Artists spend hours fine-tuning and perfecting their work to reach their goals. And they need to give as much thought to their presentation as they do to their performance. So, you should check out the best printers for art prints, regardless of your field of expertise.
Perhaps, you may have been sending your files to a private studio or a printing company in the past. If you’re serious about your art, though, you should be aware that delegating the job to someone else means relinquishing some control over the work.
At first, taking up the process of printing may appear intimidating. But, in reality, it’s a fantastic tool to fine-tune your photographs, graphics, or reproductions. We’ve got everything you need to get started and recommendations for the best solutions available.
Comparison Table
Product Name | Price | Printing Type | Printer Input | Connectivity Technology | DPI Resolution |
Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 | Check Price | printer only | 250 | Ethernet, USB, Wireless | 5760X1440 |
Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 | Check Price | printer, copier, scanner | 100 | WiFi, USB | 1440X5760 |
HP ENVY Photo 7855 | Check Price | printer, scanner, copier, fax | 125 | USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi | 4800X1200 |
Canon Pixma Pro-100 | Check Price | professional | 150 | USB, WiFi, Mobile Memory | 4800X2400 |
Canon PIXMA PRO-200 | Check Price | printer only | 201 | Ethernet, USB, Wireless | 4800X2400 |
The 5 Best Printer for Art Prints
Without further ado, here are the five finest options for artists who regularly need a printer for their work, whether for sale or show.
1. Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 – Best Overall
The Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 is an excellent choice for photographers who want to enhance their print capabilities without increasing their credit card debt. It has a wide format and prints quickly. The output tray can also hold 125 sheets.
Also, it’s incredible what this machine can produce for the price. The color prints on the expression are brilliant and sharp, and this quality is maintained essentially across all size configurations.
The Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000, with its strange name, could be suitable for novice photographers or professionals on a small budget. Moreover, it’s small and light. However, keep in mind that the operational costs aren’t low.
The Good:
- High-resolution photos
- Budget-friendly
- Uses new Claria Photo HD inks
- Prints borderless photos
- Small and light for an oversized printer
The Bad:
- Operational costs are a little high
- Printing accelerations are more sluggish than competitors’
Bottom Line
The Epson Expression is a reasonably priced full-size photo printer that doesn’t scrimp on features to keep costs down.
2. Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 – Best Small Printer
The Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 is an ideal smaller printer for a freelancing graphic designer. And it won’t take up much space.
While Epson’s description of this product as a “comparatively tiny” printer is so appealing, it’s correct. To illustrate, the XP-8600 weighs 14.8 pounds and measures 13.7 X 20.7 X 7.2 inches, with different folds and slots neatly folded for stockpiling at 13.7 X 13.4 X 5.6 inches. So, it’s small enough to fit on a side table or a small stand.
Moreover, the six-ink XP-8600 is designed for home and small office use, and it prints remarkably well, mainly photographs.
However, unlike the XP-15000, it only has a flatbed scanner and no automated document feeder (ADF) for copying and scanning multipage documents. The new Epson is less business-friendly than competing printers and consumer AIOs, but its high-quality text printing makes up for it.
The Good:
- Great compact design
- Superb A4 photo quality
- Full-featured wireless printing, scanning, copying
The Bad:
- Average speeds
- No automated document feeder (ADF) for copying and scanning multipage documents.
- Quiet expensive to run
Bottom Line
The Epson Expression Photo XP-8600 printer is a consumer-grade all-in-one printer that can print borderless images up to 8 by 10 inches in high quality. And it’s impressively compact.
3. HP ENVY Photo 7855 All in One – Best for Wireless Connectivity
HP ENVY Photo 7855 All in One features the best wireless connectivity. For example, it has a cloud connection so that you can print from your phone.
One of the best aspects of using HP ink for photo printing is its membership. This membership guarantees that each photo published will cost less than 5 cents to print.
Moreover, the color depth and print resolution of this printer are exceptional. With 4800 X 1200 DPI resolution and 24-bit color depth, you won’t have to worry about the accuracy and quality of the printed artwork. On the downside, it’s a bit slow.
The Good:
- Borderless photo printing
- HP membership
- Dual cartridges
- Dedicated paper tray
- Unique cloud service integration
The Bad:
- Slow
Bottom Line
For home users and amateurs, the HP ENVY Photo 7855 is an excellent photo printer for home usage. It’s simple to operate, produces fantastic prints, and features unique cloud service integration.
4. Canon Pixma Pro-100 – Best for Graphic Designers
The Canon Pixma Pro-100 is the best choice for a graphic designer. It’s capable of producing media up to 19”, so you can print off all types of media. This wireless professional inkjet printer has the features and technology you need to produce high-quality prints.
It’s time to upgrade to the large-format, high-quality printer you’ve always wanted. The chroma life 100+ system, which uses eight dye-based inks, offers an incredible color range. This feature ensures that your prints are as vibrant as you aspire for them to be.
Additionally, this printer uses the same technology as the other Pixma Pro printers. To elaborate, it uses the most advanced picture generation technology to ensure that what you see is exactly what you want.
Moreover, the OIG system examines each print area and selects the appropriate ink combination to ensure that you see the colors you anticipate. Not to mention, it can handle canvas paper thickness up to 20 mils. Still, there are a couple of issues in the graphics’ colors.
The Good:
- Moderately priced for a near-dedicated photo printer
- Outputs gallery-worthy photos
- Wide range of colors
- Reasonably fast
The Bad:
- Has some color issues, mostly in the graphics
Bottom Line
Although the Canon Pixma pro-100 is a low-cost, near-dedicated picture printer for photo enthusiasts, it produces photos worthy of a gallery and has a wide range of colors.
See also: The 5 Excellent 13×19 Printers in 2024
5. Canon PIXMA PRO-200- Budget Pick
With the Canon Pixma Pro-200, you can get the best prints at an affordable price. It also produces larger prints with a lot of dynamic color range. It provides you with what you need in an 8-ink dye-based printer that’s relatively fast and delivers impressively clean outputs that dry almost instantly.
Moreover, the 8-color dye-based ink system was created with photographers and graphic artists in mind. As a result, the product is versatile and straightforward to use with excellent and brilliant print quality. And Canon’s latest dye-based A3+ or 13-inch picture printer, the Pixma pro-200, raises the bar and works wonderfully for glossy output.
As for the print sizes, they are panoramas as wide as 13 inches and as long as 39 inches. Moreover, we can’t forget the printer’s improved software and control panel display. Nevertheless, we would’ve liked a unit that supports media and is easier to set up.
The Good:
- Excellent print quality
- Prints borderless banners and panoramas up to 13 inches wide and 39 inches long
- Improved software and control panel display
- Low running costs
The Bad:
- No roll media support
- Difficult to set up
Bottom Line
When it comes to generating a sleek surface on glossy picture paper, the Pixma pro-200 is the printer you’re looking for. It features a revised ink composition, a more continuous quality improvement with a 3-inch digital display, and is inexpensive.
Factors to Consider When Buying a Printer for Art Prints
A lot goes into deciding which printer is best for art prints. In this buying guide, we’re going to discuss features that make a good pick.
Type of Printer
When it comes to printers, you have two options: inkjet or laser. On the one hand, laser printers are significantly faster and less expensive to operate, but they’re more costly. Furthermore, laser printers can handle a far higher volume of pages per day and month than inkjet printers.
On the other hand, inkjet printers will struggle to keep up. They’re incapable of handling the high volume of output that a laser printer provides. But they provide better color saturation.
Print Resolution
The number of ink dots placed into an inch of paper is referred to as print resolution. For example, if a printer has a print resolution of 600 DPI, the printer will produce 600 dots of ink per inch of printer paper.
Moreover, DPI (dots per inch) is a measurement of print resolution. While most people recommend a resolution of 300 DPI for printing, we recommend using printers with a resolution of at least 600 DPI to ensure detail in your artwork.
Media Versatility
While a printer may produce high-resolution prints with incredible detail, it may be built to do so exclusively for standard-size images. Therefore, it’s crucial to think about the media you’ll be printing when looking for a printer.
If you intend to use the printer for various projects, ensure the printer you purchase can handle multiple paper types. If you’re only planning to use it for photo prints, the versatility won’t matter, and you’d be better off getting a model that’s intended particularly for printing photos.
Pigments and Dyes
The ink used in the printer is a vital specification offered by the manufacturer. Regular inks produce brilliant colors but have weak lightfastness and fade dramatically after a short time. Pigment inks are a preferable choice for professionals concerned about the stability and longevity of their prints.
Also, pigment-based inks are more fade-resistant in displaying conditions, although they have a lower color range than dye-based inks. And, if the print lifetime is your primary concern, inks are only one half of the equation; you must also consider the printing paper and the environment in which they’ll be displayed.
Budget
The amount of money you have to spend must constantly be taken into account. An inkjet printer can be your best bet if you’re on a budget. However, it’d be best if you also considered the long-term expenditures.
To illustrate, inkjet printers use a lot more ink and require more upkeep. As a result, your operating costs will be higher than with a laser printer. However, if you can spend more money upfront, you’ll save money in the long run.
Printing Speed
Print speed, usually measured in pages per minute (PPM), is an essential element of all printers that varies significantly from one model to the next.
For example, smaller machines geared for low-volume tasks can print at speeds of up to 5 pages per minute in specific situations. In contrast, enterprise models can print at speeds of up to 70 pages per minute in almost any format.
Accordingly, those who only print single-page papers won’t mind slower print rates if it means a smaller, less expensive printer. However, professionals and business customers should always verify the ppm statistics when looking for the best printer. That’s because the more pages you have, the quicker you can return to other tasks.
Ease of Use and Paper Handling
Your printer should be able to handle high-quality paper because it’ll influence the final quality of your art. Also, choose printers that print without a border because they have been shown to handle paper better. In addition, insist on receiving a handbook to help you operate your printer.
Wireless Connectivity
Wireless connectivity is crucial for flexible printing from various media, such as mobile phones, cameras, and camcorders.
Moreover, some printers use dual-band WiFi to print at a more outstanding quality. In addition, you can quickly print all types of images from multiple storage systems, including Google Drive, iCloud, and, most importantly, Dropbox, thanks to WiFi networking.
The ability to write from a mobile device is crucial for producing high-quality printing solutions. This is due to the compatible camera’s capacity to deliver high-quality output through Bluetooth or WiFi. In addition, the original resolution is preserved with this arrangement.
FAQs
Is Inkjet or Laser Better for Art Prints?
Both printers have their advantages. An inkjet printer produces the best print quality, especially when printing images, but a laser printer uses toner to produce long-lasting prints. So, it all depends on whether quality or longevity is more important to you.
Who Are the Best Printer Manufacturers?
There are many big names. On the above list, we made sure to include well-known printer firms. And Epson, HP, and Canon were among the printer manufacturers that made our list.
What Printer Do I Need to Print Illustrations?
You’ll need a printer with consistent connectivity between the printer and the computer to print illustrations. Also, look for a printer with pigment-based ink.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, a high-quality printer can make all the difference. All of the above printers are excellent choices for artists searching for a high-quality printing option, depending on your needs and budget.
To recap, if you’re looking for a printer that checks all the boxes, Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 is an excellent choice. It’s inexpensive, quick, and offers brilliant and sharp prints.
However, if you want a compact pick, look no further than Epson Expression Photo XP-8600. Lastly, those who prioritize wireless connectivity should check out the HP Envy Photo 7855 All in One.