Volume Printing

Glort

I'm looking to do some volume printing for a new endeavor and wondering what is available out there.


I am looking at a bit over 3000 A4 prints a week to start with and would like capacity to go to maybe 6000 a week.

To start off with I'd like to be able to set up 4-8 printers I already have. I know about printer pooling but just wondering if I have it working right.
The way it prints for me is to print each batch to one machine and the next batch ( rather than print to the next machine.

To clarify, If I have 10 prints and 4 machines, the one printer will print all 10 images.
If I then ask for another 10 images they will go to the next printer etc.
Is this the way it normally works because I had a different impression.

Also wondering what is the best way to set up a heap of inkjet printers?
I'd like to have 4-6 running at once to cut print time.
I have 6 of one make and model and 3 of another.

Should I attach them to a server and let it handle them (is this print server?) of should I put a couple on different machines and print through the network?

Are there any high volume Inkjet type printers out there made for this kind of output or am I looking at a Chemical/ silver process for those sorts of numbers?

Zerodog

The printer selection will depend on the size of print you want. I am guessing you don't want to cut these prints either. Ink volume will be a very important factor in economy for this. I love the economy of the epson 4900 I have. But I hate that it will not do borderless cut sheets and will not print 5x7 or 4x6 cut sheets. WTF epson! The 4900 is pretty fast especially with cut sheet paper. Coming off the roll has been a blessing and a curse. It is cool to crank out cut borderless 8x10s. But, it sucks that they are curled. I can't stand uncurling them. I am going to cut sheets for 8x10s now just centered on 8.5x11.
A cheaper epson that has pretty good ink volume is the new 3000.
I have no ideas about printer configuration like you are talking about.

Glort

I hadn't thought about the roll paper being curled. A good insight to be aware of, thanks.
As for ink, I use bulk ink so it isn't a problem and over the last 2 years, haven't had a problem with it.
I'm printing sheets with multiple print sizes on most sheets and giving them to the clients that way like school photos.

Zerodog

For sure stick with sheets. Uncurling is a bitch. I have 8.5x11 in my printer now and am just printing 8x10s with borders. It is so much faster and easier. I thought roll paper would be killer. I just didn't think about the curl. It isn't so bad with a big print. 16x20 hardly is noticeable.

If you can live with 8.5x11 not full bleed. Or some other size cut sheet. Look at the 4900. It is supposed to handle high volume well. You can load 100 cut sheets at once. Even 17x24" Not many printers will do this. You can also have roll paper loaded at the same time and switch back and forth. It will also auto cut off the roll. This is limited though. I thought it would be so cool for printing my biz cards. Nope. Seems like the minimum cut is somewhere around 7 inches. It is a fast printer too. In the US there are some serious rebates going for it too.


On the flip side you could buy a few epson 3000s for the price of a 4900. Not sure how many cut sheets it will load at once. Or if the build quality will handle the volume.