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canvas printer – Canon W8400 ??
Lo all,
Just wondering if anyone had any experience of printing on canvas with the Canon W8400 (or one of its earlier models) and how you would rate it? Canon aren’t as well known its seems as HP or Epson in this area so it’s harder finding out info.
I’m currently deciding on which new printer to get, I will be printing canvas full-time for my living and have investigated as much as I can, but I realise that sales people will tell you what you want to hear ! If anyone has any experience with the Canon W8400 and could share it, it would be much appreciated.
The other option I’m looking at is the HP Designjet 5500 UV, but it’s a lot dearer and being UV, the colour gamut isn’t as good, and bright vibrant colours are important to me with what I’ll be doing. So the cheaper Canon with the pigment based long-lasting UV resistant inks seem the way to go…
(i hope!)
I can’t afford to make the wrong choice so all help would be much appreciated!
thanks! 😀
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12 Replies
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hm.. signuk is a good tip to anybody if you can hold out until then.
anyway, dont ignore the DyeSub printers market, have a good look into them and weigh it up, particularly if canvas is the only aim.
Canon is huge as HP but not really come across it in currently sign making inkjets, although I could be corrected.
Our Mimaki JV3 will print onto canvas and it is solvent based, however you are limited in brightness and may struggle with colour control, so good advice and please visit your printer supply before paying for it, see it in action and give it a thorough test if it is a new contract.
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quote Dave Rowland:hm.. signuk is a good tip to anybody if you can hold out until then.anyway, dont ignore the DyeSub printers market, have a good look into them and weigh it up, particularly if canvas is the only aim.
Canon is huge as HP but not really come across it in currently sign making inkjets, although I could be corrected.
Our Mimaki JV3 will print onto canvas and it is solvent based, however you are limited in brightness and may struggle with colour control, so good advice and please visit your printer supply before paying for it, see it in action and give it a thorough test if it is a new contract.
great info dave…..u know ur stuff…im just fasinated at reading and learning 😉
nik
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quote Dave Rowland:dont ignore the DyeSub printers market, have a good look into them and weigh it up, particularly if canvas is the only aim.Thanks for the info Dave. I’m currently using a dye based model that I’ve been testing the market & demand with, but am finding fading a bit of a problem, hence my focus on finding something that looks the same a year after printing assuming it’s been displayed in good conditions.
Am told UV is very resilient as is pigment. My Canon saleguy tells me the pigment is basically good for 100 years and has been tested as such…
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had a epson 9500 for the last 6 years and if i was buying to day it would be another epson but the latest they are built for the art type industry.
i think the other hps and cannons are very very good but the epson just has the edge i feel.
chris
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““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““HP 5000/5500 is a much better choice than the Canon series of printers.HP series has a wide variety of third party inks and media available,Abundant parts,very easy technical service(you can learn to do it yourself in no time) and a good Resale value.
As far as printing with dye based inks(if brightness is what you desire) on canvas is concerned.,there is a third party UV Dye ink available for HP series.However the prints need to be overlaminated with solvent based liquid protective coating to make it water/scratch proof. -
quote Usman Khan:HP 5000/5500 is a much better choice than the Canon series of printers.HP series has a wide variety of third party inks and media available,Abundant parts,very easy technical service(you can learn to do it yourself in no time) and a good Resale value.
The 5500 is double the cost of the Canon 8400 plus the fact i will only llikely be printing on one type of canvas ever kinda negates all that though. I wouldnt use 3rd party inks as I want to be sure I’m putting out a quality print with maximum longevity. I just accept that may mean I pay more.
quote Usman Khan:As far as printing with dye based inks(if brightness is what you desire) on canvas is concerned.,there is a third party UV Dye ink available for HP series.However the prints need to be overlaminated with solvent based liquid protective coating to make it water/scratch proof.I stay clear of 3rd party and all that seems like a lot of extra effort and drying time in comparison to just printing something brighter in the 1st place.
Appreciate the thoughts tho, anything that helps me thrash out this decision is all good 😀
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Based solely on canvas prints & associated fine art markets your best product fit would be the Epson 78/9800 (24/44") or the new Canon IPF8000 (44"). Print quality is fantastic on both edged by the Canon being 12 colour in place of the 8 colour Epson. Canon also very fast. Epson would be cheaper to buy & slightly lower output costs. Dont know your budget or width requirements. Hope this helps.
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I don’t have a printer so I am not in a position to really comment to much but I have read quite a bit about Epson and how involved in the Fine Art market they are so an Epson machine would probably be a good choice. Can you write to various suppliers and ask for samples printed on canvas so you can compare the various makes and models yourself? That way you wouldn’t just be relying on a sales person telling you the printer did a great job you would be able to see for yourself how good it was.
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I know people that make there living from canvas printing, They all say epson are the best. Iv all ways used hp, they are very easy to use but running cost are not cheap. If your after price i dont know what kodak novajet is like being sold with the kodak name they cant be too bad. worth a look going on the price.
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Hi,
The majority of our work involves printing onto canvas and although we were originally going to buy the Epson 9800 we ended up purchasing the Canon W8400.
We have had it for over a year and it is a great machine and in my opinion we made the right choice. We also have an Epson 4800 (17" wide) and find the colours on the canon to be just as good, if not superior.
The Epson does out perform the canon in black and white prints due to having the additonal light black and light light black cartridges.
There are also other factors to consider such as support, maintenance and running costs and here is what we have found:
With Canon the printhead can be easily replaced yourself, Epson requires a service technician which will cost you a lot more.
The ink is slightly cheaper on the canon, we have not found any third party inks, but then we haven’t looked as we want to use genuine inks anyway.
We have found more information and support for the Epson as it seems to be more widely used, for example media manufacturers will normally have profiles for the Epson, but not the canon. There is a forum w8400.com which has some useful info and it has been far more helpful than Canon itself.
I have found Canon itself to not really know much about the printer, and any questions that I have had for anything more than specifications I have had to research myself.
I hope these points are useful, if there is anything in particular that you want to know…ask away…
Also depending on the price of the new Canon IPF8000, you may want to look at that one….
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Thanks Canvart , you’re a star :lol1:
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Actually, I’m a bit worried in case I buy a W8400 and then they shortly afterwards stop making inks etc for it as there is a newer 12 ink model out by Canon now…is this likely?
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