Borderless Printing
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- gavin310
I want to print our letterhead borderless on standard plain inkjet paper. Does this depend on the printer or the paper? Judging from my printer's settings, it can print borderless on photo paper or high quality matte paper. I tried using the high quality matte paper setting and it used too much ink for plain inkjet paper, resulting in ink blots and whatnot. Any ideas? I'd rather not go to a print shop to do this...
- detritus0
Printer...? What've you got?
- detritus0
Have you not experimented with the different settings? That's what I spend the first couple of days doing when I get a new printer. Just because it says 'photo glossy' doesn't necessarily mean that's all it can do. Unless you're sticking thick card are stickers through, it's pretty hard to break your printer - so go wild.
- gavin3100
It's just one of those throw away printers that come free when you buy a computer. It's an Epson CX7400. I'm sure it's a decent printer though. I'll play around with some settings. I've just had problems in the past where I used a setting that uses too much ink and the ink gets all over the place inside the printer.
- brains0
What's wrong with going to a print shop?
- gavin3100
Once we get a final letterhead we'll go to a printer... it's a new company so there's always a chance the phone number, fax number, suite number, etc. might change. Hopefully not, but we need to make sure not to waste any money :)
- brains0
Even just 10 digital copies? C'mon that's like 6 bucks, not bad for startup costs if you ask me.
- gavin3100
I figured they had a minimum of like 1 million or something ;)
- brains0
Well, offset yes, you'll want to do 500+ but if it's a matter of 10 copies you can get digital prints done on one of the new digital production presses.. Not as nice as offset, but pretty damn good for short run.
- detritus0
I don't get your logic (or lack thereof), Brains? in three business I've run off all our stationery in-house - I don't see what advantage there is in outsourcing the relatively small quantities of cheap printing? If you're talking about a correspondence-heavy company with loads of employees, then obviously it's better to get someone else to do it - but otherwise?
- you really expect him to print his inhouse stationery off of a printer that came free with the computer? i can understand a laserjet (maybe) but.. no, not so much.antigirl
- Depends on how much he needs and how good the printer is? All I mean is - my first port of call wouldn't be a 3rd party.detritus
- heh. bloody word limits.detritus
- brains0
I think printing your correspondance and stationary on a $20 inkjet printer is just not professional in my opinion. It would be different if he was working with a higher end machine, but seriously it's like handwriting your resumé, especially with the ink blot issues he's having, It would be beneficial for him to work with a dry ink process.
- detritus0
Hmm. Ok, if the printer's that crappy, then fair enough.
I just think that, when starting a business up, there are certain concessions that should be made.
I guess I hadn't factored in the ink costs on a cheap-ass printer either - I've always had quite good ones. My bad.
- yeah, exactly, even if he had a medend laserjet,i think it'd probably be okay .but this printer doesnt sound good at all.antigirl
- brains0
I think if anything when starting a business, one of the most important things to convey is professionalism. Printing your stationary on an inkjet at home does not convey professionalism.
I think because correspondence and stationary is often one of the first things a new prospective client will see, it's should reflect your brand and I don't know about you, but do you want your brand to say "I made this in my basement, here's your $5000 quote." ?
Nope, me neither.
- detritus0
Meh, I think you're overstating the case too much - most modern printers actually do a half decent job of things. Once you've got good paper and a good design on it, most clients really wouldn't really be able to tell.
Especially if this guy's starting off with a $20 printer - we're not talking the most discerning or anally-retentive of blue chip clients.
I'm not saying it's a forever solution - just that he could save a lot of money in the short term by DIYing it.
- detritus0
OK. just had a look at the guy's portfolio. Scratch my last comments - I can only say now - what the fuck is he doing fretting about a bloody $20 printer? ffs man - buy yourself a decent printer! :)
- antigirl0
yeah, he should probably invest in an inhouse laserjet anyway, would be cheaper than getting that stuff made.
that lexmark 530dnn is outta control and it's only 500 bucks.
- gavin3100
Don't worry we'll be getting a good printer :) This is really just for the short term and for comp purposes. I wanted to do full bleed letterhead comps and was having issues. I managed to get rid of most of the ink blots using the Photo Paper setting, but it's still a little inky... ahh well it'll work for now. I do want a nice laserjet when we have some excess operating capital.
- horton0
time is money.
- becauseimjay0
printers are nice