Low-Cost Graphics Can Make a Good Impression
Color printers, photo-editing software and graphic tools traditionally have been marketed to home users and graphics professionals. But that’s starting to change. Small businesses of all types are finding ways to employ low-cost and easy-to-use graphic solutions to enhance their businesses.
I don’t have to go any farther than my local ice cream or video store to find evidence of the creative uses of inkjet printers. Both establishments are using color banners and signs to market their products, and it doesn’t stop there. Just about any business can find a way to liven up its presentations and proposals with the careful use of color and graphics.
If used judiciously, color can add impact to business documents and signage. But it can also detract from your message. It’s best to use color sparingly in headings and illustrations and avoid it for most of your text. The reason that text in most books, magazines and newspapers is printed with black ink on white paper is because it’s easier to read. Unless you’re a very talented designer, the best advice is to keep things simple.
A small business doesn’t need to spend a small fortune to make a good impression. Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Epson offer excellent color printers for both home and small-business applications. Many of these printers do an equally good job with text and graphics.
Most printers have three modes. “Draft” is fastest and uses the least amount of ink. The highest quality is always slowest, and there is usually a “normal” quality that is suitable for most purposes. For all printers, print speeds are estimates based on “typical” usage. Your speed will vary. Color quality depends on a number of factors, including the quality of the original image and the type of paper you use.
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For regular printing, you’ll get best results by using high-quality paper designed specifically for inkjet printers. Paper is rated by brightness. Hewlett-Packard’s Bright White (which works with all brands of printers) has a brightness rating of 99+ and costs about $8 a ream (500 sheets). Basic copy paper is typically rated at about 84, but you can get reasonably bright paper (between 87 and 94) for as little as $4.50 a ream. I use cheap copy paper for my drafts and keep a supply of higher-quality paper for printing letters, reports and other documents that I plan to share with people. I also keep a small supply of expensive photo paper (about $1 a sheet) for printing glossy photos.
Hewlett-Packard’s DeskJet 890c printer, which you can find for about $399, is designed for business text and graphics. The black text looks almost as good as what you get with a laser printer and, at up to nine pages a minute in text mode, it rivals lasers in speed as well. HP says it operates at up to five pages a minute when printing documents with both text and graphics. The color output isn’t quite as good as a glossy photograph, but it’s good enough for a number of business purposes and it does a pretty good job when printing on plain paper. I’ve printed a number of great-looking text documents with small color photos.
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Hewlett-Packard’s new 2000c provides about the same level of print quality, but it’s faster and more rugged. It operates at up to 10 pages a minute in text and seven pages a minute with text and graphics. It is designed for offices that do a lot (up to 5,000 pages a month) of printing. Although most color printers have two ink cartridges--one for black and another for color--this one has four: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. That makes it more economical, because you replace only the particular color cartridge that runs out, but it’s a little harder to manage because you must stock four cartridges instead of two. The basic unit costs about $799, but if you do a great deal of printing, the extra speed, economy and durability make it a worthwhile investment.
Epson has long been the leader in photo-quality color printers. The Epson Color Stylus 800 and 850 models (about $299 and $379, respectively) lay down ink at up to 1,400 dots per inch, which give you photo-like quality prints when using Epson’s special paper. Black-and-white text also is quite good and, at up to eight pages a minute, fast enough for most office applications. One advantage to both Epson models is that they can simultaneously work with both Mac and Windows PCs. The Epson 850N (about $579) includes an ethernet card, which makes it available to all computers on a network.
Lexmark, a former IBM subsidiary that specializes in printers, now offers the 5700 ($249) that prints eight pages a minute in black and four pages a minute in color. I haven’t tested the 5700, but its predecessor, the JetPrinter 7000, was a terrific printer for small offices. In July, Lexmark will introduce its new “networkable” Optra 40 ($449) and wide-carriage (11 by 17 inches) Optra 45 ($899), which are designed for small businesses and small corporate work groups.
Canon’s BJC 4400, which costs about $199, is a bit slower than the other printers, but the print quality is good and it’s considerably less expensive.
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When shopping, be sure to look at print samples before you buy. And don’t base your decision solely on the quality of color photographs printed on expensive photo paper. Be sure to examine samples on plain paper that are standard letters and other documents that are typical of what you will be printing.
Other considerations are cost of consumables, the speed of both text and color, the size of the paper input tray and how well the printer handles envelopes and other odd-size paper. HP printers, for example, have a separate envelope slot that lets you print envelopes without having to remove your regular paper.
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You can e-mail Lawrence J. Magid at magid@latimes.com and visit his Web site at https://www.larrysworld.com. On AOL, use keyword “LarryMagid.”
