1. Color or black and white?
The choice of color and / or black-and-white large format printer mainly depends on what you expect from your output, what print speed and print reliability you need. For example, a color wide-format printer can print in black and white at about the same price as a monochrome printer, especially with smaller print volumes.
The choice between black and white or color has implications for how your users will use the printer. Analyzing what you need, depending on the type of print job you do, will help determine which one is the most economical in the end.
2. Costs
When you ask about the cost of a printer, you can get a lot of answers. The first and most likely answer will be related to the purchase price. Secondly, the current cost of the system will be taken into account.
While it is tempting, it is not reasonable to base your buying decision only on the purchase price. A cheap printer with expensive toner cartridges is actually a costly printer. And even when you estimate the current value, you are unsafe. You might think that you are getting a deal on the printer itself, but if your machine breaks down often or simply cannot cope with your demand for copying, then you will pay too much in the long run. Thus, hidden costs can completely change the picture.
To determine the return on this investment, you need to consider all the costs involved, since the printer is an investment in your workflow.
Initial investment: make sure you compare similar configurations and delivery terms. When investing in a new printer, it is worth considering the costs associated with switching to a new printer. Companies have hundreds of pounds of consumables in stock, which often cannot be used in a new system. Also installing new drivers takes time and therefore money.
Operating costs: The cost of a printer is the cost of consumables, the media and, ultimately, the service contract. These costs can be pre-determined by direct calculations. However, to carry out these calculations, you need to have access to relevant information. Vendors, as a rule, provide indicative figures that are not representative of your actual daily use of the printer, i.e., ink consumption calculations based on the fast & 39 mode; does not make sense if you always use the normal mode &. Most people use the normal & # 39; for any quality standards or due to convenience.
If the service contract does not cover spare parts or software updates, you should estimate the additional costs for the short and long term.
Hidden costs: The costs associated with the printing process itself, but less obvious for identification, include, for example:
Exit: if you print posters, photographs, technical documents or drawings, presentations, you will most likely choose a color.
3. Ease of use
When you think of wide format printers and ease of use, you can associate it with bright touch screens and a variety of features that come with it. But there is more ease of use than the widescreen printer user interface. Other factors to consider are the convenience of adding ink or toner, loading paper rolls, etc.
If loading paper rolls or loading complex print jobs is not so easy, too much time will be spent on these seemingly simple tasks. Not only will your employees be upset, annoyed and involved in “beating up the printer”. Worse, as a result of multiple typos, they can begin to show behavior that prevents the printer from working. Not exactly what you had in mind when investing reasonable money in your new wide-format printer.
When viewing and evaluating the user interface of a wide format printer, begin by considering how you are currently using or planning to use the printer. The decision on which type of user interface to use (touch screen or hard buttons) follows from the assessment.
Types of print jobs: Is the volume standardized or are the print jobs set for individual settings?
Standardized Mass: look for automation capabilities using templates.
Specialized print jobs: find opportunities to maintain complete control using simple ways to configure and set parameters. User interfaces with touch screens and hard buttons can work well.
Number of users: will the printer be used by several users or several specialized users?
Multiple users: find ways to automate print jobs. In addition to templates, make sure that the user interface does not require explanations.
Specialized users: these operators are used for a high degree of automation, but still need complete control to run complex tasks. The touchscreen would be a flaw in such an environment, since the operator must pay attention to which screen is active and find the &. 39 buttons. It has been proven that touching or feeling hard buttons allows the operator to monitor the process of printing and finishing, the quality of output and the feeding of originals.
Charging load: how convenient is it to load or exchange ink, toner and media?
Look for opportunities to exchange ink cartridges or refill toner during large runs.
Look at the number of rolls of media in the printer and see if they can be moved on the fly.
Ergonomics: what is the physical burden on the operator when working with a printer?
Replacing empty paper rolls with new rolls can be hard work; printer design helps the operator? Are printouts available for the operator, or do you need to bend and stretch to gain access? Is the operator panel at right angles?
4th floor
When you think of space, you tend to think of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional wide-format printer. Of course, these physical dimensions of the printer should be part of your consideration. Exact measurements can be found in the product specifications.
However, it may even be more important to consider the operational area. This is the space needed to make prints, copies and scans in the most efficient way and include, load media, collect originals, collect / sort prints, load originals for scanning and much more.
There should be enough space for processing and finishing prints, such as folding, wrapping and distribution. To facilitate access, it is necessary to store the toner and ink cartridges in close proximity to the printer.
It is important to balance the cost of space (£ / m²) compared to efficiency. The latter may be difficult to quantify. But in the end, there are significant consequences for not having enough space, such as:
Damaged prints because they fall to the floor. Damaged originals, because there is no space for processing A0 / A1 originals for scanning.
The cost of incomplete sets - for example, how do you measure the cost of a building site, which should slow down or even close, waiting for additional prints?
Many printers are present or advertised as a single-function, single-function solution. When viewing this, keep in mind the extra work space required for a full-featured large format printer. Sometimes a separate scanner may be the best solution, perhaps even in a separate space.
For optimal use of your area, consider one or two installations:
A single footprint - with the versatility that allows you to copy, print and scan.
Double track - with a separate scanner near your wide format printer (depending on your needs and workflow situation).
5. Image quality
Expressed in dpi (dots per inch and image quality are one of the first things that come to mind when you think about the quality of widescreen quality for high-quality photos. When printing, as large format interpreters, data is just as important as printing the technology itself.
When printing technical drawings, it is important that the dotted, thin lines be clearly printed. You do not want to lose information. The loss of the dotted line, which represents the electrical wiring at the construction site, can be disastrous.
Also, when you present concepts, images say more than words. Inadequate print quality can lead to loss of bid, order, etc. It is obvious that in this case, sufficient image quality is important for your bottom line.
When studying the quality of the image, consider the following:
Resolution and image processing: instead of looking at the resolution of a wide-format printer, consider how the printer interprets the data. The quality of this interpreter is especially important when you work with exact or dashed lines and detailed prints.
Quality and media dependence: for black and white wide format printers, no matter what media you use, the print quality is more or less the same. However, when using an inkjet printer, the quality can vary greatly. When printing on glossy or photo paper compared to regular paper, there may be differences in the color and quality of thin and thin lines.
Scanning technology: the first time the original is scanned. The task of manufacturers is to suppress the wrinkles and folds of the original design, while enhancing and maintaining weak information, such as pencil lines. There are certain differences in the quality of scanning technologies by different manufacturers of printers.
6. IT infrastructure
Most people associate security with modern antivirus programs on their computers. However, consider that wide format printers are an integral part of your IT infrastructure. This is especially true for printers with a USB port.
Protecting your widescreen printer begins. But it is equally important to protect your own intellectual property. Intellectual property such as actions, literary and artistic works, names, images and projects used in business can be extremely vulnerable to theft or damage.
Physical properties can be easily hidden from view or blocked for security. However, the data is very mobile and can quickly multiply. When digital data is stored on a network or on a hard disk; therefore, the protection of this network is crucial.
I hope you have never encountered a breakdown of your IT infrastructure caused by a virus, but you can imagine the consequences. Loss of information and loss of performance are inevitable. Equally harmful is the theft of your intellectual property. The commercial implications can be huge.
When choosing a wide-format printer, security concerns there have to be taken into account.
Position in the office: does the printer need a separate space or can it be placed next to the people who use it? Consider a trade-off between a printer closest to the potential health problems of your employees.
7. Options
Most people are trying to determine the large format printer that they will need in the next three years. However, since it is difficult to predict the future, consider how a large format printer can be adapted to changing needs if and when this happens.
Ideally, you are investing in a product that offers you a long-term solution. However, requirements change over time, and when your business moves to a new stage, your requirements may change. If you buy a feature now, because you think you might need it next year, you can throw away the money. On the other hand, if your needs have changed differently than you expected, you may need to pre-purchase a new printer.
The ability to update the fields: the following is recommended when studying the possibility of updating your wide-format printer:
Hardware: Can you add devices such as a scanner, folder, extra rolls for paper and extra working memory to the printer in the future? Also consider whether these updates can be made on the spot in your company.
Software: does the manufacturer offer firmware upgrades to remain compatible with new IT developments?
Service: Can you change your service contract, for example, a shorter response time, if necessary?
Funding for field upgrades: funding new upgrades can be cumbersome due to the need to approve investments. Keep in mind that leasing contracts can easily help you with administrative agreements.
Speed and performance: when evaluating the performance of a wide-format printer, you usually look at the speed of the printer specified in the specifications. However, the time it takes to send a print job to the printer and actually store the print in your hand is something completely different. Compare this to the maximum speed your car can make and the time it takes you to get to your local downtown shop.
It is important to optimize the performance of your wide format printer. To continue the analogy with the car: do not spend money on a Formula 1 car, when all you need is a car to get your products in the center of the city. Optimization does not automatically mean a faster printer.
Looking at the speed and performance of a large format printer, look further than the original specifications. To get a complete picture of printer performance, several factors need to be considered. If you have a continuous stream of documents, throughput is most important. If the machine is used randomly, the first print time should be short.
Short time of the first printout. Processing time: before the printer can begin printing, it must process the files so that they can be printed. Today on the market there are huge differences in processing capabilities in large format printers. Despite the fact that the size of the internal memory is an indicator, the proof is among the crunches.
Warm-up time: any machine, when it is not used for some time, will turn into sleep mode. However, when you press the print button, you expect the printer to start printing right away. In some cases, you can use a large format printer for a few minutes to print. Speed vs print quality mode: when using a black and white wide format printer, print speed is constant. This is not the case for inkjet printers. Print speed depends on whether you are using the draft mode or the presentation mode of a higher quality. This time difference can be more than 10 minutes.
Throughput: If you have a continuous stream of prints, make sure that the printer can process new files while printing previous ones (parallel processing).
Consider the time between pages as a factor in print speed: it affects drying time (inkjet only), roll changes, maintenance during print jobs, such as calibration, cleaning the print head during printing.
Today, consumers need to take a look at how their office equipment affects the environment. This includes waste, recycling, energy consumption and air emissions. It takes into account the equipment (or machine), as well as all consumables.
If we do not consider the environmental consequences of using our products, these solutions can lead to unnecessary costs and high energy consumption. Most importantly, the health and safety of your employees can be at stake. There is always a risk of indoor air pollution caused by food. emissions.
Waste: The first thing that comes to mind when people think of waste is ink cartridges or residual toner recycling. Usually this is your main focus. Но как насчет печатных изданий, которые не могут быть использованы из-за низкого качества, напечатаны в неправильном месте или просто потому, что отпечатки неправильные? Отходы могут также возникать в результате обрезки при загрузке неправильного размера носителя.
Количество образующихся отходов: сколько отходов составляют пустые картриджи или тонерные бутылки? Убедитесь, что емкость картриджа с чернилами или бутылка с тонером оценивает, как часто их необходимо заменить.
Плохое качество печати: сколько отходов создается в результате опечаток
Как часто вам нужно выбрасывать отпечатки из-за недостаточного качества или просто потому, что вывод не является тем, что вы хотели, чтобы принтер делал.
Отходы в результате обрезки: сколько бумаги вы выбрасываете в результате обрезки? Проверьте, не может ли принтер поддерживать различные размеры носителей, чтобы избежать ненужной обрезки.
Возможность повторной утилизации: при выборе крупноформатного принтера рециркуляция играет очевидную роль в области сбора чернильных картриджей и удаления остаточного тонера. Однако сам принтер также может быть переработан. Есть ли система для сбора старых чернил и картриджей с тонером?
Подумайте, будет ли в вашем случае сбор использованных чернильных картриджей воздействовать на окружающую среду больше, чем местное удаление.
Возможность повторного использования принтера: поддерживает ли производитель философию cradle-2-cradle, чтобы старые принтеры могли быть отремонтированы, повторно использованы или восстановлены?
Подумайте, есть ли у изготовителя принтера программа восстановления.
Потребление энергии: в технических условиях вы можете найти потребление энергии широкоформатными принтерами при печати. Однако, чтобы получить полную картину энергии, потребляемой принтером, хорошо рассмотреть, как машина используется в обычный день: какова фактическая энергия, потребляемая принтером?
Чтобы лучше понять потребление энергии на вашем широкоформатном принтере, оцените, как долго принтер, скорее всего, перейдет в спящий режим, как часто он будет использоваться в день и какой тип печати он делает.
Охлаждение: требуется ли охлаждение крупноформатного принтера?
Во многих случаях тепло, выделяемое принтером, должно компенсироваться энергией, потребляющей кондиционирование воздуха, что означает, что ваш счет за электроэнергию удваивается, и вы в конечном итоге платите дважды!
Излучение: некоторые широкоформатные принтеры создают шум, могут пахнуть (озон) и выделять тепло и пыль. Очевидно, что удобно разместить крупноформатный принтер рядом с его пользователями; это экономит время. Однако мы часто видим широкоформатные принтеры в отдельной комнате. Why is this? Является ли это площадью или защищает ваших сотрудников от выбросов принтера?
Шум, тепло, пыль и запахи: могут ли выбросы принтера привести к недовольным сотрудникам?
Подумайте, какое влияние на принтер влияет на широкоформатный принтер. Очевидно, что излучающий тепло, шумный, пыльный, вонючий принтер не собирается творить чудеса для ваших сотрудников. производительность.
Позиция в офисе: требуется ли принтер отдельному пространству или его можно разместить рядом с людьми, которые его используют? Рассмотрите компромисс между принтером, ближайшим к потенциальным проблемам здоровья ваших сотрудников.
При покупке широкоформатного принтера учитывайте отходы, переработку и потребление энергии принтера, поэтому заранее знайте, чего ожидать и что вы можете сделать, чтобы лучше обслуживать окружающую среду. Наконец, проверьте уровень выбросов принтера, поскольку принтер может оказать значительное влияние на ваших сотрудников. здоровье и безопасность.
