Fastest/best inkjet (?) printer for addressing 11x17's ?

[Atari]

What is the best way to address an 11x17 paper?

We are going to be doing runs of 25,000 on 80lb gloss text.

We were planning on doing our dynamic data on HP Laserjet printers (ie 5SI) because the toner and parts are very cheap now.

But I've heard that the laser print might not "stick" to the gloss text stock.

I've also heard that the gloss stock can quickly muck up your laser printers rollers.

Assuming the above is true....

What are the best (fastest!) ways to add dynamic data to an 11x17 ?

Do you know of any specific makes/models that work well?

Thanks!

[Lammy]

just use a normal uncoated paper. The toner will absolutly not stay on the gloss stock, esspeccially if it's folded or mailed. The only thing that IS going to do this is some of the specialty Xerox machines or something similar. Definatly more than the HP. You might look into a high speed inkjet printer. You'll most likely have to use a special paper for gloss as inkjet inks don't stick to normal gloss coatings either.

[Atari]

does stock that is coated on one side & uncoated on the other cost more than stock that is glossy on both or neither?

[Cornbread]

That depends on the stock, vendor etc. Are you sure you don't want to sub this out to a small printer in your area. It seems a Good run length for small format Offset.

[Lammy]

That would depend on how "variable" the imprinting is. If every sheet was different I think most single color machines will have the same issue with toner on gloss stock. I'm by far no expert though.

If it could be done as press runs of about 400 and every page needs different information it's a perfect job for something like an Idigo or Nexpress.

[seetomtype]

What kind of budjet do you have for this piece of machinery, Atari? That'll probably
give folks a better idea. If it's less than $5,000 USD I'm guessing that you'll be better
off sending this job out to a mailing service to have the work done. We have the
machinery to do some of this, but a run over 2-3 thousand makes more sense to
send to one of our local mailing houses. After front end work, paying a person to
run the box, and the cost of supplies, it usually works out better for us this way.
We run a Xerox Docucolor 2060, which eats this kind of work up, but it'd work better
if it was on a coated stock if there was any kind of heavy coverage.

FWIW

[Atari]

Originally Posted by Cornbread

That depends on the stock, vendor etc. Are you sure you don't want to sub this out to a small printer in your area. It seems a Good run length for small format Offset.

We're definitely going to have a printer do this for us.

I'm just trying to arm myself with as much information as possible before getting quotes.


Also... I ripped a few pages out of a glossy magazine and the laser printer seemed to print & stick ok to it... tried hard to rub it off or smear it too.

[Atari]

Originally Posted by Atari

We're definitely going to have a printer do this for us.

Sorry... I thought he meant the main print job.

We're going to do dynamic data in house. Each piece is different and we're doing some pretty unique stuff. I don't want some local service provider to start offering some of the things we're doing.

Also I want to keep our mailing lists as close to the chest as possible.





Here's a new question.....

If your laser printer does 50ppm (say a HP 9000 series) and you are printing a mail merge where each page is different, then I assume that the ppm is going to be MUCH lower since the pages aren't the same?

Any idea how much lower?

[Lammy]

yup. The times will depend on the content of the page. If it's just text that's variable your times should be fairly consistant. If your changing images on each sheets it's going to vary for every print. Your printers internal rip engine has to process each page before it can print it. If they were all the same it would only process it once, then hold the page in memory for reprinting.

Only thing you can do is time say 10 pages and calculate it out from there. Network speed/ traffic could also have an effect if this is a networked printer.

[Atari]

Originally Posted by Lammy

yup. The times will depend on the content of the page. If it's just text that's variable your times should be fairly consistant. If your changing images on each sheets it's going to vary for every print. Your printers internal rip engine has to process each page before it can print it. If they were all the same it would only process it once, then hold the page in memory for reprinting.

Only thing you can do is time say 10 pages and calculate it out from there. Network speed/ traffic could also have an effect if this is a networked printer.

Yeah it's going to be pure text... and some barcode fonts. But I think those are considered text as well. Well thats good to know at least.

I've tried some more printing on very glossy stock & it seems to stick ok with this laser printer.... I'm a little worried about gambling that it will stick through the folding and mailing though :P