Label printer advice needed

[Oregonroaster]

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive color printer for use in printing coffee labels for my roasting company. I have an HP Inkjet color printer that I'm using now. I print my labels on glossy sheets of 4 labels per page. The results are less than satisfactory. I've tried other labels but haven't found any that will print a crisp, colorful glossy label. Ironically, the printer works great using regular photo paper but not with the "glossy" labels.

Can anyone give me advice on printer/label combinations that work well? I know about the Primera printer but it's a little pricey for my small company at this time.

Thanks for your help.

 

[empeg9000]

I'm in the same boat with my company. I've been searching for a solution myself.

 

[PinkRose]

We've had some discussions about label printers in the past, including recommendations to set your printer for high resolution printing for the glossy labels.

A quick search (the search box is at the top right corner of your screen) for label printers will show you some of the areas where this topic was discussed.

Here is one thread that came up:

http://www.coffeeforums.com/forum/coffee-industry-forum/11305-need-help-selecting-label-printer.html

 

[peterjschmidt]

Can you tell us how much you're spending per label, in ink and paper?

 

[Oregonroaster]

I buy of box of labels for around $50 which equates to 400 labels total (4 labels per sheet - 100 per box). The ink isn't that expensive. The issue isn't the cost necessarly, but the quality. The labels I have bought don't print out well on my HP Inkjet printer. It's not glossy and not very good quality. I'm looking for a combination of printer/labels at an affordable price with a good glossy look.

 

[peterjschmidt]

The reason I ask is because I use PSPrint for my labels, and they come out to 20cents apiece. Granted, I buy 'em 1,000 at a time, but they look great, and professionally made. You're saving a nickel per label - maybe - not to mention the time involved.

 

[sierra007]

why you not buy new one

 

[easyed]

Most printers these days produce a good quality print providing if your file quality. Hi res does not make it a good quality art. You can have a poor quality art at hi res. I would recommend having a professional artist provide you with a good quality art. Purchase a box of Avery pre-die cut labels & try it your current printer. If not goo enough then take your file to a local place selling printers like office max & tell them to try printing on several printers. You can then decide which printer is within your budget yet providing the best quality of print. Hope helps. Hope helps.

 

[easyed]

Best buy is another source which sells variety of printers which might be able to help. Also Avery labels provides gloss, matt or uncoated labels & they also provide a free software for label printing. Cheers

 

[Jettore]

For our first year of operating I printed our logo labels at home. Purchased our labels from onlinelabels.com, Much cheaper then Avery and a huge selection. Eventually I got tired of printing them and found gotprint.com. Their 3.5x3.5 costs me .06 in 2500 quantities, cant be beat. We do use a separate label for roast description that I still print on return label size from onlinelabels.

 

[coffeemannw]

We have used a VP485 label printer for the past few years. I love being able to custom-print, small run labels. We attached a continuous ink system to it and with that got the price per label down to about $.11 per label. That was about what we paid for commercial printed labels (3x5"). There are some quirks with the label printer, but if you moderately tech-savvy you can make it work.

 

[HillofBeans]

B and H photo would have the best recommendation on inkjets and price per sheet. They are in NYC but saving on taxes would almost pay for shipping. A photo inkjet printer is whats best for type and art resolution. There are a lot of third party ink dealers online to buy bulk ink. I get really cheap label paper from either Labelsonline or Onlinelabels who ever has the specific size i need.