Choosing a printer...advice from DIYers?

[enbcfsobe]

FI and I desperately need a new printer. We print a lot of work stuff at home, mostly just text documents. I was all set on a black and white laser printer, but then I was thinking, what if I want to DIY my invites? I''m definitely a DIY-type of person, and while I don''t want to spend a big chunk of my budget on invites, I''d like them to be very nice and have something personal about them. The DIY thing isn''t set in stone, but I don''t want to spend a few hundred bucks on a printer that I absoultely cannot use to do invites. I''d appreciate hearing from anyone who has DIY''d invites -- what kind of printer do you need if you want to print black text on invites? were there features about your printer that you loved/hated? any tips on what to look for/avoid? Thanks!!

 

[neatfreak]

We looooooooove our black and white laster printer. It has really changed our lives compared to our old color inkjet.

I can't recommend them highly enough and as long as you're printing your invites in black ink, it will rock them.

ETA: We have the SAMSUNG ML-2510 LASER. It was originally $129 at Staples.com, but we got a $60 rebate back on it. It's a great printer so far. It's amazing how fast/easily I can print out my hundred page journal articles for school. I'm in love!

 

[AsscherGirl]

Another option is to go a Kinko''s or Staples and have them print the invites after you''ve designed them and done the layout and what not. My friend did this and it was really cheap to have it printed and she didn''t have to worry so much about ink smudging what not. They also cut the paper then to size for like $3.

 

[cara]

I don't think you should worry too much about printing invites on your new printer - your priority should be to get the best printer for your life in the long haul.

If the new printer works for the invites, great! If not, its not a huge expense to hire out the printing to some professional copy place. You can even pay them to do laser printing if for some reason you printer doesn't work. And it can save you a ton of hassle.

The two primary concerns are if the ink and paper you choose are compatible - most DIY invite kits use paper that claims to work with either inkjet or laser - and if the manual feed on the printer behaves properly for your invite.

but just cause paper claims to be laser compatible doesn't mean it will actually work with your laser. and envelopes are a whole nother ball of wax - i had so much hassle getting my STD envelopes printed that we happily handwrote the invitation envelopes in easily half the time.

ETA: Since you asked for advice, I'll say that of the three printers we used at various times (primarily for STDs, but also for test runs of DIY invites before sucking it up and letterpressing) the best was an epson C80 - a very nice high quality color inkjet that drinks ink and doesn't have many features. Prior to that, we tried an office-level Xerox Phaser 6250 color laser (which worked decent for some stuff but also jammed, tore paper, didn't have the greatest color registration, and barfed on cardstock and envelopes) and another epson, the cx3200, a multifunction inkjet which didn't have as nice print quality and, even though the feed thru was very similiar to the C80, didn't handle envelopes or cardstock very well.

 

[akw94]

I have an HP color deskjet which worked just fine to print my invites. I''d suggest buying a laser if you can afford it, but if not, there are many (like mine) that work well for less $.

 

[asscher_girl]

Hi Enbcfsobe - I''m not sure about a home printer, but we (sort of) did diy invites. We designed the invites and bought the paper from a place called Swoozies. They are a chain and I would check to see if they are in your area. Swoozies printed ours and they did an awesome job. I think the whole package cost us under $400. It may have even been around $350. We are having a small (destination) wedding but we also designed engagement announcements at the same time.

I think we purchased 200 announcements plus env, 60 invites and 60 reply cards w/ env.

They used 2 printing methods. They first applied the background flower in one type of ink (can''t remember the kind) and then they did the text over it on a second go around.

We haven''t done this yet, but we are also going to order thank you cards that will be designed w/ the same flower in mind. We don''t live near a Swoozies anymore but I will probably just do everything by phone the next time.

Attached is a pic of our invites. Sorry about all the white boxes, there was a lot to blank out for privacy purposes.

 

[ladyciel]

I too have a B/W laser printer at home and it has been a godsend. I have the Brother HL-5140 and it has NEVER jammed. Ever. Promise. It''s fast as a whip and the quality is great, even on images (though they are in black and white). The drum and toner cartridges are separate, which makes it cheaper to replace the toner, something I haven''t had to do yet almost 2 years in. My dad has been buying Brother printers for ages and there''s good reason he keeps doing so. The printer before this was an HP laser and I hated it. Out of the box it had issues that had me calling tech support the day after x-mas (I got it as a gift), which meant my warranty coverage start date got recorded. Next x-mas I came home from visiting family and.....the printer died 3 pages into the first thing I tried to print. (Exactly 1 week after the 1 year warranty ended.) The HP laser printer at work is a business version, and it has issues 24/7. Jams constantly, thinks it''s out of paper when it''s not, and even when it works it''s terribly slow.

I hate to encourage such a consumerist approach, but considering how often you see "free printer!" deals with another purchase or after rebates, you may just be able to get a small inkjet when the time comes to do your invites (assuming you don''t want to go to a print shop for the printing). The cartridges for ink jets are typically so small yet so expensive (especially for color) that they aren''t practical if you do more than a few pages of printing each month. A good laser printer will last you years and is much more enjoyable to use for most things.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 7/5/2007 3:40:09 PM
Author: *~*Danielle*~*
Another option is to go a Kinko''s or Staples and have them print the invites after you''ve designed them and done the layout and what not. My friend did this and it was really cheap to have it printed and she didn''t have to worry so much about ink smudging what not. They also cut the paper then to size for like $3.

Even better AND cheaper go to a local print house (Sir Speedy type places). Better prices, faster, and better customer service. I would not cheap out on a printer and unless you have one that can do a great job, send it off to the professionals.

 

[enbcfsobe]

thanks, gals! you gave me some great options if my printer doesn''t cut the mustard on invites!! given the cost of toner and the added hassle of worrying about messing them up, I may look into those either way.
after some research, I ordered a Samsung ML-3051ND monochrome laser with duplexer. It came down to that or a similar Brother model, but the Brother pulled a lot more electricity, and we''re dealing with some electrical system issues in the house already. I''ll let you know how it goes!!