like this printer and it has gotten horrible reviews on the internet. People say they have trouble with thicker paper and I print alternative surfaces.
The print you see just above is on cheesecloth skin. The skin is on a carrier sheet. I have printed fabric the same way. Also metal mesh. The color is fine with the DURABrite Ultra ink pigment based. I will use this printer at workshops to do little projects, but always for my several day digital printing alternative surfaces workshops, I use my R3000.
Next the Epson 1100 Work Force will print 13" x 19". It has the same ink as the NX430. I print metal mesh, cheesecloth skin and printers plates on this printer as well as fabrics. As for both the NX 430 and the 1100 you can't depend on a thicker paper. If you use inkjet paper for a carrier sheet and make you surface conservatively the surface will print. There are no custom sizes in these 2 but the price is right. They will not give you the color of the wide format printers above them. I have them so that I can teach people who aren't going to get an art type printer how to print alternative surfaces in their printer level.
I have not used any of the printers in the Epson Artisan series. They use dye inks like the 2 small format printers I own the PM260 Dash and the PM225 Charm. Dye inks tend to fade. Pigment inks stand up.
If you want to do any type of quality printing on alternative surfaces. Your best bet is to do the entry level of the R2000 and even better is the R3000 especially if you like to print black and white.
You can always contact me about printers, but right now this is pretty much what I would tell you.
All except that if you notice these are all direct pass through printers. You will definitely need that to print alternative surfaces. And don't forget, whatever printer you buy you will be able to learn how to manipulate it for your purposes.
