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PRE-PUBLICATION DRAFT
STAGE DIRECTIONS
COPYRIGHT 1997
AUTHOR: Dr. Patrick Finelli
TITLE: Inkjet printers take center stage
SUBJECT: Printers for the theatre center
Nearly every computer system sold these days includes basic hardware, software and a video monitor, but selecting a printer is a decision usually made separately by the consumer. However, in order to get the most out of your work on the computer, you must have a means of producing printed output. Otherwise, you are limited in what you can do with those documents, spreadsheets, designs and flyers that you create. A printer lets you share your work with the rest of the world in black-and-white or full color. No system is complete without it.
Epson, Canon, NEC, Panasonic and Hewlett-Packard are among the manufacturers with products ideally suited for fulfilling even the most demanding printing tasks in a theatre center. There are many options available that range from expensive laser printers to cheap dot matrix models, but the current generation of color ink-jet printers offer fast, high-quality document output at a reasonable price, often less than $300. Among the printers that I have used are two generations of Epson Stylus Color Inkjet printers. The inkjet printer I use currently cost under $200, which is about a fifth of what my original monochrome HP Laserjet cost. Printer technology has improved very quickly.
What can you do with an inkjet printer? You can produce high-quality text for correspondence, invitations, newsletters, rehearsal schedules and callback lists. In addition, many of the inkjets are capable of producing color images of exceptional quality. A typical inkjet can print up to 16 million colors, producing excellent renditions of photographs and artwork as well as grayscale images that you would use in programs, flyers or brochures. The newest inkjet printers can produce hardcopy pages that are sharp, bright and free from fading, which was a problem with some of the earlier models. High end inkjets can produce printed output faster than low speed lasers, which are substantially higher in price.
Of course, if your primary need is for high quality, high speed black text printing, there are laserjet printers available for around $800 to $1000 such as the HP LaserJet 5se or 6Pse and the NEC SuperScript 1260.
The newest entry into the printer market is the multi-function printer, which can do faxing, scanning and copying as well as printing. The problem with multifunction printers is that they don’t do any one job well. A copier will be faster and a dedicated scanner will perform better, but if you work in a small office and want one machine to do it all, a multi-function printer might work for you. The Brother MFC-4550 is a good buy at a retail price of approximately $700.
Basic vocabulary (important things to know)
Before you attempt to review the specifications for an inkjet printer, there are three parameters that form the basis for any comparison - resolution, speed and color system. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi) and tells you how finely detailed the printout will be, since the ink is sprayed on the page in the form of small dots. The more dots per inch, the better the resolution. An inkjet printer that produces output at 360 dpi is considered average these days. Economy printers have resolutions that will be somewhat less, high quality photographic image printers will have more, usually 600 to 720 dpi. More expensive inkjets will be able to produce images at 1200x1200 dpi.
The second parameter is the printer’s speed, calibrated in pages per minute (ppm). The average for inkjets is between 4 and 7 ppm. The speed of printing in color is generally slower than black and the value listed in each printer’s specification is based upon the speed of printing a page of colored text. You may find that the printer is much slower when printing an image or photograph. Fast black ink laserjets will produce pages at the rate of 12 ppm at 600 dpi. The latest inkjets will produce pages at around 7 ppm in black, but they will also give you high quality color (720dpi) at slower speeds.
The third item has to do with the printer’s color system. It is called CMYK for the four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) used in the cartridges to produce all of the other 16 million colors that are possible. Older inkjets relied upon a tricolor system and were disappointing when printing black, which usually turned out to be a kind of greenish-gray and not equivalent to the dark black of laser printers. Our advice is to look for printers with a two-cartridge system. One cartridge will contain the three color inks (yellow, cyan and magenta), the other cartridge is for black only. Replacement cartridges cost around $25 for color and $20 for the black.
Other considerations
Make sure there is a printer cable included, otherwise you will have to purchase a special cable to connect the printer to your computer. Most printers come bundled with software which gives you control over the variables associated with printing, such as paper size (letter, legal or user-defined), orientation (landscape or portrait) and resolution. Most printers also come with something called a "spool manager" software, which monitors the status of your print jobs and lets you control the output. You might also receive software bundled with your printer that lets you do color correction and photo processing. Color correction comes in handy if you printout images captured from video as it will compensate for color shifts that result from saving video as an image. Photo processing software is extremely important if you intend to crop, blend or combine images for program art or convert for posting on the web.
Most of the printers will let you load and print envelopes using conventional word processing software such as Word and Wordperfect.
You can use the same paper for documents that you would in a copy machine or purchase higher quality paper for about 3 cents a sheet. Some models, such as my three year old Epson Stylus Color Pro, require special paper for high resolution color printing. Epson’s newer model does not, but there are many varieties of paper that you can use. Some are especially designed for color inkjet output.
There are also specialized printers for photos that are a little more expensive than the average (around $500). Unless photographic output is your major need, the inkjets mentioned here will suffice for most applications.
System requirements and installation
The most important requirement is that your computer has a "Parallel Port" (technically a bidirectional, IEEE-1284 compatible parallel port) for connecting your printer to the computer. The printers listed here will work with Windows 95, Windows 3.11 or Mac. While we can’t vouch for all of the printers, the installation CD-ROM and Windows 95 "plug and play" feature made set-up a breeze for our Epson Stylus Color 400. A typical installation goes like this: First you turn on your printer, then turn on your computer. If you have Windows95 the "plug and play" feature will cause a "New Hardware Found" screen to appear. Make sure your printer name is displayed and select the "Driver from disk provided by hardware manufacturer" button. Then select the model number and follow the rest of the instructions until you reach "finish". The CD-ROM is convenient since you don’t have to keep swapping disks like you would with floppies. The CD-ROM has all of the instructions and necessary drivers (programs that allow your printer to respond to the commands and data sent by the computer and software).
The Epson Stylus Color printer comes with additional set-up guides and manuals. The excellent manuals contain everything you need to know about maintenance, cleaning and aligning the printheads as well as tutorial guides and tips to get the most out of your color printer. The installation CD-ROM also has a color guide, a "problem solver" utility and directions on how to receive answers online (via the Internet) in case you need help.
Product review
Here we will consider the most versatile, general purpose color inkjet printers.
In the top price bracket we find the HP DeskJet 1000Cse with print speed up to 6 ppm black and 3.5 ppm in color and super high color resolution of 600x600 dpi. It retails for about $500 in the catalogs and discount stores.
The mid-range price segment is where you’ll find the best "bang for the buck." The HP DeskJet 694C has identical resolution to HPs higher-priced model, but is slightly slower at 5 ppm black and 1.7 ppm color. It includes print packs and iron-on paper for making T-shirt transfers, perhaps to commemorate each show and or help defer the cost of the printer. The retail price is around $300 and you’ll get a further price break if you buy HP’s scanner along with it.
The Epson Stylus Color 600 InkJet produces at a rate of 6 ppm (black text) and 4 ppm color with the astounding maximum resolution of 1440x720 dpi for high-quality photo images. When you consider the combination of performance and features, this printer is our top-rated value at around $300.
The Canon BJC4304 Photo straddles the gap between the mid and low ranges at $239. It has a respectable top resolution of 720x360 dpi and decent speed of 5 ppm for black and 2 ppm for color printing.
At the lower price bracket, the Epson Stylus Color 400 InkJet printer will do exceptional photo quality color at 720x720 dpi and laser quality black text printing at 4 ppm with 3 ppm for color. I’ve seen it advertised at $199. The Canon BJC4200 Color Bubble Jet printer also retails for $199 with similar specifications, a resolution of 720x360 with a print speed of 5 ppm (black) and 1 ppm (color). Stepping down the ladder, we find the Canon BJC 250 with a resolution of 720x360 dpi at 4 ppm for black and 0.52 ppm for color. It discounts to as low as $179. Finally, the HP DeskJet 400L prints at 3 ppm in black at 600x300 dpi and 2-4 ppm in color at 300x300 dpi for only $149, perfect for bargain hunters or those on a tight budget who don’t mind sacrificing photographic picture quality in exchange for cost savings.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, but should give you a good benchmark on price, performance and features in order to help you make an informed decision about your next (or first) printer purchase.
© Copyright 1995-1999 by Patrick M. Finelli. All rights reserved. These pages are protected by United States and international copyright laws. Copying or distribution by any means is strictly prohibited. Please send e-mail to finelli@satie.arts.usf.edu