Everyone loves a ranking list and here’s one from Tyson Buechler, director of Melbourne-based Total Image Supplies. It’s the six wide format printers that are the top sellers from his graphic supply business in 2017.
“Technology for wide format printers is only getting better. For creative professionals who rely heavily on high quality printed media to impress clients, you will not be disappointed with this list of the six best wide format printers in 2017," said Buechler.
“Affordable printers that have resolutions as high as 2880 x 1440 dpi, represent the trend of the future for creativity prints. Today the resolution is 2880, tomorrow its 4K. Who can predict what’s coming next year but rest assured, it’s just going to get bigger and better,” he said.
“Epson’s SureColor range, HP’s Designjet, Canon’s ImagePROGRAF, and Ricoh’s MP W8140 are our top sellers right now but who knows what we’ll be selling next year.”
- Epson SureColor P20000
The Epson SureColor P20000 has a good range of printing speed and quality, which comes in handy due to its flexibility of printing quick architectural blueprint drafts to superb quality exhibition-worthy prints. The Epson SureColor P20000 is capable of printing a width of 64 inches with a speed of 1311 square feet per hour. It has a maximum resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi, which is 2.88 million ink dots for every square inch. The strength of the Epson SureColor P2000’s high quality image delivery at high speeds is what makes it one of the best wide format printers this year.
- Epson SureColor T5270
The Epson SureColor T5270 has one of the highest maximum print resolutions for any wide format printer at an outstanding 2880 x 1440 dpi, which is almost 4.15 million ink dots for every square inch. At a significantly higher resolution, compared to majority of other wide format printers, the T5270 is able to produce richer colours with higher precision. The T5270 has a maximum print width of 36 inches with a printing speed of 740 square feet per hour. The only downside to this model is its limitation of only accepting no more than 0.5-mm media, which restricts its printing medium.
- HP Designjet Z5400
Unlike many of its competitors who are only able to hold one media roll at a time, the HP Designjet Z5400 is able to hold two media rolls that are up to 44 inches in width. There are other wide format printers that hold two media rolls at a time; however, these wide format printers often have a price tag between two to ten times the price of the Z5400. The maximum print resolution for the Z5400 is 2400 x 1200 dpi, which is decent. The Z5400 has a maximum printing width of 44 inches and a printing speed of 570 square feet per hour. The major downside to the Z5400 is its slow printing speed, which is noticeable when compared to the other wide format printers in this list.
- Canon ImagePROGRAF
The Canon ImagePROGRAF is one of the only wide format printers that have a maximum print resolution of 2400 x 1200 dpi, which guarantees exhibition-worthy quality prints. It has a maximum print width of 44 inches with a printing speed of 981 square feet per hour, which is decent. The Canon ImagePROGRAF uses pigment ink for black prints and dye ink for its colour prints, which may be seen as a downside due to dye-based prints not having a good longevity when compared with pigment-based ink prints.
- HP PageWide XL 4500
The HP PageWide XL 4500 is one of the fastest wide format printers available on the market with an outstanding printing speed of 4284 square feet per hour. It’s able to spool in less than 30 seconds and has the ability to draft print over 70 square feet per minute. This model has a maximum resolution of only 1200 x 1200 dpi, which is not that great for the creative professional and may be better suited for a corporate print job. The HP PageWide XL 4500 has a maximum printing width of 39 inches, which is decent. Unfortunately, the HP PageWide XL 4500 does not support borderless printing, which may be a deal breaker for those who do not have the time to supervise page clean-ups after every print job.
- Ricoh MP W8140
There is virtually no faster printer at a comparable price than the Ricoh MP W8140. It has a shocking maximum printing speed of 5040 square feet per hour, which is significantly more than the HP PageWide XL 4500. When it comes to technical printing, the Ricoh MP W8140 outperforms. The catch for its fast printing abilities is the absence of colour printing. The W8140 uses toner, which is limited to a monochrome output, which is in line with the W8140’s low print resolution of only 600 x 600 dpi. This printer is great for professionals who require fast mass output in black and white.