Cut sheet or Wide Format – Choose the Right Office Printing Solution

Are you looking for your next office printer? But the wide range of options confuses you!

Before you choose a commercial office printer, you have to evaluate which kind of printer is best suited for your business. If you are looking to print large posters and graphical presentations then the wide format printer would suit you best, while a cut sheet printer would be a good choice if you are looking for quality prints on standard sizes of paper. Before you decide, you should understand the differences between the functioning of these printers.

Cut sheet printers
Cut sheet printers use individual sheets of paper, bundled together and fed into the printer before printing. The sizes of paper can vary; common sizes include 8.5×11, 8.5×14, and 11×17. These papers work for inkjet and laser printers where you have individual paper trays for different paper sizes. These printers have an average speed of 130 prints per minute (ppm) with a print quality of 4800 dpi (dots per inch).

Wide format printers
As the name suggests, these printers are meant for printing in a wide format, larger than the standard sizes of 8.5 x 11 inches. These printers are mostly used for printing maps, posters, and charts and the print uses a paper roll instead of individual papers. According to the dimensions, the printer cuts the sheet from the roll and prints the image. Wide format printers do not boast of a high dpi as compared to cut sheet printers. Here, any dpi above 2000 is considered world-class and most commercial solutions come around 600 – 1200 dpi.

Things to keep in mind-
Now that you are clear with the two categories of printers, let us discuss a few things that would help you decide on your office printing solution –

• Print volume – This is perhaps the most crucial parameter to evaluate between the two printers. Wide format printers are more expensive than cut sheet ones, hence they would become economical only at high volume (economies of scale apply here). If you have a large number of maps, charts, and blueprint designs to be printed regularly, then a wide format printer makes the best sense
• Print application – If your printing solution demands printing documents on a standard set of papers but might vary in size, then cut sheet printers would be the best solution. But if you are looking to print charts and posters, then wide formats become the game-changer. Cut sheet printers will not be able to handle the prints handled by wide format ones and evidently will run into paper jamming and feed issues
• Print speed and quality – Today printers are being used across industries. The printing history shows us evolution like any other industry and these printers are both results of years of evolution and technological advancements. However, if you want a printer with high dpi, then go for the cut sheet one.

You must consider all these factors before fixing your next commercial office printer. There are numerous players in the market, ready to offer printing solutions.

To choose the right office printing solution, visit www.minosha.in and help your business grow in the right direction!