Computer Printing for Small Business
Choosing and Using a Printer to Print Business Cards and Brochures
Sep 19, 2009
Many printers will work well for business cards, fliers and brochures. Color inkjet, color lasers, solid ink printers and multipurpose color printers are all good choices.
Best Results Printing Business Cards
Any brand-name inkjet or laser printer will print nice business cards, though a color printer is preferred. Pre-perforated card stock makes it easy to print business cards. These can be purchased at an office supply store. They are labeled to identify the type of printer they are made for.
Feeding card stock one at a time into the printer or using the manual feed option are techniques that help if card stock jams when used in the regular paper tray. Another trick is to put one sheet of card stock on the top of a short stack of regular paper and print one page at a time. Helpful printing tips can be found at the Avery website.
Tips for Printing an Attractive Flier
Fliers and brochures are often double-sided, so they are more easily printed on a printer that makes double-sided pages. Most smaller printers don't have this function, however. It is easy enough to print one side, turn the stack over and load them back into the printer to print the other side.
Any color printer can print an attractive flier, and a black-and-white one will do if color isn't needed. An all-purpose printer is better than one designed to print photos. Heavier weight paper, or paper specifically designed for use with brochures, will work better since it will keep the ink from bleeding through.
If the design of the flier has no large areas of color or black, less ink will be used and the results will be better; large areas of ink are more likely to show from the back side. Templates designed by graphic artists are helpful for those who lack experience designing brochures; Hewlett-Packard has a nice collection of templates on their website.
Choosing the Best Printer
When purchasing a computer printer to print business cards and fliers, the best choice is a printer designed to print lots of pages. A printer that has a high number for its "duty cycle" and any printer that has an input capacity of 250 sheets or more will likely be a good choice. Name brands such as Hewlett Packard, Canon and Xerox are recommended by many who review computer hardware, including PC Magazine.
It's a good idea to check the price of replacement ink or toner and be sure it's stocked at a local store before buying a specific model. The cost saved on a low-priced printer may be used to buy ink if the ink is not cost-effective. Laser printers and solid ink printers are designed for higher print volume, and are a good option for businesses that print lots of color items each month.
Getting the Best Results
Good results can be obtained with any existing printer, and can be enhanced by choosing the right paper and by using design templates. When shopping for a new printer, a printer designed for higher volume is best, but there are tricks that will help improve the results even on low-end printers.
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