The state of home printers in 2022

[becceric]

How is home printing doing these days?
I’ve had the Canon PixmaPro 9000 and 100 on a Mac. While the results can be great, I used to spend excessive amounts of time tracking down error messages and waiting interminably long for the printing to start. I don’t have go into the 8 different tiny ink cartridges drying out or going empty on a repeated basis.

What do fellow forum members currently enjoy printing with?

 

[dolina]

Personally I'd outsource it to a professional printer then have them postal it back to me.

 

[bhf3737]

I am using Epson P900 17-inch printer casually and that is what I think is good enough for me.

 

[Sporgon]

Personally I'd outsource it to a professional printer then have them postal it back to me.

For people who like to print their images it’s neither a practical or satisfying solution. I guess the vast majority of even keen photographers don’t print their images now - they are missing out, although when doing it to a high standard it’s expensive.

 

[Sporgon]

I am using Epson P900 17-inch printer casually and that is what I think is good enough for me.

For desk top printing I changed from Epson to Canon. Got sick of blocked nozzles and so far the Canon is spot on in this regard. Maybe Epson have improved the blocking issue with the likes of the 900.

 

[becceric]

Thanks for the responses. I just opened a new 8 pack of ink cartridges last night, so I’m going down the rabbit hole again.

 

[becceric]

For desk top printing I changed from Epson to Canon. Got sick of blocked nozzles and so far the Canon is spot on in this regard. Maybe Epson have improved the blocking issue with the likes of the 900.

Sporgon, if you don’t mind telling me, which Canon printer did you switch to, and what operating system are you using?

 

[dolina]

For people who like to print their images it’s neither a practical or satisfying solution. I guess the vast majority of even keen photographers don’t print their images now - they are missing out, although when doing it to a high standard it’s expensive.

I agree there is joy to directly DIY things like printing but consider the utility of the printer if anyone uses it to print 1-2 prints every month or so.

A friend bought a rather large printer that could do A3-sized prints. Used it every quarter year or so. The ink dried out and gummed up the printer.

Costly repair bill.

Vs

I outsource it to a commercial-grade printer who does this as their day job and we share settings to align what I see on my screen onto paper.

I had a 2 meter by 3 meter print done this way. Output was great.

 

[privatebydesign]

I own and use a Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-2000, a bit bigger than most would want or need but after owning and using the Epson Stylus Pro4900 and then the Pro7900 I'd never buy another Epson and couldn't be happier with the Canon.

I liked the 4900 paper feed the best as it had a large sheet tray and took roll paper but I wanted more than 17" so went to the 7900. But Epson reliability is appalling, the technology is flawed, and the after sales service is laughable. The worst part is they won't even sell you spares.

So I moved to a Canon 24" roll printer and have been running it now for over five years. Super reliable and once you are set up the printing costs are minimal, certainly much lower than all the smaller hobby style printers, but it is an investment. Only real gripe is it truthfully isn't set up for sheet paper which, although it works ok, can be a bind if you are doing lots of test prints on smaller sheet stock.

Lots of great guidance and helpful information out there too. My personal favorite, though he actually stopped printing a while ago, is this guy, Mitch Boyer. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIT3fFHocOHhIjO8YGKRnKzu9V4AfTT32

He has some incredible tips on how to get true world class prints and workflow techniques. Oh, follow all his advise and especially try and find a secondhand RotaTrim!

 

[becceric]

Thanks, privatebydesign. Every winter I explore the imagePROGRAF series even though I don't print frequently anymore.
I point them out to my wife, then stop browsing. Since I’ve picked up more L lenses, I’m repeatedly enjoying their benefits, so I’m beginning to justify that increase in expense/quality.
I’m hoping my wife agrees...
By the way, can you tell me what operating system you use with it?

 

[becceric]

I agree there is joy to directly DIY things like printing but consider the utility of the printer if anyone uses it to print 1-2 prints every month or so.

A friend bought a rather large printer that could do A3-sized prints. Used it every quarter year or so. The ink dried out and gummed up the printer.

Costly repair bill.

Vs

I outsource it to a commercial-grade printer who does this as their day job and we share settings to align what I see on my screen onto paper.

I had a 2 meter by 3 meter print done this way. Output was great.

dolina,
I definitely see your point of view, but for some reason feel the need to print images on my own. It probably stems from the b&w and color printing I used to do years ago. It just feels like part of the process.

 

[privatebydesign]

Thanks, privatebydesign. Every winter I explore the imagePROGRAF series even though I don't print frequently anymore.
I point them out to my wife, then stop browsing. Since I’ve picked up more L lenses, I’m repeatedly enjoying their benefits, so I’m beginning to justify that increase in expense/quality.
I’m hoping my wife agrees...
By the way, can you tell me what operating system you use with it?

I use Mac and have used everything from Sierra to the current Monterey 15.5.1. I mainly print via Photoshop, 90%, with the other 10% via Lightroom, I have the CC membership and have had since it came out though it worked fine with the stand alone versions before CC.

I have had a couple of software incompatibility issues over the years, at one point I could not print borderless, and I stopped using the Canon utility Print Studio Pro a couple of years ago as there was an untraceable incompatibility that meant I lost the WYSIWYG functionality of the utility. Canon and I worked on the issue for quite a while but it was never determined what part of what software, Apple, Adobe, or Canon, was the root cause.

 

[bhf3737]

For desk top printing I changed from Epson to Canon. Got sick of blocked nozzles and so far the Canon is spot on in this regard. Maybe Epson have improved the blocking issue with the likes of the 900.

Hello. I had those issues with older Epson 3800 and exchanged it for the P900 when there was a good deal on it. This P900 one is working quite well. I only print a few pages every month and for the past 10 months that I've owned the P900, I haven't experienced any clogged nozzles nor color bleeding. So far so good.

 

[Sporgon]

Sporgon, if you don’t mind telling me, which Canon printer did you switch to, and what operating system are you using?

For printing up to Super A3 I changed from Epson 600 to Canon Prograf 300, and I’m very pleased with it, though with heavy art papers it retains quite a large border in order to protect the print head, but as I generally print with a border it’s not an issue for me. Operating system is iMac. I prepare images in photoshop but generally print from lightroom, both CC.
As with all these smaller printers the ink cartridges are small and so work out quite expensive. For large format printing I’m still using an Epsom P7800 which is getting pretty old now but I don’t print over Super A3 very often. Although much cheaper on ink per print these LF printers don’t handle small sheet papers very well, so a small desk top is much more convenient.

 

[Sporgon]

I agree there is joy to directly DIY things like printing but consider the utility of the printer if anyone uses it to print 1-2 prints every month or so.

A friend bought a rather large printer that could do A3-sized prints. Used it every quarter year or so. The ink dried out and gummed up the printer.

Costly repair bill.

Vs

I outsource it to a commercial-grade printer who does this as their day job and we share settings to align what I see on my screen onto paper.

I had a 2 meter by 3 meter print done this way. Output was great.

If you are going to own a decent printer it’s important to have the discipline to do at least a nozzle check print every few days, or certainly once a week when not using the machine. The nozzle check print uses naff all ink.

 

[dolina]

If you are going to own a decent printer it’s important to have the discipline to do at least a nozzle check print every few days, or certainly once a week when not using the machine. The nozzle check print uses naff all ink.

Salesman neglected to mention it to the owner. To which I shrug my shoulders.

 

[R1-7D]

I have a ProGraf 1000 and love it. Ink wastage from cleaning cycles, as well as cartridge costs, are horrendous, however.

 

[becceric]

I have a ProGraf 1000 and love it. Ink wastage from cleaning cycles, as well as cartridge costs, are horrendous, however.

I feel the same way about my PixmaPro 100, but with me choosing to print, I see no way around it.

 

[stevelee]

Hello. I had those issues with older Epson 3800 and exchanged it for the P900 when there was a good deal on it. This P900 one is working quite well. I only print a few pages every month and for the past 10 months that I've owned the P900, I haven't experienced any clogged nozzles nor color bleeding. So far so good.

I have used an Epson R3000 for some years now. I had clogging and cleaning issues with earlier Epsons, but not this one. I sometimes go weeks without printing with it. (I have an HP Laserjet for everyday B&W.) When starting up yesterday, it seemed to take forever to run through cycles, and then even longer to start to print. I trust that means it is cleaning out whatever has dried and then running tests until clear. Anyway, it works like that is what is happening. Ink is getting harder to get. Epson’s site had it in stock, but when I tried to place my order, the web page would go into some loop about correcting the format of my address to suit the USPS, and then wouldn’t let me make changes. So I went to Amazon’s site, and ordered the Light Magenta I will soon need. The other colors were priced $15 higher, so I didn’t get the two others I would have ordered from Epson. Printing out of Photoshop, when I choose “Printer manages color,” I get great prints. If I need to get a newer model, I’m tempted to get one that adds purple ink. I took a shot at dark when sailing out of Venice. The print looks great. (Copies hang in three states.) But maybe purple ink will let the sky be the kind of inky black more like I see on the screen rather than the blacker black of the print. But I’ll look into those issues only when replacing ink gets to be too much of a pain. (And since they weren’t shipping by USPS anyway, I don’t see why they couldn’t just deal with the address of mine in their system that they have used for years and years.)