Color Printers

Introduction
Color printers allow you to produce color documents from any computer. Most can do an adequate job of highlighting ordinary text, but better models can also produce eye-grabbing charts, graphs, and photo-like pictures on paper, transparencies, report covers and other customized marketing materials.

You can also use them to proof print jobs involving multiple colors before they are sent out to a commercial printer. This can help you avoid costly mistakes from poor color choices.

This buying guide is designed to give you the facts you need to select a color printer for your firm. You can choose to read this guide from beginning to end, or jump directly to a section of interest by clicking on the links above.

Types of Color Printers
There are five types of color printers on the market: ink-jet, laser, solid ink, thermal wax, and dye sublimation.

Ink-jet
Ink-jet models are the least expensive of the bunch. These models spray tiny drops of ink onto a page to create an image. Output can be quite good on very smooth paper, but deteriorates on rougher stock. Colors also tend to be vulnerable to smudging and running, particularly immediately after printing. For busy offices, ink-jets are typically not fast enough, printing only 1 to 2 pages per minute.

Laser
Color laser printers use the same toner-based printing process as black and white laser printers, except that they combine four different toner colors. These models produce very crisp documents, with none of the smudging or wetness of a dense ink-jet page. Color laser printers can also be used as a regular black and white laser printer. On the downside, color lasers are expensive, with models typically starting at $3,500.

Solid Ink
Solid ink printers melt solid blocks of ink, which is then sprayed onto a page. This printing process results in very bright colors, but fine lines and text tends to be a bit imprecise.

Thermal Wax
Thermal wax printers work by melting wax from ribbons and applying the wax to a page. Thermal wax printers work very well with transparencies, and are often used by businesses to create vibrant color presentations. On the downside, printing tends to be very slow, with long waits to warm up the printer and fill in a page. Thermal wax technology is also not very well suited for printing on regular paper, with most models requiring extra-smooth paper to obtain a high-quality image.

Dye Sublimation
Dye sublimation is a high-end color printing technology that produces near-photograph quality output. These printers use heat to directly transfer dye from a ribbon. The technology is often used to create proofs before printing, or by highly image-conscious businesses (e.g. advertising, graphic design) to create final client presentations. However, dye sublimation printers are quite expensive, with most models costing $5,000 or more and a page costing up to $8 apiece to print.