Good inkjet printer for cardstock?

[Mike64]

Another thread reminded me that I keep forgetting to post this, so here goes...

Does anyone have any experience with inkjet printers that handle heavy-ish cover/card stock well? (Full letter-size sheets would be a good start, but being able to deal with "unusual" sizes and shapes like small round, and rectangular invitation/announcement-type cards with scalloped edges, and their appropriately-sized envelopes would be a very big plus.) It wouldn't need to handle "photo-printing" particularly well, I'd want it mostly for printing text and line-type images without much fine detail. Good, even color coverage over fairly wide areas would be important, though.

I've had a lot of trouble finding reviews that even mention the specific paper path a given printer uses (which seems to be the biggest issue with printing on heavy material) much less reviews that so much as touch on the sort of specific usage I have in mind. I really don't even have an idea what such a thing would cost, so I while I wouldn't be willing to spend Real Money on it in any event, I don't know if it's realistic even to idly ponder actually getting one at some point...

 

[CZroe]

The units that can handle particularly thick cardstock should have a "flat path" paper tray option.

 

[Mike64]

The units that can handle particularly thick cardstock should have a "flat path" paper tray option.

Yep, that's what I was thinking of when I mentioned that reviews rarely even mention that much (and whether you have to be able to access the back of the printer to use that functionality which seems to be fairly common among printers that can do it at all). I guess it's an uncommon enough usage that "most" more serious reviewers and user reviews rarely touch on it all, much less discuss the printer's overall handling of heavy-basis printing in any detail.

 

[corkyg]

Yep! Avoid the U-turn paper path.

 

[mikeymikec]

I bought a Brother MFC-J985 (DW?) for a customer recently and I believe the documentation noted that the rear paper feed can handle up to 300gsm paper/card. I wasn't buying it for that reason so I didn't pay a great deal of attention to it at the time.

 

[CZroe]

Well, exactly a week after posting here I came across just such a printer at Goodwill: an Epson Stylus Pro 3880. MSRP was originally almost $1,300 and Fry's is still asking $777 on clearance but this puppy cost me all of $10.69 after tax (rounded up to $11 for charity). If I wasn't clear before: I was also interested in printing on heavy cardstock (actually, posterboard), which was why I was researching it before the OP asked.

Where things stand as of last night:
https://youtu.be/lInPCHhxSVY

I expected to find the printhead hopelessly clogged but the extra ink alone was worth over $150 on eBay (included four unused cartridges). I did a nozzle check and all the colors that worked, worked flawlessly. As my wording implies, of course, one color didn't work at all: black.

Light Black (LK) and Light Light Black (LLK) both worked, but Photo Black (PK) and Matte Black (MK) did not. Those two share the same nozzle which you can manually select. I switched to MK and it also didn't work. The relevant ink lines actually looked empty. Uh oh: It would cost hundreds to purge and refill all lines and they can't be done selectively.

The "full" waste ink tank (Maintenance cart) locked me out of further troubleshooting just as I was running out of Yellow (Y) and switching back to PK. This prevented me from accessing the ink cartridges (electronic door) or doing any further test prints/cleaning cycles. All the other carts were reading nearly full so I ordered new Y and Maintenance cartridges along with a chip resetter. In the mean time, I cleaned the wiper and flushed the purge pad (Pump Cap).

After installing the Maint cart I regained access to the ink carts and found that PK was completely empty even though the printer reported that it had nearly 70% remaining. It weighed 60 grams, which is BONE dry (should be around 80g "empty"). I soon discovered why when I put in a new one and switched back to PK: It was dribbling out onto the page when the carts were pressurized.

It seems that the switching valve gets stuck open when PK is selected. Luckily, this problem also allowed the cart pressurization to prime the empty lines without dumping 40% or more of my other inks, so I was able to switch back to MK and print normally. All the nozzles are firing!

Luckily, it seems that Epson's printable "Enhanced Matte" posterboard uses MK instead of PK, but now I have a new problem: they don't seem to make it in 16" wide sheets for the posterboard tray (only 24" or 30" sheets for their larger floor-standing printers). That's weird, since no one else seems to make printable posterboard and they have several 17" printers with the 16" posterboard tray. Why engineer it if they aren't going to support it?

The closest I can find on the generic/third-party market is 88lb Polar Matte heavy cardstock from RedRiver, even though it's currently not available in 16" due to "quality issues." That's about half as thick as I'd like, ideally. It would probably fit the OP's requirements, however. I was hoping for 110lb at least.

 

[CZroe]

Another option for the OP wanting to print on odd sizes and shapes is a "print then cut" die cutter machine like Cricut Explore or Silhouette Cameo. I'm very disappointed with the Cricut software's print then cut size limitations (much smaller than the maximum cut area) but there are work-arounds for some kinds of projects (videos on YouTube). Because you aren't looking for a high-end photo printer you can probably get away with any office inkjet that handles cardstock.

 

[Mike64]

Well, exactly a week after posting here I came across just such a printer at Goodwill: an Epson Stylus Pro 3880.

Another option for the OP wanting to print on odd sizes and shapes is a "print then cut" die cutter machine like Cricut Explore or Silhouette Cameo.

Both are interesting, but unless I happen to get almost as lucky at Goodwill, even a "comparatively inexpensive" Cricut machine is well beyond what I'd be willing to spend, since I really don't have any sort of ongoing/regular "need" for it, it'd basically just be a toy I'd play with now and then. And while I don't necessarily need a printer that can handle as much as the 300 gsm basis weight mikeymickec mentioned (though that would be preferable), 55 lb stock would be kind of low for my purposes, though that depends on exactly which category of "card stock" "55 lb weight" refers (unlike the uniform "gsm" weights, all of "tag stock", "index stock", and "card stock" rather annoyingly have their own basis weight classifications...)

 

[CZroe]

Both are interesting, but unless I happen to get almost as lucky at Goodwill, even a "comparatively inexpensive" Cricut machine is well beyond what I'd be willing to spend, since I really don't have any sort of ongoing/regular "need" for it, it'd basically just be a toy I'd play with now and then. And while I don't necessarily need a printer that can handle as much as the 300 gsm basis weight mikeymickec mentioned (though that would be preferable), 55 lb stock would be kind of low for my purposes, though that depends on exactly which category of "card stock" "55 lb weight" refers (unlike the uniform "gsm" weights, all of "tag stock", "index stock", and "card stock" rather annoyingly have their own basis weight classifications...)

Speaking of getting "almost as lucky at Goodwill" for a Cricut: Is that so far fetched?

Barely a month ago I got my Cricut Expression...

...at Goodwill...

...for under $13.

More:
https://imgur.com/a/2isvP

I got it even though I already had a Cricut Explore Air since it was the older kind which allows you to use 3rd party software for fewer limitations (Sure Cuts A Lot; Make The Cut, etc). The older ones can really only do the work-around method for print then cut though, which does not use optical registration marks and, thus, can't cut out intricate prints as precisely.

The next day some guy I frequently run into at Goodwill (always beats me to the retro game stuff) was selling one exactly like it on Craigslist for $60.

It sounds like I'm there every day but it's really more like twice a week on my lunch breaks.

I got my Cricut Explore Air a year before that by setting up a Deal Alert on SlickDeals.net and biting when I saw a good price. I regretted it instantly when I discovered that it's really only suited to general crafting since it blocks 3rd party software and has a severely limited cutting area for the print then cut feature. If it ran native software it wouldn't have a limit but they force you to use a browser plugin which has different printing size limitations for different browsers and operating systems. Oddly, iOS seems to have the largest area for print then cut but none of my printers support AirPrint.

For lb/GSM, I've had a lot of trouble finding useful paper weight conversions. I just figure that typical office paper is 28lb, heavy paper/light cardstock is 60-80lb, heavy cardstock is 90-110lb, light posterboard is 120-150lb, and 200-220lb is getting to what everyone thinks of when they think of "posterboard."

Good luck finding something that works for you. If I come across anything else that seems appropriate I'll remember to come back and mention it.

 

[Mike64]

As far as Cricuts go, I mostly I really have no use for one, though I suppose I'd buy one for < $20 as an occasionally-used toy... But what I'm really looking for is something to print oddball cards (A2 size with scalloped edges, round ones, etc) and their envelopes, and letter-sized stock I already have, like Avery products (tent cards, etc), and printable folding zūmiboxes I've picked up here and there on clearance. All stuff I I wouldn't even consider paying real money for except for business/profitable purposes, which for me are blue moon occurrences, but which a mild fondness for playing with paper and other textiles prompted me to buy for literally pennies on the dollar...

So really what I had (idly) in mind was a general purpose (probably not photo-quality) printer with relatively low maintenance costs that would work on the heaviest cardstock possible at a price I'm willing to pay. The low maintenance cost being an issue largely because I imagine I'd end up having replace cartridges more often than ideal due to lack of use...

All of which is admittedly very vague. But I did think I'd made it pretty clear in my OP that I really had no idea what my options might be and am not dead set on buying anything at all if the price isn't right. Which it's looking like may well be the case unless I can find something at Goodwill. I'll have to keep an eye on their website, and see if I can get lucky. For whatever the reason(s), the brick & mortar Goodwills I've been in here in NYC tend to have overpriced (relatively speaking) crap, and none are close enough to my regular travels to make stopping by frequently in the hopes of catching the occasional "find" practical....

 

[lenjack]

I've been using a Canon color inkjet, all in one, with a u shaped path for heavy card stock with no problems at all.

 

[Mike64]

I've been using a Canon color inkjet, all in one, with a u shaped path for heavy card stock with no problems at all.

DO you know the actual weight of the card stock you use?Also, which model Canon?

 

[CZroe]

As far as Cricuts go, I mostly I really have no use for one, though I suppose I'd buy one for < $20 as an occasionally-used toy... But what I'm really looking for is something to print oddball cards (A2 size with scalloped edges, round ones, etc) and their envelopes, and letter-sized stock I already have, like Avery products (tent cards, etc), and printable folding zūmiboxes I've picked up here and there on clearance. All stuff I I wouldn't even consider paying real money for except for business/profitable purposes, which for me are blue moon occurrences, but which a mild fondness for playing with paper and other textiles prompted me to buy for literally pennies on the dollar...

So really what I had (idly) in mind was a general purpose (probably not photo-quality) printer with relatively low maintenance costs that would work on the heaviest cardstock possible at a price I'm willing to pay. The low maintenance cost being an issue largely because I imagine I'd end up having replace cartridges more often than ideal due to lack of use...

All of which is admittedly very vague. But I did think I'd made it pretty clear in my OP that I really had no idea what my options might be and am not dead set on buying anything at all if the price isn't right. Which it's looking like may well be the case unless I can find something at Goodwill. I'll have to keep an eye on their website, and see if I can get lucky. For whatever the reason(s), the brick & mortar Goodwills I've been in here in NYC tend to have overpriced (relatively speaking) crap, and none are close enough to my regular travels to make stopping by frequently in the hopes of catching the occasional "find" practical....

Research, assess financial feasibility, wait and see for a better deal... sounds like we’re on the same track.

Anyway, A2 is probably way too large for a greeting card but Epson does do A2 with the Stylus Pro and SureColor P-series printers. That’s 17” on the short dimension with the other length limited by your impromptu tray or roll (P800 mounts roll paper). Even A2 folded in half is still A3 size, which is close to our 11x17.

Playing with paper was my hobby for a long period: origami. Making marketable products/services (boxes, dust covers, inserts, posters, etc) is exactly why I’m setting up for this stuff and scrounging to stay on-budget. Those zūmiboxes are very similar to some replica boxes I intend to make for arcade games and I’ve already been working on printed cases and dust covers for a bunch of other stuff. I hope to offer a cheaper alternative to leather dust covers without hiding what is underneath. Printable posterboard would be awesome for this but I’m still only finding services that cut larger sheets to size (EXPENSIVE).

I’ve been sitting on some of these ideas for years since I also had no intention to buy unless the price was right. Keep your eyes open and hopefully you’ll find something that will suit your needs eventually. I keep seeing the Canon Pixma Pro-100 Super A3 13x19” printer (larger than A3) for $50-60 after rebate with $40 worth of paper. It doesn’t have a totally flat path but it can handle cardstock of some kinds. Check the specs and if that sounds right set up a deal alert for “Pixma Pro” on SlickDeals. There’s also a line of Brother inkjet printers that does large format cheaply (cheaper than color laser). They aren’t great image quality but perhaps one can handle thicker cardstock than another. I made a list of them over a year ago and I don’t know what’s new, but you might be able to find one of these on Craigslist:
Brother MFC-J4320
Brother MFC-J4420
Brother MFC-J4510
Brother MFC-J4620
Brother MFC-J4710
Brother MFC-J5520
Brother MFC-J5620
Brother MFC-J5720
Brother MFC-J5820
Brother MFC-J5895
Brother MFC-J6520
Brother MFC-J6920

Check the paper handling specs to see if they can take particularly heavy cardstock. 60lb is barely even “cardstock” IMO and I recall that being the stated max on a lot of “U-path” printers I looked at. Good luck!

 

[lenjack]

"DO you know the actual weight of the card stock you use?Also, which model Canon?"
Canon MG 5620. Paper is 110 pound.