The best large format printer for photographers, architects, artists

‘Network Printers’ are one area that is overlooked by the IT security department. As a connected device to your network, your printer is technically an integral part of your network and therefore deserves the same security measures as your computers, storage devices, and others in your network.

According to HP, in the year 2017 alone, over 5,200 security branches are allowed by network printers. This resulted in the exposure of over 7.9 billion records. 64% of IT managers have admitted that their network printers are likely infected with malware. According to a study, 43% of companies ignore printers in their security practices.

HP addressed this issue seriously and came up with the HP Z9 series. Besides doing their print job, these printers are designed to be secure and protect your network integrity with the HP Secure Boot, whitelisting, and a self- encrypted hard disk. Authentication solutions like PIN printing and integrated pull printing also help preserve confidentiality.

It is your hard-earned money and you cannot, of course, experiment on raw material when there is a refined product available. The brand does matter especially when you have to invest a lot of your money. A large format printer is no cheap commodity and in most cases, you will have to shell out over a thousand dollars. There are old brands in the industry like Canon, Epson, HP, etc. With adequate expertise and having constantly known the user requirement and feedback for ages, they are thoroughly refining their products to perfection. Moreover, with an established brand, there is a scope for better serviceability as the authorized service outlets are more in number compared to a just established brand. So, it is always advised to go for a known brand with a decent reputation.

It is always important to hear what the owner has to say about his experience with the product. They indeed help in judging the product better as they unbiased and are from firsthand accounts of actual users who have experienced. Even we rely on user reviews most of the time in picking up which product to have our hands-on and review it in depth.

Price: The price of the commodities aren’t the same every day. And when it comes to printers, they fluctuate a lot. So, it is important to always understand the price graph of a printer while purchasing it. There are tools online to do this. Make sure you are buying a large format printer at its best price.

Media size is the next biggest factor after the price. It is very important to understand what size you care to print more. There are basically two categories of size when it comes to printing wide: rollout, and large format. Rollout or roller printing means to print using paper rolls to attain maximum lengths while keeping the width constant while large format means to print in wider formats which your regular printers cannot handle.

Print Quality: Print Quality refers to how good your printed work looks. The print quality is dependent on the resolution of your large format printer. Usually, the resolution is measured in DPI which stands for Dots per inch. DPI technically refers to the number of dots present in an inch of a print. So, the more the DPI, the more will be the quality of your print.

The next big aspect to look for is your usage. It doesn’t matter how much you invest in your printer or which large format printer you have got if you don’t put it to good use. If you only plan to use once in a while, there are online services that let you order your prints online.

Connectivity:  Most large format printers come with the provision for connecting them to your computer using a USB Port. Or you can alternatively connect it to your network using an Ethernet port present on your printer. However, there are printers that come equipped with onboard Wi-Fi connectivity which lets the printer be connected to your Wi-Fi network for easier access. Most printers with Wi-Fi capability also support Wi-Fi Direct feature which means, you can directly connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot of your printer and trigger your print job without the need for a home Wi-Fi network.

The touchscreen LCD display feature of a printer helps you navigate to the printer’s menu items easily. However, some printers come with a display along with buttons to navigate. Either way, go for the one that best fits your interest.

Large format printers are usually bigger in size. However, most large format printers come with their own mounting stands while some are desk friendly and can sit on your desk comfortably.

Usually, large format printers are intended to print posters with vivid graphics while some use it for printing engineering and architectural plans. In that case, you can opt to go for a printer with just the monochrome capability. They should cost you less compared to the colored options.

It is important to go for a large format printer with more media bins. Media bins help in automatic sorting and distribution of prints without having to supervise them and sort them manually. While catch trays are the output trays that hold your printed media.

Printers demand a lot of maintenance and service especially large format printers are very much prone to malfunction and you might want to call for service assistance. Most trusted brands in the market like Canon, HP, and Epson are customer friendly and can deliver timely services while most unpopular brands lack in this area. It is advised to go for the printers from decently reputed brands.