Best Laser Printers for labeling?

oldwestgambler · #1 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 02:40 PM

Okay I've read alot of posts that would steer me away from doing the labels on my own but I may have an opportunity to purchase a printer for running this process on my own.

Now the question is...
What would the "pros" suggest as the best printers for running labels?
I am particularly interested in the waterproof process - four color on poly or vinyl with the ability to add photo quality pics to the labels.
The cost of the printer would preferably be under $1,000.00.

any suggestions?

thanks in advance
Sal

p.s. - (I have talked with many local printers and they are telling me that the best route is through a different process - i am assuming this is a screenprinting process. sounds like a tedious process)

PocketRocket · #2 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 02:57 PM

It's a tradeoff. You'll probably be better off with a laser, but for photo quality, you'll get better results with an inkjet. That having been said, do bear in mind that you are dealing with a 1" circular surface, there is only so much photo quality that you can get on that small of an image. You can probably get a color laser for home use for less than $500 that will be adequate for general home or small office use, though be forwarned that a set of cartridges will probably cost you as much as the printer itself. A printer in this price range is adequate for the type of printing that you would do with either a label or photo. (usually 600DPI)

The printers were most likely referring to an offset process rather than a silkscreen print. It would most likely of noticably better quality, if you're prepared to pay for it. And while the printers are 4 color CMYK; if you're dealing with JPEG photos, they're probably in RGB format and you should probably leave them in RGB rather than changing them to CMYK.

If you're willing to invest some time and effort into it, there's no reason why you shouldn't print your own labels. But bear in mind that it's going to take a lot of time and effort to learn the applications, and there is a presumption that you have the creative skills for the artwork itself. If you're in a hurry, and want to save both time and money, you're probably better off having someone else print them for you. But if you want to devote the effort into it, you may find it a rewarding and educational experience to learn to do your own.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldwestgambler

Okay I've read alot of posts that would steer me away from doing the labels on my own but I may have an opportunity to purchase a printer for running this process on my own.

Now the question is...
What would the "pros" suggest as the best printers for running labels?
I am particularly interested in the waterproof process - four color on poly or vinyl with the ability to add photo quality pics to the labels.
The cost of the printer would preferably be under $1,000.00.

any suggestions?

thanks in advance
Sal

p.s. - (I have talked with many local printers and they are telling me that the best route is through a different process - i am assuming this is a screenprinting process. sounds like a tedious process)

oldwestgambler · #3 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 03:18 PM

thanks for the reply.

I am adept at adobe and macromedia applications and even have graphic design training and experience.

my problem with having others do the process is the time it takes them. if i need a custom set of chips for a charity tournament (or a set of promotional chips) which is sudenly two weeks down the road, i am probably going to have a problem because the average time for most of the online chip label pros is about three weeks.

i can understand the delay and don't have a problem with it. i would just like the ability to have them done quicker and to tell you the truth have complete control of the process.

i am hoping someone can give me a suggestion for a good laser printer that won't soak me too much for the toner and is compatible with the meticulous lining up of the labels.

Wylecoyo · #4 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 03:23 PM

I purchased a Konica Minolta Magicolor 400 color laser printer about six months ago at Office Depot and absolutely LOVE IT. Total purchase price was right at $400.00 and I still have about 70% of the black and 90% of the color tonors left which came with the unit. Granted, I only print final copy for my school work, but this is still seems impressive to me.

The photo quality of my ink jet is better, but for everything short of actual photos I think the laser jet does at least as good a job, is much faster, and is not suseptable to smearing and running like an ink jet.

Hope this helps.

PocketRocket · #5 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 03:41 PM

Check Costco and Sams, there are a number of brands that will suit your needs including HP and Okidata That way you can always return it if it doesn't suit your needs. Insofar as the cost of toner, it's going to cost you $400-500 for a set of toner cartridges, that's a fact of life, live with it. It doesn't matter whose printer you get, it's going to cost that much. But a set of cartridges lasts a long time in home use, it's not like ink cartridges, and the toner cartridges will not deplete like the way they do in the office with a bunch of people sharing the same printer. It's possible that you may only go through a couple of sets of cartridges for the entire time that you own/use that printer. Any color laser that is capable of printing to 8.5x11 inch transparancies will do fine, the rest is pretty much dependent upon you to adjust the alignments in your printing application.

It sounds like you might be getting into the label business for resale with the promotional and charity tournament chips in a hurry and this wouldn't be a one-time project. If that is the case, you may want to reconsider from a home printer to one that is more suited for industrial environments (probably plan for more like $2500 rather than $500-1000).

You'll probably want to check out Consolidated Labels in Orlando for 1" label stock, they have quantity discounts. Insofar as lining up the labels, Consolidated has some templates that you can use, and you can tweak them to your own printer's preferences. SureThing Office Labeler works pretty good and they have a trial version on their site, you can buy it later if it seems to work well for you. All of the programs just take a little working with to get them set up for your usage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldwestgambler

thanks for the reply.

I am adept at adobe and macromedia applications and even have graphic design training and experience.

my problem with having others do the process is the time it takes them. if i need a custom set of chips for a charity tournament (or a set of promotional chips) which is sudenly two weeks down the road, i am probably going to have a problem because the average time for most of the online chip label pros is about three weeks.

i can understand the delay and don't have a problem with it. i would just like the ability to have them done quicker and to tell you the truth have complete control of the process.

i am hoping someone can give me a suggestion for a good laser printer that won't soak me too much for the toner and is compatible with the meticulous lining up of the labels.

Hog Wild · #6 (**permalink**) 09-19-2005, 08:13 PM

I use Oki Data 5150... I know Jason(Cinos) uses the same.. I have printed off 12000 Sheets and still going strong...

"Oki Data" The printer of choice for Personalpokerchips.com

Dwight87 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-20-2005, 12:26 AM

Yo Hog, your Razor Backs got spanked hard by USC.

PocketRocket · #8 (**permalink**) 09-20-2005, 10:51 AM

Heh

How coincidental! I use an Okidata 5150 as well! Costco.com has them now at $399.99, about $150 below what they originally sold for there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hog Wild

I use Oki Data 5150... I know Jason(Cinos) uses the same.. I have printed off 12000 Sheets and still going strong...

"Oki Data" The printer of choice for Personalpokerchips.com

oldwestgambler · #9 (**permalink**) 09-20-2005, 11:51 AM

I can't believe the replies. Okidata 5150 seems to be the fave and at a great price. the reviews are great too.

thanks so much guys, all of you, excellent responses. i did some research on the konica. I am definitely going to do some research into the okidata and may end up going with that just because the price is so amazing.

I was also looking at the HP Laserjet 3550 which also gets excellent reviews. The cost is about $400 more than the okidata. the resolution is only at 600 dpi but reviewers have remarked that the image quality is better than 1200 dpi printers. I just ordered an HP notebook too. (gotta have the notebook for the tourneys)

As far as going industrial i just may do that if there is the demand. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of support for my business model.

consolidated labels looks like a great site. thanks for that pocketrocket.

thanks again guys
sal

PocketRocket · #10 (**permalink**) 09-20-2005, 12:55 PM

There was one thing that I forgot about the Okidata 5150. This printer is noisy, and also has a larger footprint than other 'personal' type laser printers on the market. So be aware of this if you choose to go with this printer. This printer also has a problem communicating with systems within a network if the systems have Windows firewall setting enabled (standard setting with SP2). If your connection to the printer is directly to the printer from your computer, it should not be an issue.