Inkjet printers
 

I am considering purchasing an inkjet printer, partly because of the discussion the other day about Inklingo! Please share your ideas about the best (not too expensive) inkjet printers to use for printing on fabric. I am working on small calendar quilts and need to print labels. Would rather not embroider them!!! Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

The cost of the printer doesn't matter as much as the cost of the ink cartridges. I bought a Kodak printer because the ink is cheaper, but it keeps going up in price. It prints okay, scans and copies fast. I won't buy it again though because if the color ink is low and the black ink is full it won't print until I change the color ink. And I noticed the ink cartridges don't print as many pages as it claims, a lot less. If you are using it just for fabric then it would be fine. I'm keeping it just for that.

I have had the best results with HP printers. I've had other brands, most recently a Brother, but the color wasn't as bright. BellaBoo is right, the ink is the real cost of the printing, although I have a higher end printer (prints directly on DVDs, ...). I would think you would want something designed for photo printing.

I have a very inexpensive printer from HP. It prints, scans and copies. Cost less than $100. Best of all I can buy ink cartridges for it at my local Kroger store---very handy.

I have an HP printer, no problems.

I have always had HP....the cost of ink is high. My suggestion is make sure you can print on black even if your color cartridge is empty. Suggestion on saving ink...(learned from my computer geek son) Always print black only things with the setting of draft. Uses lots less ink and still looks great. I only use color if I need color. My HP has the option to get standard size color cartridge and get what they call a XP black cartridge, which is a much larger cartridge and costs you less per page.

I just purchased a Canon printer from walmart for $50. I love it. I print on fabric, freezer paper, and foundations and have not had a problem since. The ink was fairly inexpensive too. I buy my ink online from Amazon. Its cheaper there than in the local stores.

I have the < $100 HP copy, scan, print type also. I live in a rural area and bought this one because ink was available locally.

I have used in to print Inklingo hexagons. It works pretty well. My one complaint is that it does not have the capability for me to set a totally custom page size. It has several built in sizes and that is it. If I were buying a printer mainly to use with Inklingo I would try to be certain I could set the "paper" size at any size I wanted. That will help you use up smaller fabric scraps and such.

I bought an inexpensive Dell printer and buy my ink cartridges wherever they are the cheapest. I google the cartridge number and buy a box of four or eight for about $7 each cartridge. Pretty great deal for me.

i have a kodak printer and order my ink from ebay.. great ink combo for 10.95 so far so good.. wait for my next order then will see.

It IS the ink that makes the difference, but not because of the price. The best, longest lasting inks for printing on both paper AND fabric are pigment based inks (as opposed to dye based inks). They are water and fade resistant; dye based inks are water soluble.

Epson is the leader in pigment based inks, so any of their printers that use Epson DURABrite Ultra ink cartridges, one of the very few cartridges that uses pigment based inks for both the black AND color inks, would be an excellent choice for fabric printing. I've heard HP also makes some printers that take pigment based ink cartridges, but certainly not all of them do.

There are many threads on this topic if you do a search for them.

How does one know if their ink jet printer will wash out? I just made a label for a quilt, then washed it before gifting it, and the ink washed out of the label. It was an Epson Stylus Photo printer.

I have an HP and really do like it. The ink jets are a bit more expensive but they hold so much more than many of the other brands, so don't have to buy them so often. As Bellabo said about the Kodak printer, ink jets cheaper, quality left a lot to be desired. They did not print many pages and I was always buying more, so in the long run, not cheaper.

I bought an Epson for under $100 because ink cost was low, it uses the durabrite inks and because the Canon cartridges are expensive and I don't like HP!

What ever printer you use, be sure that the cartridges are not combine into one. I have four cartridges one for each color. Expensive does not mean it is the best.

I downloaded a font that uses 50% less ink to print. The type is full of tiny holes that don't get ink. They are too small to be noticeable when printed. It looks great. It's Ecofont vera sans.

I have also wondered about this...wondering which ink holds up the best. I am not very happy now with how my HP is printing photos.

[QUOTE=nyelphaba;6005158]I have an HP printer, no problems.[/

HP for me, too. No problems and the ink cartridges are reasonable.

So many things to think about when purchasing a printer!! At this point I don't have one so found all the hints veryhelpful!

You also have to follow the directions on the fabric package to set the ink. Some say to soak in water. Some say to heat-set with an iron. I don't know if these are all the possible directions. Some fabric packages are for ink-jet printers, some are for laser jet printers. Some packages that look about the same are iron-on transfers.

Then there is the fabric that you prepare yourself and iron onto freezer paper. I haven't tried that.

It is ironic that I,m reading this today because for the last two weeks I have been trying to have my HP printer fixed, HA. There is nowhere to fix them. I have been told that it is better to replace them than fix them, (labor).Mine is the all in one, (print, copy, scan and fax, (which I don't use). This printer is in pristine condition and I,ve been told that it is the print heads that have gone. After checking to replace them, it will cost around $120. Hello, I can buy a cheaper new one for that. I have never had the print heads go before. The person where I go to replace my cartridges says that printers now days are throw aways, (after I just spent $120 on 4 new ones). I,m going out tomorrow to check on buying a new one and hope to have better luck than I had with this one. I have had two HP printers in the past and had no problems like this one, the most expensive one I had purchased. Check them all out and good luck.

Epson are the best but they are supposedly getting rid of inkjet printers. HP is very nice. A tip I learned from a guy in the computer department is that if you don't print a test page daily it ruins your cartridges, and printer head and it results in not getting many pages out of your cartridge so I have been printing test pages every few days and this cartridge has already printed out way more pages than my other cartridges did on my HP

Everyone is so right...it is the cost of the ink that is the killer of the budget. Fortunately for me my DH is the star bargain hunter. For my recent 74th birthday he bought me a 13x19 Cannon to replace the Cannon 8.5 I had that went south. I loved the pictures and the color and it worked wonderful for years. Searched and found this one for $99. on the Cannon site and it has the same brilliant color. He gets refillable cartridges and 3rd party inks. I am the artistic side, he the technical. I'd be sunk without his expertise. I haven't printed anything on fabric yet..

Two things.
There are printer settings...one that allows the printer to determine the color profile and the other is the program you are using. I set mine for the Adobe rather than allow the printer to decide because I get better color.

The other is the fabric...Has anyone had problems with lint on the print heads? What type of fabric do you use if you don't use the prepared packages. I'm wondering if I killed my little one with lint. Tried the formula for setting the dye color but it didn't work for me. I would use the dye for wall hangings that wouldn't get washed. I also have an Epson pigment 13x19 he got for the same price so I use that for fabric. It's been awhile since I used it and have cleaning cartridges in it when not in use. Don't want to mess up the new one. Which fabrics have the tightest weaves?

I have both an HP and an Epson. I like them both. I had heard that Epson was better for printing fabric; but both my printers do a good job on fabric.

I did a lot of research on this a couple years ago. I believe that Epson has the best one for printing on fabric. At least that was my conclusion then. They make an ink that is color fast and doesn't fade as much. I would look at them and see what the options are today.

I have used HPs for years -- they work great. The only Epson I had ate the Printed Treasures fabric -- sigh. What a mess to unjam the fabric -- and to count the cost of the ruined fabric. I have actually called HP to ask which printer is best for printing on fabric -- it took a while but they got back to me and the printer was great.

Oh my goodness! I LOVE this board! I have been reading all the threads for months and cannot believe how much I have learned. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions about a printer. I am now armed with an entire page of notes and suggestions. The printer salesperson will have a very easy job since I know much more clearly what I need thanks to all of you.

Have you tried setting the printer on black and white to print when color cartridge is low? I haven't noticed this problem - I love my Kodak and the price of the inks and have used it to print on fabric, card stock, photos, etc. with very acceptable quality. HP is top of the line but so is cost of the ink. The Kodak is a good trade off in my opinion.

You can wash the Canon print head with soap and water. I was told that by a repair shop. It will clean the print head - but an inkjet works by forcing hot drops of ink through little holes. Those holes will eventually enlarged, smearing or blurring the print.

The old HPs used to give you a new print head with every cartridge - that's why they were expensive. The Photosmarts use the same technology as Canon and everyone else. One print head.

Like one poster, I prefer to let Adobe manage the colors. I've gotten into contests with HP as IT wanted to manage the colors. You can find printer profiles for Canon and you can calibrate your screen.

If I'm using the computer that runs EQ and Embroidery software, all I want is a basic printout. I don't care how accurate the colors are for embroidery as long as the stops are printed. I won't use that box to print photos, though.

I have an HP printer 5510 ($99.99) and it uses up more ink that you can imagine. I have had mine less than one year and I have had to buy ink for it four times already (and that ink is darned expensive). I am heading over to Best Buy - they say there is a problem there with the ink disposing unit and they should be giving me a new printer altogether - if I can ever get over there - Freezing rain and snow today up to 6-8" in the city. Dandy!!!!! Also another thing - tip from the IT son - do not use Walgreen's or Office Max or any other refill place, for refills in your printer - it can ruin the printer. For what it's worth. Edie

Funny you say that. My HP said it needed a new black cartridge (well, 2 actually). I replaced them, and it didn't print. I told it to clean, and it still didn't work. I was printing stuff out in different colors, determined not to do anything about it until our taxes were done (we needed the scanner). After the taxes were done, I accidentally printed something without changing the color and it worked. I had been afraid it was the print heads.

I have an HP inkjet printer and I buy the large capacity toner cartridges direct from HP. They last a lot longer and do a fine job.

I have an HP which I love it takes a black and a tricolor cartridge. I have also had a canon printer. which took individual color cartridges. I get frustrated with the HP that when one color goes you have to replace the entire cartridge but then the individual cartridges for the Canon were a bit pricier. Shop, make a list of questions / concerns and figure out what is best for you.

I 've always bought Epsom and have had great results. Do a lot of quilts with photos printed on fabric. My last post was Forever Garden quilt as an example.

I go through a lot of ink and have found buying on line through either InkFarm.com or SuperMediaStore.com I can print lots of great ideas. For printing on fabric you probably want to use more expensive brand name.

I had a HP printer until I found out the cost of all the inks . I also had to travel into the city as my main town didn't sell them. I also had a Kodak ink was cheaper but when all the coloured empty wouldn't print in black only.i never managed a black opt o ly.
I have wondered if taking a book for the library to copy is cheaper sometimes. But. Copying from computer is then a problem.
I will keep watching to see if anyone has a good machine. Also some machines will not accept the cheap inks.

I heard Clark Howard (the money tips guru on CNN) say to shake the ink cartridge when it gets low...you'll get some more printing out of it. Tried it - it really helps!

I have to Canon Printers and they both work great on fabric. The colors are very vivid.
I hope which ever you purchase works just as well. :)

I have a Canon MP 190 and have no idea if its laser or ink jet. How do I tell which it is? By my question you can tell I'm still in the rock and chiesle (sp) era.

I hate my cannon printer.....it starts giving me change cartridge warnings (which slows down the printing process) LONG before the ink runs out. I'd like to buy another one but that would cut into my fabric dollars : )