Some large print shops are switching from production color laser printing to production color inkjet printing. This is due to the increased print speed, and volume capacity offered by the inkjet technology.  

Cost Comparison

Production Inkjet Color printers have experienced an enormous surge in popularity. However, production inkjet printers tend to be twice as expensive as production laser printers. 

Many printing professionals find themselves wondering whether the higher cost is actually worth it. Asking the right questions will help you decide which technology is best for your business. 

• A Flooded Marketplace: Additionally, because of rampant competition in the marketplace, it can be confusing to determine which technology is best when making a purchase. 

And that’s why we’re here. We’ll provide you a full overview of the benefits these printers bolster, along with a list of the best color printers available for purchase right now!

What You Need in a Color Production Printer

Let’s first take a look at some of the variance in printers to uncover whether a color laser printer or color inkjet is a viable choice for you.

Color printers vary greatly according to price, size, weight, paper capacity, print speeds, cost of use, and many other characteristics. 

Are Color Inkjet Printers Worth it for You?

To determine whether a color inkjet printer is worth the extra investment, there are a couple key questions to ask yourself:

Is your color volume or overall print volume over 450,000 prints per month? What is your peak load and does it exceed 2.5 M?

While color inkjet printers are more expensive upfront, their productivity and automation results in great cost savings related to labor if you print very high color volume, over time you will save money.

Do you print long documents? If you print long documents, book publishing, variable print transactional printing in high quantities, you may want an inkjet printer because of their speed and low cost per page. A laser simply cannot match the speed of an inkjet printer. Additionally, color inkjet printers tend to print superior documents in terms of uniformity, and ink quality.

Do you print a lot of documents with colored images, charts and diagrams? Inkjet printers print colored images in high resolution offering enhanced density.

Do you print a lot of photos? If you print lots of photos (especially in the fashion arena), greeting cards, wedding invitations or high-end event direct mail, inkjet will be your best investment if you have the volume to support it. 

Best Color Laser Printers

If you’ve decided to go with a color laser printer, you now need to decide which color laser printer to buy. Because of the varying needs of each individual consumer, we have split our list of the best color laser printers into two categories.

Best Overall Color Laser Printer for average volumes under 100K-The Xerox Versant 180

The best overall color laser printer combines incredible 10-bit resolution, some prepress automation and tremendous versatility related to media handling and envelope printing with a speed of 80ppm.  The duty cycle is 750K. The inline finishing offers full bleed booklets and full trim on all sides and it’s still at an attractive price. It can be made even more affordable if a refurbished model is purchased or leased. 

Faster Color Laser Printer

Every printer aficionado knows that the key to color laser printing is speed, quality and productivity! Therefore, number two on our list is a color laser printer that can print over 100 pages per minute and offers a duty cycle of 1.2M: the Xerox Versant 3100. This machine is one of the most productive color printers ever made and is perfect for busy professional printers that can afford its higher price tag, especially since it is not widely on the refurbished market yet. 

Best Color Cutsheet Laser Printer for Printshops and Centralized Reprographic Corporate Environments printing lots of photographs.

The Xerox Iridesse production laser printer is perfect for printers with a monthly volume of 225,000-475,000 prints per month. It has a duty cycle of 2.5 M. perfect for the busy shop with high peak loads. The Iridesse fully automates image transfer, density uniformity and registration making it an extremely efficient printer for the busier shops that produce high quality impactful print. It offers jaw-dropping embellishment effects helping you achieve remarkably brilliant results. Iridesse™ redefines digital printing with award-winning Color FLX Technology, which layers CMYK with up to two Specialty Dry Inks in one single, incredibly productive pass – all while maintaining “spot on” registration from color to color. Color FLX Technology lets you: Print stunning CMYK alone, Print CMYK + spot specialty effect, Print Metallic Gold White achieving ultimate brilliance with iridescent metallic hues. This press is built to run. Four, five, and six colors. A rainbow of iridescent palettes. Mixed media. Heavy stock. Extra Long Sheets up to 47.2″ (1.2 m). High-value inline finishing. Iridesse™ is synonymous with new capabilities and new levels of production confidence.  Iridesse can mix colors with underlays and/or overlays to create true metallic color blends. 

The Final Word

You can’t go wrong with any of the above Xerox color production printers. While some will be more useful for different functions and settings, all provide excellent print quality and reliability. 

Sources: 

• Digital Trends. The best color laser printers for 2019. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-color-laser-printers/#bestcolorlaserprinterforphotos
• PC Magazine. The Best Laser Printers for 2019. 
  https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/236844/the-best-laser-printers
• Tech Radar. Best laser printer 2020: top picks for color and mono printing. https://www.techradar.com/news/best-laser-printer
• The Balance Small Business. Best Color Laser Printers. 
  https://www.thebalancesmb.com/top-color-laser-printers-2948396