[printsfordays]

Hi everybody, at our shop we use an old HP laser jet to print film positives but it is finally time for an upgrade. Our laser printer is old enough that we had to use serial port adapters to keep it printing from a modern computer (aka windows 10, corel x8)

We have had enough with the adapter and having to deal with pieces of artwork getting lost in digital translation so we are ready to splurge on a new printer.

I've got a few different setups in mind but I was wondering what you guys would buy? Lets say I can spend up to 2000 on the printer, cartridge upgrades, inks or rip software but I'm not simply trying to max out my budget but to get the sensible long term option, cause this thing is going to be ran a lot for a long time.

Thanks,

printsfordays

 

[printsfordays]

Bought an epson artisan 1430 with no rip and stock ink.

 

[mustangFWL]

I would highly recommend this...

https://www.cobraink.com/store/#!/C...IS-All-Black-Ink/p/69143521/category=20391254

Its going to save you a ton of money and time with printing your films!

 

[gardenhillemb]

Espon 1430 printing on waterproof film. We just use the standard cartridges. You can buy them directly from Epson with free shipping.

 

[printnutz]

What film are you using? Any tricks to getting dark prints? How is the print speed?

Thanks!

 

[printsfordays]

I'm using tech support waterproof film. 75 bucks for 100 sheets at 13 by 19. I am using the stock ink cartridges and they print plenty dark and my films come out dry to the touch.

Don't listen to all this bs that you need some rigged up ink system to produce dark film positives. Just buy a 1430 some waterproof film, set your paper setting to premium glossy photo and start printing!

Ive been burning perfect screens from film positives produced on a laser printer for years and let me tell you, the 1430 produces much darker film positives. Its almost laughable you can get this quality for 350 dollars.

 

[printnutz]

How long does it take to print a full front or back? My experience with inkjet years back was that it took 5+ mins. I'd hate to have to burn hours printing out films.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated!

 

[printsfordays]

Id say less then a minute for a regular sized full back or front. If it takes longer, there is always a way to be productive while you printer is working for you

 

[rossbennett]

For what it's worth: We had a similar situation in the last couple of years. Very happy with our laser print workflow, no desire to deal with inkjet aggravations. But we also do our halftoning with the PostScript interpreter in the printer. Replacing that was the nightmare. Software RIPs are expensive and fragile compared to in-hardware interpreters. (I've never had to pay to upgrade the postscript interpreter, and never had it stop working because of OS updates/upgrades.)

When we realized our old laserjet 5200 needed more than new rollers, we looked at options for new. Large format laser with a PostScript interpreter was pricey. But a refurbished 5200 just like the one we'd been so happy with was available for about $850 including shipping. Came with a 90-day warranty. I just realized this week that was more than two years ago and the refurb hasn't missed a beat and will probably keep working for years.

A local school print shop saw how much we got out of that approach that their newly-refurbished one arrives on Thursday. Like us, they got it off Amazon from a refurbishing house. Hundreds of positive customer reviews and a warranty to go with it. Amazingly, still around $830-860 depending on options.

So you might like to check out some of the new offerings, but keep that in mind as an option.

 

[Mister Demeanor]

We used a laser back in the day. Didn't much like it as it would distort images due to heat.

I don't know about the Epson 1430 other than it retails for $349.99

For the last three years, we've used an Epson WF 7010 with standard inks and inkjet transparencies.
Prints 13X19 sheets with great results. The best thing is, it's price is half of what the 1430 is.

 

[printsfordays]

Hey Ross I am also looking for a laser to replace our old one to print jobs that dont require critical registration and to generally save money. Laser is undeniably cheaper to operate than an inkjet as you probably know.

I had looked at all those refurbed lasers on amazon but was scared off. Just the though of dropping 800 for a refurb seemed a little much but if its still running for you two years later thats pretty sweet.

Mind me asking what dealer you went with on amazon?

 

[JamieLampert]

I would suggest the cobra ink system and the accurip software. you need to be able to control in density and your dots or halftone jobs will not come out right.

 

[printsfordays]

I was debating on purchasing the ACCU rip software. Would you say it is relatively user friendly?

 

[JamieLampert]

I was debating on purchasing the ACCU rip software. Would you say it is relatively user friendly?

I have been using accurip for years. It works flawlessly. Easy to install and use. All you do is install the printer driver, install accurip, then use the config wizard in accurip to connect the printer to accurip. you can control halftones and ink density and many other things through accurip. I would also suggest the cobra CIS system for your printer. Accurip works with a a lot of printers not just the Epson 1430. I do believe it has to be and Epson though