• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Suggestions Recommendations of home office printers that do stickers/decals?

newguy96

New Member
Honestly you could probably get a decent toner based printer and just buy label sheets from Online Labels.com. We still buy materials from them sometimes to run on our digital presses because you can buy precut sheets of labels by the sheet, which can be a lot easier and more cost effective for short runs of custom jobs.

Inkjet won't give you the durability you need for outdoor.

Any brands/model numbers of "a decent toner based printer" is all I need. Way too many to sift through the fine print to find out which ones will work with stickers/decals. Thought my B&W laser printer (Brother HL-L6200DW) would, but turns out it don't like stickers, and will jam at any opportunity. If I cough up the money for a color laser printer, it will be just for stickers, so it has to work.

Already know of where to buy label sheets (vinyl, mylar, and polyester), ink, automatic sticker cutters, etc. Only thing holding me back is the printer.
 

newguy96

New Member
$500 is tight.
if he goes to ebay, and is careful (& lucky)...
epson inkjet prints on vinyl (buy it new, printer like this are like cars, no one sells because it is running too smoothly)
last week i bought a roland sticka 8 on ebay for $149. works like a champ.
liguid laminate from harbor sales, or
https://www.amazon.com/Xyron-Applic...0&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=yescom+cold+laminator

in fact, why not
$200 for an epson 7600 ultrachrome
$135 for a yescom $24" cold laminator
& something like my gerber tempo 600 i paid $200 for on ebay

realistically, a $750 budget allowing a couple hundred for supplies

i keep an ebay search list i run EVERY DAY (then all the same items on craigslist.org)

it wouldn't be my perfect setup, if he threw caution to the wind & upped the budget to $1000 i might have different recommendations.

The $500 limit is on the printer itself. Think home office...not printshop. I have no room for a giant printer. This is strictly amateur, not pro. I'm looking to do stickers/decals, not posters, so unless there is something I'm not understanding, I see no use for an expensive wide-format printer. Epson brand is a good start. Any model numbers known for being okay with stickers, within budget, and not taking up half my office space?
 

newguy96

New Member
Y'all do realize that he is planning on switching platforms? Some of these printers suggested (while may be good suggestions given the budget) will not exactly yield the same results once he switches platforms (if he still does switch)? Some of the printers won't have drivers written by the vendors, as such, they won't have the same level of versatility as they would given the effort that vendors put in to making them work on Windows and Mac.

That means the OP better be planning on re-thinking this question when he totally migrates over to the new platform.

For those that suggested cutters, any type of cutter would more then likely have to be manually configured unless it's available in the Inkcut plugin or a Cameo (that seems to have been specifically targeted in it's own plugin). While CoCut works in Inkscape, I don't know if it works on the Linux variant. So any cutter that he does get, he would need to make sure that it works within that plugin for easiest transition. Otherwise, it's manual configuration and then setting up the file manually to have the cutter do all the specialty functions that a driver would normally automatically handle (overcut etc)

I'm just now slowly teaching myself MX Linux, and not even started on GIMP. Linux is years away. XP Pro is now, and for the foreseeable future. The printer I buy today maybe long dead by the time I can make stickers using Linux, and I might be ready to upgrade to an expensive pro printer by then. I'm focused on today. Today I need a printer that uses XP Pro, prints stickers/decals without jams or problems, $500 or less, etc. Let's focus on the brands/model numbers of possible printers. If I need help with laminators, cutters, etc., that can be dealt with in another post.
 

newguy96

New Member
my point was that is entirely possible, on a $500-$750 budget to be in a position to print/cut labels with equipment that runs on xp. WHICH IS WHAT HE ASKED FOR. the migrating to linux is not my ax to grind. if we chooses to go ahead with one of my plans, i will offer my help in anyway i can (done this many times)

there are plenty of ~$200 plotters on ebay. they may need some maintenance & cleanup (we call this "sweat equity") if it has to be absolutely turnkey, my ideas will not work for him. then you guys are right, impossible

I would much appreciate recommendations of brands/model numbers of home-office printers that fit all (or most of) the requirements. Again, lets focus on the printers, and leave all else for later. One hurdle at a time.
 

netsol

Active Member
others may defense sagree, but i would go samsung.
the thing with stickers or labels i always do full sheets.
many of my clients , being penny wise & pound foolish, will try to run a partial
label sheet through a 2nd time.once the sheet has contacted the fuser (400 degrees) once a partial sheet will wrap around some internal part & jam.

Full sheet only & buy a 3rd party warranty square trade?)
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Cutters, quills, fitches and One Shot are well within your modest budget. All you need is 20 or so years to make the magic happen. As a matter of fact, Mack Brush is just up the road from me. I'll buy you a cup of coffee if you're ever in this neck of the woods.


JB
 

player

New Member
I am looking for a 45' aerial crane truck. I have a budget of $850. I am not a professional, but I would like to do the work of a professional with a budget of $850. I see no reason to pay what everyone else payed to get into this business.
 

netsol

Active Member
player, his request is not completely unreasonable.
actually i tried to turn it into an engineering project
i have been accused of that before

i can understand wantingto print stickers, even if he doesn't intend to sell them
 

player

New Member
player, his request is not completely unreasonable.
actually i tried to turn it into an engineering project
i have been accused of that before

i can understand wantingto print stickers, even if he doesn't intend to sell them
I want an electric car for $40 bucks, but I am not going to automotive engineering websites and asking them about it. Maybe Pinterest...
 

ikarasu

Active Member
Color laser looks like crap. And the color Gamut is equally so. Laser printers are meant as a cheap way to print "ok" quality prints, not photos or anything I'd call acceptable for a decal.

Inkjet is OK... But you run into durability issues. But for $500, you have no choice.

Inkjet ink is super expensive. Some manufacturers are Coming out with huge tanks to try to canobalize sales away from lasers - one good one I've seen is the
Epson et 3700.

These printers are made for paper though... You can run sti ked stock through the., but it's unrealistic to expect it to work perfectly. You'll likely get jams on occasion.

People here pay between. $25,000 to upwards of 250,000 for a printer. You can't budget $500 and expect perfect results... For $500 you'll have to live with jams and expensive media.
 
Top