
- Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo full#
- Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo plus#
- Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo professional#
On the other hand there are attractive low-cost printers without built-in cutters. But it would be foolish not to have some sort of a cutting option as it costs so little more.” "If you want to print banners all day you only need a printer.
Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo professional#
John De La Roche, national sales manager of Hybrid Services, the UK’s Mimaki distributor, says: “For an entry level type person, if they are looking for a minimum investment into a true professional machine, I think it's print and cut device whatever the brand - obviously we'd prefer it was Mimaki!" Roland DG’s latest entry level printer-cutters are the TrueVIS SG series, with a choice of 30 and 54 inch widths. With its UK price of £6,510 (about €7,315), a 30 inch printer-cutter seems to be a better bet. Mutoh also has a compact “desktop” eco-solvent printer, the 24 inch ValueJet 628, but with CMYK only, without a cutter. Both will run a good deal faster than a BN-20, though you’ll have to pay a lot more before you can get a fast printer with white or metallic inks. It’s a good price, compact and very versatile, but the downside is that it’s not really a production printer: it is very slow in the higher quality multi-pass modes.įor another £2,000 you can get a 30 inch CMYK printer-cutter such as Mimaki’s CJV150-75 at £5,995/€6,750, or Roland’s SP300i at £6,999/€7,800).
Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo plus#
The inks are CMYK plus a choice of white or metallic silver (though theses are not interchangeable). This essentially a desktop machine, with a media width of just 20 inches (508 mm) and a footprint of 995 x 585 mm. Roland DG’s super-compact VersaStudio BN-20 printer-cutter is versatile but slow.įor the past five years or so, the smallest, lowest-priced roll fed solvent printer-cutter has been the Roland DG VersaStudio BN-20, with the same Eco Sol inks as the larger printers. These can be handled by standalone cutting machines, but our entry level category includes quite a few combined printer-cutter machines from both Mimaki (the CJV range with a choice of eco solvent or stronger solvent inks) and Roland DG (whose original VersaCamm models have recently been joined by the TrueVis SG models, which are 60% faster and use new quick-drying eco solvent inks). Very often “signage” large format inkjets are used for self-adhesive labels, stickers and decals (including lettering) that are cut to shape and applied to surfaces such as doors, windows, vehicle panels and so on. Small UV flatbeds can be had for below €15,000, but they are for small sheets of rigid media, or trays of phone cases and the like. UV-cured inks are used in some signage applications, but the lowest-cost wide format roll-fed models costs about £40,000 (€45,000). The choice at the lower price points is essentially eco solvent or a slightly stronger solvent equivalent, Latex (HP’s name for heat-activated resins in a water suspension), or hybrid solvent-UV (SUV). Inkjets with inks that print onto plastics are the most versatile all-rounders in the business.
Desktop vinyl printer cutter combo full#
That basically rules out most higher volume printing in markets that are already full of others doing the same thing, because they cut their margins to get the business. The obvious conclusion is to find markets that offer high margin for minimal equipment, labour and consumables costs. What matters more is running costs, in particular ink and compatible media, and even more important, the potential profit margin. Probably the absolute price doesn’t actually matter much, unless you are buying outright rather than with finance. What you’d consider entry level is largely up to you and your financial arrangements, plus where you are in the world, but here we’re considering roll fed inkjet printers that cost up to about £10,000 in the UK, which depending on fluctuating exchange rates is equivalent to just over €11,000 in the Eurozone or US $12,500. Here, we give a quick guide to some of the hardware options on the market. Say you’re thinking about setting up in digital sign and display printing, either as a start-up in a small way, or as an existing commercial printer or photolab company dipping a toe in a new market direction. Simon Eccles explores the wide choice of entry-level digital printers, with moving heads, high quality and varied prices.
